Cemetery Walk 2025 – marking the peace and emigration anniversary

Since 1996, Rauland Historielag has organized cemetery walks in conjunction with Olsok. This is one of our most popular events, and a good opportunity for both villagers and others to hear more about former communities,

This year, about 100 people gathered in the warmth of Olsok. We had selected four graves that were especially relevant this year. Two of the graves were connected to resistance fighters who took an active part in World War II, and the other two were Raulians who emigrated to America, but who returned home in different ways. As usual, the cemetery walk ended with Olsokgraut and mass in the church.

Two local resistance fighters

Signe Gardsteig talked about Anne Særen (1895 – 1974), or Aunt Anne byen as they called her. Halvor Fehn told about his father, Karl Rikard Fehn (1915-1968). Særen and Fehn were both active in the resistance, Anne Særen in Oslo and Karl Rikard Fehn in Rauland and on Møsstrond.

American travelers from Rauland

Alf Seltveit told about Ånund Aslaksen Lognvik (1822-1906), who was among the first to travel from Rauland to America in the 1800th century, participated in the American Civil War and returned to the old country in his old age. Torbjørg Enerstad told about his relative, Torbjørg Rikardsdotter Berge (1845-1914), or Mrs Aslaksen as she called herself. She traveled to America around 1870, worked as a teacher and stayed there for the rest of her life. When she died, they sent her ashes home to Rauland so that she could be buried in the churchyard.

You can read more about Torbjørg R Berge and Ånund Aslakson Lognvik in RH's Årskrift 2000 "it's 'what wonder they or the country drags'" and about the resistance work in the 1994-95 annual publication Memories from the occupation period in Rauland.

Would you like to know who else has been told about on our cemetery walks? You can find most of them on this page.