ALESUND, NORWAY: An Art Nouveau Gem and Much More

Alesund, Norway. View from the city park.

The last part of our recent trip to Norway was spent in and near the city of Alesund, a small city on Norway’s west coast, once the center of a thriving cod liver oil industry.

On the Alesund waterfront with statue honoring the historic cod fishing industry.

In 1904, most of Alesund was destroyed by a catastrophic fire. With help from other European countries, it was rebuilt, providing the opportunity for new architecture in the Art Nouveau style. Almost every building features some kind of ornament.

Alesund. Art Nouveau inspired house design.

Art Nouveau was a movement within architecture, decorative art, and fine art that took place during the transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. In Scandinavia it is known more commonly under the German name Jugenstil. New materials and techniques were explored, and the classical models of the past were abandoned in favor of creative forms of expression inspired by the organic vitality of nature. 

In the Alesund Art Nouveau Centre, everything--from furniture and window treatments, to wallpaper and doorknobs--is in the Art Nouveau style. 

Spiral staircase in the Alesund Art Nouveau Centre.

The Alesund Art Nouveau Centre, housed in historic buildings near the port, tells of the fire and its aftermath, and displays examples of Art Nouveau furniture and home decoration.

Bookcase.

Viking inspired silver baskets. 

The Fiskemuseet (Fishing Museum) in Alesund is also worth a visit. Exhibits, some with life-size figures, show how cod were processed to produce the rich oil, a source of vitamins A and D. I remember that when I was a child my mother put cod liver oil in my orange juice and how I hated the fishy taste.

Historic photos and containers of cod liver oil at the Fiskemuseet.

Many people come to Alesund for trips into the fjords, and before we came to Norway we had thought we would like to do that. But it turned out that our days in Alesund didn’t coordinate with the days of the boat tour. So we adapted our plans.

Former lighthouse at Alesund Harbor, now the honeymoon suite of a local hotel.

On our third day in Alesund we took a local bus to the Sunnmore Museum, a collection of 40 historic houses and other buildings resituated in a large park, as well a museum of boats, including several from Viking times.

Boathouse at Sunnemore Museum.

Graveyard of the Borgund Church, Sunnemore

It was a beautiful spring day, warm, and flowers were blooming.

People in National Dress at Sunnemore, on their way to a reception in a historic meeting hall.

As we walked around Sunnmore, we noticed groups of people in the traditional Norwegian dress—women in long embroidered skirts and men in dark suits. Even children and babies were wearing the national dress. While Norwegians don’t wear such clothing on a daily basis, it is apparently usual to wear the traditional clothing for confirmations and other special events. 

National dress, in store at shopping mall in Alesund.

Later, when we went into the shopping mall near our hotel, we saw the dresses and accompanying accessories on display.

Traditional design wall decoration, historic farmhouse at Sunnemore Museum. 

Our final excursion from Alesund was to nearby Runde Island to see the nesting seabirds. For more about that, go to my post of May 20, 2024 .

On Runde Island..

Norway is a big country and in the two weeks we were there we only saw a small part of it. But our visits to three cities—Oslo, Bergen, and Alesund—gave us a good taste of the landscape, culture, people, food, weather. We’d like to go back someday to experience more.

Art Deco window decoration, Alesund.