Hordaland      Formerly called "Søndre Bergenhus Amt", Hordaland is located on the west coast of Norway. The county covers an area of 6,030 square miles (15,600 square kilometers), and is made up of five regions: Hardanger, which stretches from the coast up into the mountain area called Hardangervidda; Voss, which is an inland farming region; and the three coastal regions: Sunnhordland, Midthordland and Nordhordland. Most of the population of Hordaland live in towns along or near the fjords and coastline.      Hordaland fylke is split from southwest to northeast by the Hardangerfjorden, the second largest fjord in Norway. This great tourist attraction extends 114 miles (183 kilometers) from the Atlantic ocean into Hordaland county. An eastern branch of the Hardangerfjord, the Eidfjord, extends 15 miles (24 kilometers) to the quaint village of Vik near the Vøringfoss, a waterfall 535 feet (163 meters) high. A southern branch of the Hardangerfjord, the Sørfjord, divides the mountain plateu called the Hardangervidda. At the head of Sørfjord are the village of Odda and the famous Skjeggedalsfoss, a waterfall 525 feet (160 meters) high. The Hardangervidda, a mountain plateau, rises to 6,153 feet (1,875 meters) in the Hardangerjøkel mountain.      Fishing, farming, and manufacturing (including chemicals and metal goods) are the chief occupations, but tourism is also an important source of income in this county. The city of Bergen is the capital of Hordaland. It is Norway’s second largest city and a major shipping center.

1. Genealogy organizations

DIS-Hordaland (in Norwegian only).

DIS-Kvinnherad (in Norwegian only).

DIS-Haugaland. (in Norwegian only). This organization covers the regions of Nord-Rogaland and Sunnhordaland. The kommune (communities) that are included in these regions are: Haugesund, Karmøy, Tysvær, Vindafjord, Ølen, Etne, Sveio, Suldal, Sauda, Bokn, Utsira, Bømlo, Stord, Fitjar, Odda, Ullensvang, Eidfjord

The Hardanger Lag, The Nordhordland and Sunnhordland Lag, and The Vosselag are organizations for Norwegian-Americans whose ancestors came from these areas in Hordaland. You can also find information about the Vestlandslag Stevne on this web site.

Hardanger Historielag - a local history & genealogy organization from Hardanger. (In Norwegian only).
Other local history & genealogy organizations from this fylke include:

1. Samnanger historielag (In Norwegian only).
2. Kvam Sogelag (In Norwegian only).
3. Åsane Historielag (In Norwegian only).

2. Hordaland resources

Census records

The following census records from Hordaland and Bergen are available from the Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen:

• Hordaland census records & more (listed by municipality) from the Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen. You can also search nationwide by going to the Digitalarkivet home page or by using the links below.
• Prestemanntallet 1663-1664 for Sunnhordland.
• Manntall 1663-66 Sunnhordaland og Hardanger prosti.
• 1664-1666 Census for Nordhordland deanery.
• 1801 census - Hordaland and the 1801 census - Bergen.
• 1865 census - Hordaland and the 1865 census - Bergen. These are also available at The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (RHD) at the University of Tromsø
• The 1875 census for Hordaland, and the The 1875 census for Bergen. The 1875 census is also available from The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (RHD) at the University of Tromsø.
• 1900 census - Hordaland and the 1900 census - Bergen. These are also available at The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (RHD) at the University of Tromsø
• Other Hordaland and Bergen census records.

Other records

• Tax lists from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Military rolls from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Church registers from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Emigration records from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Probate registers from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Fire assessment registers from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Citizenship (Borgerskap) records from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Other records from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• The Digital Inn from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• 1886 Matrikkelen from The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (RHD) at the University of Tromsø

 
 
• See also Hordaland kilder from the web site Slektshistoriske kilder 1500-1900 by the Norwegian genealogy organization DIS-Norge. This web site has extensive links to various genealogy databases for each fylke in Norway. (In Norwegian with some English)

Bygdebooks

• Hordaland bygdebooks from the web site of DIS-Hordaland, is a list of the bygdebooks that cover various areas in Hordaland. It is in Norwegian, but it is easy to use - there are two ways to search for a bygdebook:
       1) You can search alphabetical by name of farm (Note: Farms beginning with AA are listed under A). This search feature is listed as "Vis gårder i alle bygdebøkene alfabetisk";
       2) You can search by area for the appropriate bygdebook. This search feature is listed as "Vis område du vil se bygdebøker for".
• Velkommen til Fusasoga! web side about the ongoing project of writing a bygdebook for Fusa. (In Norwegian only).
• Masfjordboka, band II - 2. utgåve 1978 (in Norwegian only)
• Personregister for Etne-soga Name index for the Etne-soga book. (In Norwegian only)

LDS Family History Library online catalog

• The LDS Family History Library online catalog has many resources listed from Hordaland. The link is to the "Place search" page of their web site, where you can search for information about specific places, clerical districts and parishes.
  To make your search a little easier, I have created a list of clerical districts and parishes in Hordaland.

Other

• Roder og gater i Bergen, 1906-1907 by Terje Skrolsvik gives a cross-index of street names to rode and rodenummer based on the real estate list (matrikkel) for Bergen in 1906-1907.

• Det Digitale Rosendalarkivet contains information about real estate and persons connection with the Rosendal barony. (In Norwegian only).

3. Hordaland 'kommuner'

4. Hordaland maps

Small interactive map of Norway - shows where Hordaland is located. Click on Hordaland and you can see a small map of Hordaland showing the 'kommune' (municipalities) of this 'fylke'.

Large map of Hordaland from the NORWAY LIST Web Site. Kommune names are underlined.

5. Hordaland genealogy query pages

Hordaland queries from GenConnect's "Norway Visitor Center"

Slektsbiblioteket Queries is a new and very promising Norway query page.

Slektsforskerbasen from DIS-Norge (in English)

[email protected] mailing list archives is another often overlooked resource. You can search the archive to find out if others are researching the same families or places in Norway, and then contact them.
 

6. Hordaland museums

The Edward Grieg Museum is located in Bergen and celebrates the life of this famous Norwegian composer.

The Hardanger folkemuseum at Utne is a museum for the whole of the Hardanger district. Since it's founding in 1911 the museum has collected old houses, furniture, clothes and tools plus a wide variety of other objects of cultural-historical importance from the country districts around the Hardangerfjord.

Bergen Artmuseum is located at Little Lungegård Lake.

Norwegian Museum of Hydropower and Industry is located in Tyssedal.

7. Miscellaneous Hordaland web sites

Culture Net Hordaland is the on-line gateway to information, news and happenings of cultural significance in the County of Hordaland.

Svein Ulvund has information about his ancestors on his home page, as well as information about Voss, which is located northeast of Bergen. If your ancestors are from Voss, make sure you check out his page about emigration from Voss to America!

Willy's genealogy web page has a great deal of genealogy information about his ancestors from Hordaland, Rogaland and Agder. You will find 2,500 names on his family tree on this web page! (Some information in English, but most of the web site is in Norwegian).

Slekt skal følge slektens gang... - Extensive genealogy for Heidi Tofterå Slettemoen and Daniel Casey Slettemoen. In Norwegian and English! "Gathered on these pages are near and far relatives, and ancestors mainly back to the 1500s, over 10,000 names so far. You will find genealogy from Hordaland, mainly the western islands, and Hallingdal in Buskerud, Norway. Here is also a large Dutch and Irish branch of the family, and relatives in Canada and the US."