Skjolden

Skjolden
Village, March 2024
View of Skjolden
Skjolden Location of the village Show map of Vestland Skjolden Skjolden (Norway) Show map of Norway
Coordinates: 61°29′25″N 07°36′02″E
Country	Norway
Region	Western Norway
County	Vestland
District	Sogn
Municipality	Luster
Elevation [1]	1 m (3 ft)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Post Code	6876 Skjolden

Norway, Skjolden, February 2024. Vadim Chuprina

The restored house of Ludwig Wittgenstein in Skjolden, Norway.[2] 2024. Vadim Chuprina

Skjolden is a village in the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway. It is located at the end of the Lustrafjorden, a branch of the Sognefjorden. Skjolden is located at the innermost point of the Sognefjorden, Norway's longest fjord, and the length of the Sognefjorden is measured from Skjolden to the island of Ytre Sula where the fjord meets the ocean—over 200 km. The valleys of Mørkridsdal and Fortunsdal meet at Skjolden, just west of the Hurrungane mountains.[3] Skjolden is home to about 200 people.[4]

The village is located along the Sognefjellsvegen road, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of the lake Prestesteinsvatnet and the mountain Fannaråki. Skjolden is about 25 kilometres (16 mi) northeast of the municipal center of Gaupne and about 35 kilometres (22 mi) northeast of Hafslo. North of the village is Breheimen National Park, home of the glaciers Harbardsbreen and Spørteggbreen and the mountain Tverrådalskyrkja.

Notable people

The village was home to philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein who lived here after 1913 during some periods of his life; the longest one was 13 months. Important parts of his works were written here. He had designed a small wooden house that was erected on a remote rock over the Eidsvatnet Lake in 1913 and called "Østerrike" (Austria) by locals. It was broken up in 1958 to be rebuilt in the village. A local foundation collected donations and bought the house in 2014; it was dismantled again and re-erected at its original location; the inauguration took place on 20 June 2019 under international attendance.[5]

Media gallery

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  View of the Vassbakken waterfall
• 
  Skjolden village
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  View of the village with waterfall behind

References

1. "Luster" (in Norwegian). yr.no. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
2. Julian Baggini, Secular pilgrimage, Aeon magazine (2019)
3. Store norske leksikon. "Skjolden" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2010-09-11.
4. Statistisk sentralbyrå (2001). "Folke- og boligtellingen 2001, kommune- og bydelshefter 1426 Luster" (PDF) (in Norwegian).
5. Derbyshire, Jonathan (6 September 2019). "A place to think: Wittgenstein's Norwegian retreat opens to visitors". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2020-08-01.