Posts under "History"

The World´s Only Bicycle Lift “Trampe” Invented in Trondheim, Norway

Posted by kari No Comments
Sep 13 2011

Further to my post yesterday on Cycling in Norway, I want to share an interesting piece of bicycle equipment with you.  The sykkel heis/trampe (bicycle elevator/lift) was invented in Trondheim, Norway in 1993 and is currently the only one of it’s kind in the world.  Why Trondheim, you might wonder?

1)  Trondheim is a university city with over 30,000 students.

2)  Trondheim, like many other Norwegian cities is very hilly.

3)  Jarle Wanvik, the inventor of the sykkel heis and owner of the company that built it, Design Management AS, is from Trondheim!

Wanvik wanted to use ski lift technology to design a machine that would increase the number of cyclists and frequency of cycling, while addressing the commuters´challenge of enduring sweat and overexertion on the way to work or school. Nobody wants to show up to work or to school all sweaty and exhausted.  The University of Trondheim is at the top of a large hill, so most of the students have to climb that hill on a daily basis to get to class.

example of a nøkkelkort (key card)

In order to use the lift, one must obtain a key card from the nearby bicycle repair shop.  The cost is 100 NOK per year.  Tourists and one-time users can rent a card for free.  The lift is about 130 meters (400 feet long) long.  The maximum length of a bicycle lift is 400 meters (about 1200 feet).  The speed of the lift is 1.5-2 meters per second.  5 cyclists can use the lift at the same time.  Please see the technical explanation from the official website here:

It consists of a wire rope with 11 foot plates attached to the rope. On its way downhill, the foot plates are cleaning the lift channel. At the starting point, there is an accelerator (kind of piston) to make the start easier. The foot plate takes over the cyclist after the accelerator. At the top of the hill, you find the 5,5 kW electric motor.

After the sykkel heis was installed, bicycling in Trondheim became more and more popular.  Over 220,000 people have used it! And over 20 million NOK have been spent over the past 20 years in the city of Trondheim to encourage bicycling as a mode of transport.  The official site of the Trampe is a very informative site that I enjoyed perusing. You will find many photos, videos, the history of Trampe, User instructions, and more.

Watch this great You Tube Clip on the Sykkel heis YouTube Preview Image

Click here to see more pictures of sykkel heis on a blog.

Cod Liver Oil the Norwegian Health Secret

Posted by kari No Comments
Jul 12 2011

Are you as overwhelmed by all of the health tips you see on TV, hear on the radio, and read about in magazines?  There are certain products that claim to be the best for healthy skin, foods and herbs that are said to promote emotional stability, products that are supposed to make your teeth and bones strong, and so on and so on.  Why don´t we all just follow the Norwegian tradition of taking tran (cod liver oil), which kills a whole bunch of birds with one stone?!  I must admit I have yet to try tran myself, but if it were put in front of me, I´d do it.

Aside from the nasty fishy taste, I´ve heard so many great things about tran.  I don´t think it´s quite as common today as it was decades ago, but it is still popular among Norwegians.  Tran is made from the oil from cod liver.  In the olden days, cod liver was left in a vat in the sun to ferment and the oil was skimmed off of the fish.  In the last hundred years, tran has been produced by boiling cod livers and extracting the oil.

So what are the benefits of taking tran?  Cod liver oil is rich with Vitamin A, Vitamin D, and Omega-3 fatty acids, which together are responsible for healthy skin, teeth, bones, joints, cardiovascular system, nervous system, digestive system, and mood stability.  Wow!

The reason tran became so popular amongst Norwegians is because Norway is so far north and there are months with little to no sun at all depending on the location.  Therefore, people need extra Vitamin D supplements to take the place of the sun.

Believe it or not, this same product had multiple uses years and years ago.  In fact, it was one of Norway´s most valuable commodities.  Cod liver oil (originally called ´lysi´meaning light) was used in fuel lamps, to tan skins, and as an ingredient in paints and soaps.  Kind of reminds me of lutefisk which contains lye that is also an ingredient in soap.

Nevertheless, I´m going to try it this winter and drink lots of it if this coming winter is anything like last!

You can even take it in capsule form!

Norwegian Puffin Dog

Posted by kari No Comments
Jul 11 2011

Have you ever seen a norsk lundehund?  I don´t believe I have ever seen one as I wasn´t aware of their existence until I read the latest issue of Viking.  I´m not usually very interested in small dogs, but this dog seems pretty cool.

Besides it´s nice looking coat and adorable face, the lundehund has several very unique features.  While most dogs have 4 toes, this little dog has 6!    In addition to it´s increased gripping abilities, it can crane it´s neck 180 degrees backwards and rest it on it´s back.  I have a weimaraner who can do this too-it looks so uncomfortable!  Craning it´s neck isn´t the only joint related rarity the lundehund boasts.  It can turn it´s forelegs to the side at a 90 degree angle perpendicular to it´s body.  That means it can lay completely flat on the ground with it´s 4 legs spread straight out.  The lundehund also has ears that are normally upright, but can be closed completely to protect from dirt and moisture.

