BreivikBreivik is a charming place on the northern side of the Breivikfjord, right between Breivikbotn and Sørvær, roughly 30 km from Hasvik. During the first census in Finnmark in 1520, four families were living in Breivik. Today, 15 people live here permanently.
Since many have their summerhouses here
in Breivik, the population considerably rises in summer. Breivik is a traditional fishing village
and trading post. The place has had an old reputation as one of the best
fishing villages in the whole of Finnmark.
Until 1911, there was no thing such as a real harbour in Breivik. The
fishermen had to pull their boats upon the shore after the day's labour. There
was enough space for up to 300 fishermen with different kinds of rowing boats.
The crew of each boat had to take along enough birch stems which were needed to
roll the boats up the shore. In the summer of 1911, the construction of a pier
was started . The work was finished in 1926. Just as the rest of western Finnmark,
Breivik was burned by the German troops in the autumn of 1944. Back then, 20
families lived in Breivik, of which six left the village after they had heard
about the evacuation order, while the rest fled to caves and remote cabins. In February 1945, these families were
among the 502 people picked up by allied battleships which took them to A storm destroyed most of the pier in
1948. The authorities denied a complete reconstruction of the pier, only parts
of it were rebuild in 1957.
In 1968 the authorities offered money to
the people in Breivik if they moved, and many families left the place. This
trend somewhat changed when Rolf and Helga Hansen started buying fish in 1977. Today, there is no fish trade in Breivik
and the grocery store is closed. |
|
Print this
Email this