Western Norway Emigration Center ( Norwegian: ''Vestnorsk utvandrarsenter'' or ''Vestnorsk utvandringssenter'') is an open-air

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

located at the village of Sletta on the island of Radøy in

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. The museum consists of a small church and several historical buildings which were reassembled in a rural environment. The building were re-located from

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

from locations characterized by

Norwegian American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...

immigration during the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.

Museum Centre in Hordaland

Western Norway Emigration Center is operated in cooperation with the Museum Centre in Hordaland (''Museumssenteret i Hordaland'') which focusing on the preservation of the social and cultural history of Hordaland. King Harald and

Queen Sonja Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen on 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway since 17 January 1991 as the wife of King Harald V. Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relations ...

have honored the museum with a visit. Western Norway Emigration Center is the site of several activities throughout the year including weddings, meetings, concerts, and festivals. There are guided tours around the center. There is also a library with books about Norwegian emigration to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Brampton Lutheran Church

In 1996, Brampton Lutheran Church was dismantled and moved from

Brampton Township, Sargent County, North Dakota Brampton Township is a civil township in Sargent County, North Dakota, United States. It is named after the small village of Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton ...

. The entire

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

, with all inventory, was given as a gift to the Western Norwegian Emigration Center. Volunteers, both Norwegian and American, dismantled the church for transport to Sletta, where it was re-assembled. Brampton Lutheran Church was subsequently consecrated by

Ole Hagesæther Ole Danbolt Hagesæther is a Norwegian theologian with the Church of Norway. He was born on 3 October 1941 in Bergen, Norway, and he served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Bjørgvin from 1994 until his retirement in 2008. Hagesæther is the son ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the

Diocese of Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin ( no, Bjørgvin bispedømme) is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second ...

(1994–2008) and officially reopened as ''Emigrantkirka på Sletta''.

Marboe Township School

Dating from 1893, this is a typical one room school from Sargent County, North Dakota. It was moved to

Forman, North Dakota Forman is a city in and the county seat of Sargent County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 509 at the 2020 census. Forman was founded in 1883. History Forman was founded in 1883 by Cornelius Forman. In 1886, the county seat was ...

, near Brampton, in the 1960s where it was used as a museum. In 1997, Sargent County Farm Bureau donated the school to the Western Norwegian Emigration Center. It opened on July 8, 2000.

Dr. J.C. Serkland Medical Office

This building was taken from Rothsay in

Wilkin County, Minnesota Wilkin County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population of Wilkin County was 6,506. Its county seat is Breckenridge. The county is named for Colonel Alexander Wilkin, a lawyer who served as Minnesota's ...

. It was the office of Doctor John Christian Serkland (1872- 1948) during more than 50 years of medical practice. His grandchildren purchased the house and donated it to the Western Norwegian Emigration Center. It was officially opened on July 8, 2000.

Underwood Pioneer House

The Underwood Pioneer House was the home of Andreas Seem (1820-1890), an immigrant from

Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. The county was established in 1804 when the old Trondhjems amt was divided into two: Nordre Trondhjems amt and S ...

, Norway. The house was originally built following his arrival during 1869 in

Underwood Underwood may refer to: People *Underwood (surname), people with the surname Places United States * Underwood, Shelby County, Alabama * Underwood, Indiana * Underwood, Iowa * Underwood, Minnesota * Underwood, New York * Underwood, North Dakota * ...

in Otter Tail County, Minnesota. Luverne Kiene, the great grandchild of Karen and Andreas Seem, donated the house to the Western Norwegian Emigration Center in 1997. It was officially opened on July 8, 2000.

Brampton School Teacher's Home

This was apparently the oldest house in Brampton township. The year of construction is unknown, but the fireplace construction indicates that it is probably as old as the European settling of North Dakota. It housed the principal of the school until the 1930s. Sanford and Genevieve Cooper donated the house to the Western Norway Emigration Center in 1997. The house was officially opened on July 8, 2000.

Elizabeth Township Jail and Town Hall

Elizabeth Township Jail and Town Hall were built in the 1880s and incorporated to one building. The jail with two cells was used until slightly after 1900. The Town Council of

Elizabeth, Minnesota Elizabeth is a city in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 168 at the 2020 census. History Elizabeth was platted in 1872, and named for Elizabeth Niggler, the wife of an early settler. A post office was established ...

, donated the building to the Western Norwegian Emigration Center during the spring 2000. It was officially opened on July 6, 2002.

Asbjørn Ystebø

Asbjørn Odd Ystebø was a teacher at ''Danielsen Videregående Skole'', an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

, Norway who had an important role in the exchange agreement between his high school and

Hillcrest Lutheran Academy Hillcrest Lutheran Academy is a private Christian school in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Established in 1916, Hillcrest is affiliated with the Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America. Hillcrest's mission is "to equip students in a Christ-center ...

in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. During a visit in the United States in 1992-93, Ystebø got the idea of establishing a Norwegian American center in his home village of Sletta. Rural townships in Minnesota and North Dakota had in many cases experienced dramatic population decreases. As a result, there were historic building available for relocation. Asbjørn Odd Ystebø would later receive the

St. Olav's Medal The St. Olav's Medal and the St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch were instituted by King Haakon VII of Norway on 17 March 1939. They are awarded in recognition of "outstanding services rendered in connection with the spreading of information about N ...

based upon his engagement in Norwegian and American relations. ''Skolens historie'' (Danielsen Videregående Skole)
/ref>

Gallery of Memorial Stones

References

External links

Norway Emigration Center websiteMuseum Centre in Hordaland website
{{Coord, 60, 41, 04, N, 5, 03, 05, E, region:NO-12_type:landmark, display=title Open-air museums in Norway Norwegian-American museums * Museums in Vestland Museums of human migration Radøy Relocated buildings and structures