 

 

 

The word lundehund comes from the Norwegian word lundefugl, which means puffin bird.  This breed has been in Norway since the 1600s and was used primarily to hunt along the coasts for puffins and their eggs.  Because of the lundehund´s flexibility and super traction paws, these dogs were at an advantage for hunting puffins in the nooks and crannies of cliffs and caves on the coast.  The Lofoten Islands are home to many puffins and coincidentally where the lundehund traces it´s earliest roots to.  The isolation of a small fishing village called Måstad (on the island of Værøy, one of Lofoten´s islands) and consequent poor communication with the outside world is arguably the only reason the lundehund exists today.  In every other area the lundehund inhabited, it is extinct.

While there are about 2,000 of these dogs worldwide (350 in the U.S. and most of the rest in Norway) today, there was a time when there were only 6.  Canine Distemper struck this breed 2 separate times-once around World War II eliminating many of them and then again in the early 1960s.  Through careful breeding, the lundehund was able to survive as a species and is no longer considered endangered.

This awesome little dog might be on my wish list in the future to join my lovely Weimaraner.

Viking Influence on the English Language

Posted by kari 4 Comments
Jun 19 2011

Sure, there are more and more English words being incorporated into the Norwegian language all the time.  Courtesy of American films, television, music, and of course the internet, modern Norwegians use words like cool, jeans, baby, drink, chips, and many more.   Let´s not forget, however, the massive influence the Vikings had on the English language.  You may be surprised to know how many English words are derived from old Norse or Norwegian.

map showing Scandinavian settlement from the 8th-11th centuries as indicated by color

dirt-comes from ´drit´which means feces

berserk-comes from ´berserkr´ which means bare shirt (signifying the courage of the Vikings)

reindeer-comes from ´hreindyri´ (reinsdyr på norsk)

town-comes from ´tun´which means an open space between buildings

hell-comes from ´Hel´the ruler of the underworld in Norse mythology

ugly-comes from ´uggligir´which means dreadful

husband-comes from ´husbondi´which means master of the house

gun-comes from ´gunn´which means war or battle

anger-comes from ´angr´which means trouble or affliction

knife-comes from ´kniv´

sister-søster

smile-smil

seat-sete

kniv-knife

There are over 1,000 old Norse words that are part of the English language today.  Additionally, there are many place names in England that are directly related to Viking settlements.  Place names that end in ´by´(village or town)´thorpe´(farm), ´thwaite´ (clearing) and ´toft´(homestead) are but a few.  There are also many family names that end in ´son.´

So next time you hear or see English words in Norway, remember that there are many more Norwegian or old Norse words that have influenced the English language.  The Vikings sure got around and made their mark!

 

Binders-the story of the paper clip in Norway

Posted by kari 4 Comments
Jun 13 2011

You have to admit, the binders (paper clip) is one of the greatest oppfinnelser (inventions) ever.  If you work in an office environment or you are in school, you are well aware of the convenience of the binders.  When I started taking Norwegian classes, I learned that this office essential was invented and patented by a Norwegian.  His name was Johan Vaaler (1866-1910).  Vaaler, a Norwegian who held a degree in electronics, science, and mathematics worked for Kristiania´s Alfred J. Bryns Patentkontor, a patent office in Norway.  Instead of seeking a patent in his small home country, he obtained a patent in Germany in 1899 and in the U.S. in 1901.

Johan Vaaler

The modern Gem style paperclip as we know it today was actually invented prior to Vaaler´s invention of the more simple style as shown below.

Vaaler´s design is much less effective as the Gem-style paperclip:

As you can see, Vaaler´s binders lacks the extra inside curve which allows paper to be easily placed between the wires.  Vaaler´s binders was never manufactured or marketed, but it gained national attention in Norway and to this day, Norwegians still believe one of their countrymen invented this object.

In World War II, much like the French had done previously, Norwegians wore a binders in their lapel to signify solidarity and unity during the German occupation.  The Nazis had forbidden the Norwegians to wear a flag pin or any sort of symbol that illustrated King Haakon VII.

In 1989, a giant (7 meter high) binders was erected at the Business School (BI) in Sandvika, Norway to commemorate Vaaler´s supposed oppfinnelse.

In 1999, 100 years after Vaaler received the patent for his binders in Germany, a Norwegian stamp was created with the binders on it to commemorate this apparent Norwegian oppfinnelse.

Further yet, in 2005, Norsk Biogfrafisk Leksikon (The Norwegian Biographical Lexicon), presented Vaaler as the inventor of the binders.

It is not only Norwegians who falsely believe that one of their own people invented the binders.  In Tennessee, an American school teacher unknowingly used this myth to demonstrate a history lesson about the Holocaust.  She started the Paper Clips Project, a project to collect 6 million binders to symbolize the death of 6 million Jews.  This teacher at Whitwell Middles School mistakenly interpreted the use of the binders in Norwgians´lapels during WWII as a symbol of support for the Jewish people.  This was not the case.  The binders in their lapel was rather a symbol of Norwegian unity against together against the Nazis.

Despite the inaccurate claim that a Norwegian invented the binders, the myth has been used in positive ways and has done no harm.

There aren´t very many things that the Norwegians have invented, so in my opinion, let them believe one of their own created the binders!

At least they have the ostehøvel (cheese slicer) to stand by!

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