Henningsvær

Henningsvær is the most famous fishing village in Lofoten and is also referred to as the "Venice of the North."

In winter it is at the centre of the world's greatest cod fishery. During the Lofoten Cod Fishery, the harbour is a veritable hive of activity. The original environment has been preserved in Henningsvær, with all its elegant quayside buildings and sway-backed rorbu cabins standing shoulder to shoulder on the sea front.

Henningsvær is a haven for the imagination, a place for spiritual tranquillity and pure enjoyment of the wonders of nature. Hennigsvær's main street is its famous harbour. Behind the quayside buildings we find a colourful mix of homes, shops, workshops, cafes, hotels and a school. Round about the village, the prominent fish racks dominate the scene - the fish is hung out to dry on them, and they are often referred to as Lofoten's "cathedrals."

Grunnskallen reef and the Henningsvær- straumen have for centuries been among the best fishing grounds in Lofoten. Every year, the North Atlantic cod congregate here to spawn. Henningsvær is only a 15-30 minute boat ride from these fishing grounds, a fact that makes it the best choice for anglers from all over the world.

Henningsvær Rorbuer consists of several rorbu cabins, quayside buildings and former warehouses. In the old days there were rorbu cabins, a general store, baiter's sheds, a salting factory, a klipfish drying plant, a cod-liver oil factory and a fish landing station here. Many a fisherman has lived and worked in Henningsvær and these are traditions we wish to maintain and build upon!

Read more about the fishermen's cabins in Lofoten and Vesterålen.

Facts::

Inhabitants: ca. 400
Nearest town/ village: Svolvær (26km)
Nearest airport: Svolvær Helle Airport (31km)
GPS: 68.15358 | 14.208884
Coastal steamer port: 26 km

henningsvar

henningsvarrorbuer

fiskevarethenningsvar

The Lofoten Islands

An avalanche of violet mountain tops with grass-clad flanks.
A boom of mountains with sluices – the straits of Raftsundet, Gimsøystraumen, Nappstraumen, Sundstraumen and Moskenesstraumen. Five ocean currents that together with the ocean itself form the basis for one of Nature's great wonders, the annual migration of the Norwegian-Arctic cod that come down from the Barents Sea to the Lofoten Islands every winter to spawn.

The Lofoten Fishery has meant everything to Lofoten and a great deal to Norway as a whole. The cod have generated incredible wealth, but have also caused bankruptcy and ruin. The Lofoten Fishery has also given rise to superstition and the joy of storytelling. Nowhere else in Norway has nature itself been woven to such an extent into the fabric of legend and fairy tale; from Risen in the Raftsundet strait, via the legend of Vågakallen and Lekamøya to the Cormorants of Utrøst. Lofoten is indeed a fairy tale world.

Even today the Lofoten Fishery is of vital importance, and every year about 40 million kilos of cod are caught, most of which is dried and exported to Italy.
But Lofoten is more than the Lofoten Fishery. Along the Lofoten archipelago there is a considerable amount of agriculture, most of which is found in Vestvågøy, one of North Norway's major agricultural communities. Lofoten is also big in salmon farming and is at the forefront of research on the farming of cod.

The mechanical engineering industry, based on the servicing and maintenance of the fishing fleet, ferries and passenger vessels, provides many jobs. In more recent years new enterprises and many jobs have been created within the growing tourist industry, an industry that in many people's opinion is still in the mould.

It is worthy of repetition:
Lofoten is a fairy tale world with natural surroundings that are unparalleled anywhere else in the world, or as Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson put it in 1869:

"One has not seen true nature until one has been to North Norway, and most beautiful of all is Lofoten."

National Geographic wrote: "Deep, placid fjords, jagged, rocky peaks—a historic and geologic masterpiece. Many of the tiny fishing villages rent out cozy rorbu, the historic cabins where workers were housed in-season, and there are several excellent museums and art galleries. Good environmental quality. The use of fisherman cabins as accommodation particularly appropriate as opposed to large hotels."

Fakta:

Lofoten's total surface area: 1227 km²
Lofoten's population: approx 25.000 people
Highest mountain: almost 1200 metres above sea level
The archipelago stretches 200 km out into the Norwegian Sea
The archipelago is situated on the 67th and 68th parallels

Midnight sun - Lofoten

Fishing boat - Lofoten

Henningsvaer - Lofoten

Lofoten mountains

History - Lofoten Rorbuer

In the 1100's, King Øystein Magnusson built so-called rorbu cabins and a church for the fishermen of Vågan.

This tells us that even a thousand years ago, the Lofoten Fishery was of considerable importance, and that the rorbu cabins were a well-established form of accommodation.

The great boom in the Lofoten Fishery after 1780 resulted in an Act of Parliament in 1816, allowing the government to sell the land on which the fishing villages were built. As a result of this, the rorbu cabins were quickly purchased by landlords and merchants. Before the Act was passed, the fishermen themselves often owned the cabins they lived in. Gradually, many new rorbu cabins were built to meet the demand from the many visiting fishermen that came during the season.

The cabins were very crowded, and often two or three men would sleep head to feet in the same bed. Up until the mid 1850's, candles were the only lighting in use, together with the flames from the open fire. The «finer» cabins had a window in the form of a hole in the wall with a skin made from the stomach of a halibut stretched across it. Stoves and glass window panes did not appear until the late 1800's. In 1896, as many as 2671 rorbu cabins were registered in Lofoten.

Even today, some of the visiting fishermen still stay in rorbu cabins, but now most of them stay on board their boats. What were once lodgings for the fishermen during the arduous months of winter have now become overnight accommodations for tourists. In many of the cabins, however, the interior fittings from the turn of the century have still been preserved.

Henningsvær, in the heart of Lofoten!!

The facts about Henningsvær Rorbuer

Henningsvær

The Lofoten Islands

History - Lofoten Rorbuer

Activities in Lofoten