The Notodden history team was this year’s winner of the Rikard Berges prize for 2024. The team receives the award from the Telemark history team for its pioneering work in documenting, preserving and communicating the history of the town by Heddalsvatnet.
The distribution took place at the annual seminar of the Telemark history team, which this year was held in Rauland. The price includes flowers, a diploma and a check for NOK 5,000. Sigrid Bø and Ellen Schrumf were responsible for the presentation.
Celebrated
The Notodden historielag was founded in 1981 and during these years has published 40 annuals. The last one came at Christmas.
– Behind the hundreds of articles and thousands of pages, there is undoubtedly an impressive amount of work. The turn of the year for 2023 had ten contributors with themes from Gavlesjåstulen on Lifjell to weekday meals in old Heddal. In addition to highlighting interesting aspects of local history, the yearbook is well designed and contains rich photographic material. Last year, the history team also published volume 4 in the series about homesteads in Notodden municipality. This is an important work for posterity, says the jury’s statement of foundation.
This year it consisted of Sigrid Bø, Tor Kjetil Gardåsen and Gunnar Brekke Amundsen.
Many householders
In the fourth band about homesteads, they deal with the North West side, from Roe in Yli-roden towards Sauland. According to the census from 1782 there were 22 homesteads in this area, at the census in 1801 there were five more. All in all, the last band mentions 75 places, but all of these did not exist at the same time, says the introduction to the excellent book.
Skilled online
The jury also points to the fact that Notodden’s history team excels digitally.
– They have a particularly good website with historical articles, photographic material and other local history material. The team are also skilled at using the website Facebook to convey local history. The history team is active with around 300 members. They are offered many lectures and activities during the year. The team also disposes of one of the old workers’ housing in Grønnbyen, where one part is furnished as it was in the period 1911–1920. One can conclude from this that the Notodden history association makes an extensive effort to preserve and communicate the rich history of Notodden municipality, a work in the best spirit of Rikard Berge. We congratulate the Notodden history team on the Rikard Berges prize for 2024, write the jury.
Grateful
John Einar Oterholt is the newly elected leader of the Notodden history team. He thanked for the award and says that he is very grateful for all the work put in by zealots, and where everyone contributes.
He brought Inger Johanne Bakka, Ragnhild Kastet Kaasa and Ole Arvid Vassbotten to the distribution.
In a special class
It is no coincidence that Rikard Berge (1881–1969) has had an award named after him. He was born on the farm Berge in Rauland, but grew up with his grandfather Rikard Aslaksson Berge. At Berge there was a lively storytelling and tradition environment. The grandfather had many dreams and his mother Sigrid was a good communicator with good communication skills. She sat inside with a lot of fabric.
Poor Rikard wasn’t too old when he started writing down stories about people on leave or others who stopped by the farm. As an adult, he traveled all over Telemark and collected more folk memorabilia in the county than anyone else both before and after him.
To Kviteseid
He trained as a teacher, and in 1907 he settled in Kviteseid. The following year, Rikard Berge married Johanna Bugge, daughter of the linguist Sofus Bugge. The gift arm led to him gaining access to even more scientific material.
In 1916 he became employed at what is today the Telemark Museum. It was his workplace for 35 years, until he retired in 1951. He made a great effort for the County Museum in Skien, and left behind an enormous amount of both books and other written material. Norsk Sogukunst, Norsk bondesylv plus Vinje and Rauland I-IV stand out as his main works. The work capacity was enormous.
Berge was regarded as a man with a tough nature, and only after he passed away was the University given access to copy the collected material after the folkloric collector from Telemark.
