Vadheim is a village in the municipality of

Høyanger Høyanger () is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center is the village of Høyanger. Other villages in Høyanger municipality include Austreim, Bjordal, Kyrkjeb� ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is located on the north shore of the

Sognefjorden The Sognefjord or Sognefjorden (, en, Sogn Fjord), nicknamed the King of the Fjords ( no, Fjordenes konge), is the largest and deepest fjord in Norway. Located in Vestland county in Western Norway, it stretches inland from the ocean to the smal ...

, along the small Vadheimsfjorden branch. The

European route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other single road in Eu ...

highway runs through the village. It is located about northeast of the village of

Lavik Lavik is a former municipality in the old county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It was located in the western part of the present-day municipality of Høyanger which is in Vestland county. The municipality was mostly on the northern side of the S ...

, about northwest of the village of

Kyrkjebø Kyrkjebø is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1858 until 1964 when it became part of the new municipality of Høyanger which still exists and is part of the new Vestland county. Pr ...

, and about northwest of the village of

Austreim Austreim is a village in the municipality of Høyanger in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the north shore of the Sognefjorden, about southwest of the municipal center of Høyanger, about east of the village of Kyrkjebø, and ...

. The village has a population (2013) of 238, giving the village a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of .

History

Vadheim is the resting place for one of the most famous warships of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. During that conflict,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

converted a number of merchant ships to armed surface raiders. These ships cruised the world's shipping lanes and captured/sank

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

shipping. The most famous and successful of these was . One of the ships she sank was ''Mount Temple'' which carried dinosaur fossils destined for the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. ''Möwe'' survived the war. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, under the name ''Oldenburg'', was used in support of the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

. On 7 April 1945

Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...

aircraft from No. 114 Squadron RAF,

No. 455 Squadron RAAF No. 455 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) torpedo bomber squadron during World War II and became famous as part of the "ANZAC Strike Wing" that was formed from Australian and New Zealand squadrons. Raised in early 1941, mainly fro ...

, and No. 489 Squadron RNZAF sank ''Oldenburg'' at her moorings following an intense strafing and rocket attack. Shortly after the end of

, the pre-war criminal and wartime resistance fighter Johannes S. Andersen broke into the German barracks in Vadheim and killed two German prisoners-of-war. The incident caused a controversy in Norway after the war when Andersen was charged in court with killing them. It was decided in 1947 that his indictment would be withdrawn. Near Vadheim is Ytredal Bridge, an 18th-century stone bridge. It is a popular tourist attraction.

Notable residents

Even Hovland Even Hovland (born 14 February 1989) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Allsvenskan club BK Häcken and the Norway national team. Club career In his youth, Hovland played for the local clubs Vadheim IL and IL ...

(born 1989) —

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

er *

Vegar Gjermundstad Vegar Heggenes Gjermundstad (born 14 March 1990) is a Norwegian football defender who plays for Førde IL. Career He hails from Vadheim. He started his career in Vadheim IL and IL Høyang, but moved in 2006 to attend the school Norsk Toppidr ...

(born 1990) —

er *

Karl Friedrich Kurz Karl Friedrich Kurz (23 September 1878 – 26 June 1962) was a Swiss/German/Norwegian novelist. Kurz was born near Freiburg, Bremgarten, Markgräflerland in Germany. As a child he moved with his parents to Basel in Switzerland. He wanted to b ...

(1878–1962) —

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

References

{{authority control Villages in Vestland Høyanger