Catharine Hermine Kølle (29 February 1788 – 27 August 1859) was a Norwegian adventurer, writer and artist.

Biography

Catharine Kølle was born at

Snarøya Snarøya is a populated peninsula in the inner Oslofjord in Norway. It belongs to Bærum municipality in Akershus county. It is located south of the districts Lysaker, Lagåsen and Fornebu, and has 2,940 inhabitants. History Its name is de ...

in the parish of

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...

, Norway. She was one of three daughters of Christian Kølle (1736–1814) and Elisabeth Monrad (1758–1829). Her father was a language teacher and theologian. In 1803 the family moved to

Kopervik Kopervik is the largest town on the island of Karmøy in Rogaland county, Norway. It is also the administrative centre of the municipality of Karmøy. It is part of the traditional district of Haugaland. The town was also an independent munic ...

on the island of

Karmøy Karmøy is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is southwest of the town of Haugesund in the traditional district of Haugaland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kopervik. Most of the municipality lies on ...

in the county of

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

, Norway. In 1807 the family moved to Holmen in

Ulvik Ulvik is a municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality stretches from the Hardangerfjord to the mountains that reach above sea level. The administrative centre of the municipality is t ...

in the district of

Hardanger Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is ...

, which became the permanent basis for her life. She received the customary education of young ladies from professional families. She later taught German and French, and some Latin and Italian at a small learning institution which had been founded by her father. Her family lived mostly on fruit growing and farming. She is known principally as a

hiker A hike is a long, vigorous walking, walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer tim ...

and artist, as well as for her travel journals. Between 1826 and 1858, Catharine Kölle carried out at least fifteen long journeys at home and abroad. She twice traveled by foot to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, including trips to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

in 1841 and

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

in 1858. She chronicled her travels in journals which provided documentary material about the places she visited. Her travel journals totaling over 400 pages are maintained at the library of the University Museum of Bergen. She also painted at least 251

watercolor painting Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...

s of which over 200 watercolors are also maintained at the University Museum of Bergen. The total list of works contains not only scenes from places she has visited. She also painted the images in the travel descriptions from inaccessible destinations including

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

. Additionally she painted biblical and mythological scenes. Her works are painted in bright, bold colors. They have a naive expression, with accuracy in description of the topography and architecture.

Biography

References

Further reading