Telavåg Explained

Official Name:Telavåg
Other Name:Tælavåg
Settlement Type:Village
Pushpin Map:Vestland#Norway
Pushpin Label Position:left
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of the village
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Norway
Subdivision Name1:Western Norway
Subdivision Name2:Vestland
Subdivision Type3:District
Subdivision Name3:Midhordland
Subdivision Type4:Municipality
Subdivision Name4:Øygarden
Utc Offset1:+01:00
Utc Offset1 Dst:+02:00
Area Total Km2:0.81
Population As Of:2019
Population Total:581
Population Density Km2:717
Postal Code Type:Post Code
Postal Code:5380 Tælavåg
Elevation M:26
Elevation Footnotes:[1]
Coordinates:60.2628°N 4.9864°W

Telavåg or Tælavåg is a village in Øygarden municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the island of Sotra, about 39km (24miles) southwest of the city of Bergen. The 0.81frac=16NaNfrac=16 village has a population (2019) of 581 and a population density of .[2]

History

Telavåg tragedy

During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, Telavåg played an important role in the secret North Sea boat traffic between Norway and Great Britain. The village was the scene of the Telavåg Tragedy in the spring of 1942, during World War II. On 26 April 1942, after having discovered that some of the inhabitants of Telavåg were hiding two men from the Linge company, Arne Meldal Værum and Emil Gustav Hvaal, the Gestapo arrived to arrest the Norwegian officers. Shots were exchanged, and two prominent German Gestapo officers (Kriminalrat Gerhard Berns and Kriminalsekretär Henry Bertram) were shot dead. Arne Værum was also killed in the incident. Emil Hvaal and his son were executed a few months later.

Reichskommissar Josef Terboven personally oversaw the Nazi reprisal, which was quick and brutal. On 30 April, as the villagers were watching, all buildings were destroyed, all boats were sunk or confiscated, and all livestock taken away. All men in the village were either executed or sent to the Nazi concentration camp at Sachsenhausen. Of the 72 who were deported from Telavåg, 31 were murdered in captivity. Women and children were imprisoned for two years. 18 Norwegian prisoners (unrelated to Telavåg) held at the Trandum internment camp were also executed as a reprisal. Though smaller in scale, this atrocity is often compared to similar events at Lidice in the Czech Republic and Oradour-sur-Glane in France.

Attractions

North Sea Maritime Museum

The North Sea Maritime Museum in Telavåg (Nordsjøfartmuseet i Televåg) opened on 26 April 1998. It is a modern building with a cinema theater seating 100 people and a conference room. The permanent exhibition of the North Sea Traffic Museum deals with the Telavåg tragedy. The museum also exhibits the North Sea Traffic and features Leif Larsen, who as a central person in this traffic that became known as "Shetland-Larsen".[3] [4]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tælavåg, Sund (Hordaland). yr.no. Norwegian. 2014-12-11.
  2. Web site: Statistisk sentralbyrå . Statistics Norway . 1 January 2019 . Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality .
  3. Web site: North Sea Maritime Museum in Telavåg. Embassy of Norway in the United Kingdom.
  4. Web site: Nordsjøfartmuseet. Museum Vest. Norwegian.