Place:Fedje, Hordaland, Norway

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source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Fedje is an island municipality in the Nordhordland region of Vestland county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fedje. The traditional economic activity of the inhabitants is fishing.

The municipality is the 354th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Fedje is the 349th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 548. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 7.7% over the previous 10-year period. The municipality consists of the main island of Fedje which is also surrounded by about 125 smaller islands and rocks mostly north of the main island. The name Fedje applies both to the main island, the main village, and to all the islands and rocks as a whole municipality.

In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station in Fedje be closed.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

There are traces of human activity on Fedje from as long as 4,000 years ago. In the 18th century, the village of Fedje was an important trading place, with the small island of Kræmmerholmen being the location where the trading took place. Kræmmerholmen was reopened in 1991, and was a restaurant/hotel/museum area, but closed in September 2008. Fedje was previously a substantial producer of peat. The peat led to the construction of a railway. The railway was given up together with the peat industry in 1920.

During the Second World War Fedje was occupied by over 300 German soldiers. There are still remains of the German cannons and bunkers all over the island, especially in the western part close to the traffic station, which is actually built on the remains of a German radar station.

In February 1945, the German U-boat U-864 was sunk by the Royal Navy submarine outside western Fedj, the only instance in history of a submarine being sunk by another submarine while both were submerged. The wreck of the U-boat was discovered in 2003 lying in of water, west of Fedje. Its cargo included 67 short tons (61 t) of mercury which was being shipped to Japan. Contained in 1,857 rusting steel bottles in the vessel's keel, the mercury was discovered to be leaking out and currently poses a severe environmental threat. The rusting mercury bottles, the delicate condition of the wreck, and the presence of live torpedoes aboard it make the raising or salvage of U-864 extremely hazardous, and it has instead been proposed that the wreck be entombed.

On 12 January 2007, M/V Server sunk outside Fedje. The ship leaked oil and caused major environmental damage. But due to intensive efforts to clean the coves and beaches, very few traces can be found today.

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