Strusshamn i byrjinga av 1800-talet. Penneteikning av J.F.L. Dreier — Strusshamn i byrjinga av 1800-talet (eigar: Universitetsmuseet i Bergen).

Strusshamn at the beginning of the 1800s.

Strusshamn at the beginning of the 1800s. Pen and ink drawing by J.F.L.Dreier. (owner: Universitetsmuseet i Bergen).

Written by Nils Georg Brekke Anders Bjarne Fossen

Published 06.02.2024

Strusshamn

On the south side of Askøy, just west of Bergen, lies Strusshamn. The sheltered bay is one of the best harbours in Byfjorden, on the route south. At the time of the sailing ships the harbour could be full of vessels from Bergen and abroad, lying in wait for favourable wind. Old anchoring rings from 1687 bear witness to this. Strusshamn was a quarantine harbour for ships that came sailing in with the yellow pest flag flying.

After the law of 1648 was passed on “Skydsfærd til Lands og Vands, samt Gjæstgiverier i Norge” (Transport on Land and on Sea as well as Guesthouses in Norway) a guesthouse locality was also established here. The main building, which probably dates from the 1700s stood until 1993, altered and reconstructed with an aura of old grandeur. The building had a freestanding row of columns over two storeys at the main façade, but in the pen and ink drawing by J.F.L. Dreier we see the guesthouse with a large hipped roof beside a boathouse, which no longer exists today. At the guesthouse place there was a lively exchange of goods, and figures entered into the medical reports on venereal disease are the highest in Søndre Bergenhus County.

The first church was built here in 1741, as an annex church to the Cathedral. Laksevåg and Loddefjord belonged under Strusshamn parish; Loddefjord right up to 1915. The old church in Strusshamn burned down in 1861, but it was re-erected in 1864, further south. This church also burned down in 1966, and was reconstructed in 1969.

Den gamle gjestgjevarstaden i Strusshamn brann ned til grunnen hausten 1993

I 1804 sette Hans Nielsen Hauge og venene hans opp eit møllebruk i Strusshamn, og utover på 1800-talet var gjestgjevaren samstundes møllebestyrar. Møllebruket utvikla seg til å verta ei sentral forretningsmølle for maling av austersjøkorn som dei bergenske kjøpmennene importerte. Som dei fem andre Askøymøllene vart også mølla i Strusshamn driven av bergenske møllarmeistrar. Då vervseigar Rasmus Rolfsen frå Elsesro kjøpte mølla i 1879, sette han inn ein turbin i staden for det gamle vasshjulet. I 1909 avvikla bergensfirmaet M.G. Riisøen møllebruket og selde driftsbygningane og vassrettane til Arne Johannessen, som flytte sin shoddyfabrikk dit frå Årstad. Dette var i mange år ei hjørnesteinsbedrift i kommunen, ei av dei fremste i Skandinavia innanfor denne bransjen. I 1980-åra vart produksjonen avvikla.

Strusshamn var kyrkjestad og den naturlege samlingsstaden for eit stort omland. Biletet syner kyrkja som vart bygd i 1864 (foto: O. Schumann Olsen, eigar: Billedsamlingen, Universitetsbiblioteket i Bergen (S.O. 939)).