Fascinating Then and Now Photos That Show How Norway’s Gorgeous Landscapes Have Changed Over the Past Century

Here's a collection of 12 fascinating then and now photos that show how Norway’s gorgeous landscapes have changed over the past century. Decades-old photos are faithfully re-captured by figuring out exactly where the original photographer stood.

Herdalssetra (1905, 2014), Norwegian peasant commune in Møre og Romsdal, coastal province north of Bergen. (Image: Peder Krohn and Oskar Puschmann)

Setesdal Rysstad (1888-2013), another peasant commune, this time located in Aust-Agder province south of the country. As shown, Norway infrastructures were very poor in the nineteenth century. The country is very mountainous, was divided in small nuclei isolated from each population generally. (Image: Axel Lindahl and Oskar Puschmann)

Norway has not been spared such universal phenomena as I riotous urbanism. Flekkerøy, suburb of Kristiansand, Vest-Adger, a small archipelago was once home to local fishermen and sailors. Its geographical location and the beauty of its landscape, and in the XXI century, caused many Norwegians began to build houses for tourism. The area was filled with buildings clinging to the coast, and today it is forbidden to build within 100 meters of the sea. (Image: Anders Beer and Oskar Wilse Puschmann)

In many ways, Norway remains a country very much like it was decades ago. This pier near Hellesund in Vest-Adger, also south of the country, test: has barely changed between 1923 and 2005. (Image: Anders Beer and Oskar Wilse Puschmann)

Lærdalsøyri, again in the county of Sogn og Fjordane. In the image above, we see how the population was in 1884. At the bottom, how it is today. Norway it has been gaining ground in the valleys, the only habitable areas of the country. It shows how well more houses, more trees, as in the rest of Europe, the decline of agriculture has allowed the resurgence of forests. (Image: Axel Lindahl and Oskar Puschmann)

Today, the area devoted to agriculture in Norway, once the subsistence method of much of the country, does not exceed 3%. The soils of the valleys are flooded, and the mountains are full of forests. Therefore, in many cases the farms were built in height, above the forests. In the picture, we see a intalterada exploitation (1920-2004) in Huskeliseter in the province of Oppland. (Image: Anders Beer and Oskar Wilse Puschmann)

Hammerfest, in the province of Finnmark in the far north. The city, traditionally fishing, was razed entirely by German troops during World War II. Like many other European, it was rebuilt along the lines of traditional local architecture. (Image: Axel Lindahl and Oskar Puschmann)

Wooden houses in the interior of the province on Fjordane Sogn (1905-2007), on the Atlantic coast of Norway. The traditionally very poor area (the town we see no outlet to the sea) remains sparsely populated, like most of the country, but it has shaken off the rudimentary huts in favor of more modern, safe and functional. (Image: Beer and Oskar Wilse Puschmann)

In the late nineteenth century, thousands of Norwegians emigrated to America in search of new opportunities. Their exodus is less resounding than the Germans or Italians, but the reasons were similar: lack of opportunity and, in the case of the most rural provinces on Fjordane Sogn and chronic backwardness. In the image, we see people i Faleide Turistsenter in Stryn, in 1885 and 2013. (Image: Axel Lindahl and Oskar Puschmann)

Nyhusom, near the town of Sel, Oppland, interior province historically dedicated to agriculture. In the above image, taken in 1926, we see a man with his horse plowing the marginal lands of Norway. The passage of time and the shift to a service economy has meant that agriculture no longer the typical employment of the rural population. Now, the above agricultural areas used for all kinds of purposes, such as private or public properties (below, in 2004). (Image: Anders Beer and Oskar Wilse Puschmann)

As shown, the Norwegian town planning in coastal and inland villages, has remained more or less unchanged in the last hundred years. The photos above represent Kabelvåg town located in Nordland, provincial long link between the Arctic and the south. Despite obvious improvements in the quality of buildings and infrastructure, the austerity of the buildings and their planning is largely maintained. (Image: Anders Beer and Oskar Wilse Puschmann)

Seljestadjuvet, in the municipality of Odda, Hordaland province, southwest of the country. Numerous Norwegian landforms caused that in the nineteenth century (the photo above is from 1885) any journey between valley and valley was an absolute ordeal. Cobbled roads and carriages to move through a complex, mountainous country, compared to modern and functional paved roads that underpin today Norway (pictured below, at present). The above, however, was a milestone for its time. (Image: Axel Lindahl and Oskar Puschmann)