Dvergsøya is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...

municipality in

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The island lies in the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

in the Kristiansandsfjorden to the southeast of the city of

. The island is used as a recreational area and it has

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

s for visiting boats as well as toilet facilities. Dvergsøya is only accessible by boat. Dvergsøya is best known as the island where the Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon Magnus and Crown Princess Mette-Marit spend their annual summer

vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or school or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for sp ...

with their children. However, the island's fairly dramatic history is less known.

History

Dvergsøya was originally a

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technolo ...

under the mainland farm ''Dvergsnes''. The island was historically used for farming.

Witch

Maren was a smallholders wife from Dvergsøya. She was arrested on 20 April 1670 in connection with the sinking of a ship bound for

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

. There were several people involved in this case, ''all women''. One of Maren's "

accomplice Aiding and abetting is a legal doctrine related to the guilt of someone who aids or abets (encourages, incites) another person in the commission of a crime (or in another's suicide). It exists in a number of different countries and generally al ...

s" explained in court what should have happened. They had flown through the air down to the ship. There they met the

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

, disguised as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

. It was Maren who ensured that the boat sank. Maren denied the story, and was therefore doomed to undergo

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

. Under torture, she confirmed the story and was the last

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

in Norway to be sentenced to death and burned at the stake. The sentence was executed on 9 September 1670.

Burglary, arson and murder

More recently, in the 20th century, two wealthy men named Jebsen and Vogt from Kristiansand built

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

s (villas) on Dvergsøya. Jebsen's villa was the scene of an infamous crime. On the night of

Easter Sunday Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek language, Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, de ...

in 1933 three men broke into Jebsen's villa and then set fire to it afterwards to hide the traces of the burglary. Afterwards, one of the thieves and arsonists tried to break with the other two. As punishment, they killed him by drowning him in a basin and dump him in the Kristiansandsfjorden. Today, the ruins of Jebsen’s villa are still visible.

World War II

The location of Dvergsøya at the entrance to the city of Kristiansand made the island interesting also in a military context. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the German occupants had an anti-aircraft battery to protect the city of Kristiansand. The battery consisted of six fixed anti-aircraft cannons on the southwestern part of the island. Today, the foundations of the cannons are still visible.

Royal visits

Vogt sold his villa. For many years, it was used as a vacation rental house. Crown Princess Mette-Marit is originally from the nearby city of Kristiansand and her family enjoys spending their summer vacations at Vogt’s villa which they rent. Vogt’s villa is designed by Arnstein Arneberg, the same architect that designed the royal residence at

Skaugum Skaugum is an estate, manor house and the official residence of Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit. The estate is located in Asker, southwest of Oslo, by the foot of the mountain Skaugumsåsen. The estate con ...

. In 2009, a rental contract was signed with the municipality of Kristiansand which owns it. A protection fence in the recreational area caused a political debate, but was built in spite of the protests.

References