Steinsdalsfossen (also called ''Øvsthusfossen'' or ''Øfsthusfossen'') is a
waterfall
A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...
in the village of
Steine in the municipality of
Kvam
Kvam is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located along the Hardangerfjorden in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Norheimsund. Other larger set ...
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
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 the ...
. The waterfall is located about west of the large village of
Norheimsund
Norheimsund is the administrative centre of the municipality of Kvam in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the northern side of the Hardangerfjord, about from the city of Bergen. The village of Øystese lies about to the northeas ...
which sits along the
Hardangerfjorden
The Hardangerfjord ( en, Hardanger Fjord) is the fifth longest fjord in the world, and the second longest fjord in Norway. It is located in Vestland county in the Hardanger region. The fjord stretches from the Atlantic Ocean into the mountain ...
.
The waterfall is one of the most visited tourist sites in Norway. From the parking lot, the path goes along the waterfall, up a hill, and behind it where visitors can walk dryshod "into" the rumbling water. Steinsdalsfossen is high, with a main drop of , and has the greatest volume when the snow melts in May and June. Steinsdalsfossen is part of the
Fosselva river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
that comes from the water of the lake
Myklavatnet, located above sea level in the mountains above the waterfall.
History
The waterfall was formed in 1699 when the river found a new race.
[Natur Historisk Vegbok (2004) page 488, also 'Ættarbok for Kvam.']
The Emperor
Wilhelm II of Germany
, house = Hohenzollern
, father = Frederick III, German Emperor
, mother = Victoria, Princess Royal
, religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United)
, signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...
visited Steinsdalsfossen every summer (apart from two years) from 1889 until the start 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 ...
in 1914.
At
Expo 2000
Expo 2000 was a World Expo held in Hanover, Germany from 1 June to 31 October 2000. It was located on the Hanover Fairground (Messegelände Hannover), which is the largest exhibition ground in the world. Initially some 40 million people were expe ...
(in
Hannover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, Germany) Norway was represented with an installation by
Marianne Heske of which a tall copy of Steinsdalsfossen was an important part.
File:Steinsdalsfossen_2015.jpg, In the fall
File:Stien_under_Steinsdalsfossen.png, The path behind. ''(Photo: Willy Haraldsen)''
See also
*
Waterfalls of Norway
References
External links
A visit to Steinsdalsfossen*
Kvam
Waterfalls of Vestland
1699 in Norway
{{Vestland-geo-stub