Western Norway Emigration Centre

Vestnorsk Utvandringssenter is an open-air museum on the island of Radøy in Alver municipality. The museum tells the story of the great Norwegian emigration to America through a collection of original buildings that were shipped back from Minnesota and North Dakota. The buildings, erected by Norwegian-Americans between 1860 and 1920, include an emigrant church from Brampton, North Dakota (donated in 1996), a schoolhouse, a doctor's office, a town hall with prison, and a residential house. All were reassembled in a rural coastal setting that echoes the landscape the emigrants left behind. Beyond its historical focus, the center also examines emigration, immigration and cultural encounters in contemporary Norway. It is operated by Museumssenteret i Hordaland.