The Garborg Center is a literary science museum about the author couple Arne and Hulda Garborg. The center is known for innovatively presenting their ideas and literature, and the exhibition sparks an interest to investigate further and encourage visitors to take on creative work.
The Garborg Center is a literary science museum about the author couple Arne Garborg (1851-1924) and Hulda Garborg (1862-1934). The center is known for innovatively presenting their ideas and literature, and the exhibition sparks an interest to investigate further and encourage visitors to take on creative work. The aim is to inspire guests to read, write and engage in community involvement.
The second half of the 1800s was an important period for Norwegian literature. At that time Arne Garborg was one of the most important author philosophers in Norway, writing novels, poetry, essays and prose. He was also an active participant in public debates. Several of his books are considered the best within their genres.
Garborg was also an avid advocate for “nynorsk”, a version of the Norwegian language based on old dialects in the countryside, as opposed to “bokmål”, the official version of Norwegian based strongly on the Danish language. Garborg often used nynorsk in his published works and he is the man behind its artistic breakthrough. Nynorsk eventually became an official version of Norwegian, side by side with bokmål.
Today the poetic masterpiece The Mountain Maid (“Haugtussa”) and the novel Peace (“Fred”) are the most read works by Arne Garborg. The Mountain Maid has also been immortalized through composer Edvard Grieg’s music (Op. 67). Other important novels were The Making of Daniel Braut (“Bondestudentar”), (“Mannfolk”), (“Hjå ho mor”), Weary Men (“Trette men”) and The Lost Father (“Den bortkomne faderen”). Arne Garborg did his most renowned writing in the 1880s and 1890s but he continued to be a prominent intellectual figure in Norway throughout the rest of his life.
Hulda Garborg (born Bergersen) was 11 years younger than Arne Garborg. They married in 1887 and she had her literary breakthrough in the 1890s. However, her work did not only revolve around writing. She was passionate about raising the status of Norway’s traditional culture and developing it further. Eventually she got the nick name “Mother Norway”. She wrote popular books about folk costumes, traditional dance, cooking and housekeeping, as well as novels, poetry and plays. Her literature was widely read in her time. Hulda Garborg was a prominent feminist and one of the country’s first female local politicians.
Together, Arne and Hulda Garborg fought for Norwegian independence, democracy, human rights, justice and equality.
The author couple travelled substantially and spent periods of their lives in Germany and France. During the 1890s they were part of the circle surrounding the theatre association Freie Bühne in Berlin, and that decade Arne Garborg became one of the most discussed authors in German literary magazines. He befriended several prominent German writers, some whom later visited him in his mountain home in Norway. Arne Garborg was an important inspiration for European naturalist authors and his books were published in several editions. Nobel Prize winner Gerhard Hauptmann and his first wife Marie Herzfeld were close friends with Arne and Hulda Garborg.
The Garborg Center is located in Bryne, south of Stavanger, and opened in 2012. It shares a building with the local public library. The center aims to inspire community involvement and is a meeting place where visitors can read, write and create. Learning by doing is the pedagogical approach and visitors are engaged in fun tasks and problem solving in order to get acquainted with the authors. Visitors are also encouraged to put forth their own opinions and leave statements in the exhibition. Apart from the permanent exhibition the Garborg Center regularly hosts temporary exhibitions and events related to Arne and Hulda Garborg’s literature and ideas.
Arne Garborg’s childhood home, Garborgheimen, as well as his writers’ cabin, Knudaheio, are also open museums today. They are just a short drive away from the Garborg Center, making it possible to visit all three museums in one day.
Garborgheimen has the architecture of a “Jæren house”, a common wooden house structure in the Jæren district from the 1500s to the 1900s. It was built in 1848 by the parents of the author and Arne was born there in 1851. The house is well preserved and is furnished according to how it was when Arne Garborg lived there. The house also serves as a backdrop and stage for the events in his novel Peace (“Fred”).
Knudaheio is situated in the stony hillside above Undheim village. Arne Garborg used his childhood memories from this landscape as inspiration when writing The Mountain Maid (“Haugtussa”). The house was built in 1899 and Arne Garborg had his summer stays here for the rest of his life.From the house one can see the whole Jæren landscape and the view stretches all the way out to the North Sea. Both Arne and Hulda Garborg’s ashes are placed in a burial mound in the Knudaheio garden.
For more information, please visit the webside jaermuseet.no
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