Ulvik is a small fjord village at the end of Ulvikafjorden, a branch of the Hardangerfjord. About 540 people live in the village itself, with around 1,100 in the whole municipality. The name comes from Old Norse Ulfvík, meaning wolf bay.
On 25 April 1940, German naval forces bombarded Ulvik from the sea as retaliation for Norwegian attacks on their fleet. The centre of the village burned down. The one building that survived was the church, a wooden cross-shaped structure from 1859. Its interior was painted by local artist Lars Osa in the 1920s. The altarpiece dates from 1630, and the church holds a copy of an antependium from around 1250, believed to be the oldest in the country. The original is in the Historical Museum in Bergen.
Ulvik is one of the main fruit-growing areas in Hardanger. Apple orchards line the terraces above the fjord, and a small cider route with three farms offers tastings in season. The agricultural school Hjeltnes has roots going back to a tree nursery founded in 1765, the oldest of its kind in Norway.
The village is also known as Norway's poetry village, as the poet Olav H. Hauge (1908-1994) lived his entire life here. His centre, Haugesenteret, is down by the fjord.
On 25 April 1940, German naval forces bombarded Ulvik from the sea as retaliation for Norwegian attacks on their fleet. The centre of the village burned down. The one building that survived was the church, a wooden cross-shaped structure from 1859. Its interior was painted by local artist Lars Osa in the 1920s. The altarpiece dates from 1630, and the church holds a copy of an antependium from around 1250, believed to be the oldest in the country. The original is in the Historical Museum in Bergen.
Ulvik is one of the main fruit-growing areas in Hardanger. Apple orchards line the terraces above the fjord, and a small cider route with three farms offers tastings in season. The agricultural school Hjeltnes has roots going back to a tree nursery founded in 1765, the oldest of its kind in Norway.
The village is also known as Norway's poetry village, as the poet Olav H. Hauge (1908-1994) lived his entire life here. His centre, Haugesenteret, is down by the fjord.
