One of my favourite towns in Norway is Ålesund. It was wonderfully rebuilt after the incident related below. The
tale may have been romantically embellished but there is obviously also a great deal of truth to it and the fire was a
terrible reality.One of my favourite towns in Norway is Ålesund. It was wonderfully rebuilt after the incident related below. The
tale may have been romantically embellished but there is obviously also a great deal of truth to it and the fire was a
terrible reality.
In the town of Ålesund in Norway there lived a man called Anders Nord. He was true Christian but he was still surprised when an angel appeared in his living room.
'A great catastrophe will soon happen' said the angel. 'But if you and your family remain in this house, you will have nothing to fear and no harm will come to you.'
West of the city stood a margarine factory. At two o'clock on the morning of the 23rd of January 1904 flames began to spread from its walls. Someone had been very careless.
Anders had believed the angel and when rumours began to spread of a great fire, he realised that this was indeed the catastrophe that the angel had foretold.
'Dear wife, stay in the house, have faith and all will be well for the Lord will protect us.' said Anders.
His wife looked at him and thought him mad for her faith was weak. Without asking Anders, she enlisted the help of the neighbours and had all the furniture and other valuables taken away into the park. She left him just the one chair he was sitting on and the table on which his Bible rested. At first she stayed with her husband because she loved him but when she saw the flames coming nearer and nearer, it was too much for her and she made her escape eastwards.
How terrible it was. The wind howled in a great storm. Glowing embers fell like a red blizzard. Every man, woman and child, save Anders of course, was running for their lives. Many were only dressed in their night-gowns. It was difficult for them to know which way to go. The fire seemed to be everywhere. They found that they could either head inland eastwards or end up on the shore and be rescued by relatives and friends with boats from the outlying islands. One careless man was ironically knocked down outside the fire station yet strangely his death was the only one recorded on that tragic night.
Anders stayed where he was reading his Bible. After sixteen hours he finally looked up, went to the window, and saw the devastation the fire had wrought. However, his own house was totally untouched and stands there to this day.
When Anders' wife returned she found all their lovely furniture had been reduced to a few piles of grey ash. Her despair was greatest, however, when she found her home was just as she had left it and had to face her husband.
Ten thousand people were homeless and of the eight hundred and fifty houses only two dozen remained. Afterwards, the people of Europe in general and Kaiser William II of Germany himself in particular were very generous. Provisions and building materials arrived by sea so that soon very nearly the whole town was rebuilt with turrets, colourful façades and painted decoration. Now everyone who comes may be enchanted by this tale.
The above story has been based on the German texts and on other historical texts passed to me in the country of Norway. I have filled in small gaps, removed one contradiction and taken one small liberty but otherwise I have remained faithful to the original. My thanks to J. for her help with the German (which was the only text available from the tourist office).