BAGN, AURDAL (families Liffengren, Tronrud)

Liffengren Farm in Bagn

Bagn is a sweet town about 110 miles north of Oslo on the east side of the country. It is the home of most of the Liffengren / Tronrud ancestors. It is located on Highway 13, which takes you across the country to the towns of Vik Sogn, where many of the Anderson ancestors are located. The road trip between Vik and Bagn is beautiful, following fjords, mountains, and waterfalls. There are several Stave churches en route, and two ferry boat rides are required to make the one day trip.

While in Bagn we visited the Liffengren Farm and the Tronrud Farm. Cousin Aslak Tronrud gave me directions to Cousin Tor & Kari Tronrud farm. The Tronrud farm is in the high pasture area where livestock was taken to graze in the summer. It is now an area of cabins and cottages, and the pine trees are taking over.

Tronrud Farm

Mrs. Tronrud directed me to the low main Tronrud farm near Bagn. I took pictures of the farm where our great grandmother grew up. The two story white home is perched on a ledge, overlooking a picturesque valley.

Stave Church in Reingly, above Bagn, Where our GGrandmother Tronrud Would have attended

The Liffengren farm is in the south end of town, but it took me a little time to find it. Everyone knew where it was, but I had a tough time following the directions. A taxi cab came along, and he gave me directions, which still confused me. So I jumped in the cab, and gave him his shortest ever fare, about 200 feet.

The cab driver took me to a home that he said all the drivers knew as the Liffengren farm. This was confirmed by the sign on the mail box structure that said Liffengren. I talked to the current owner, who graciously showed me a 1904 portrait of the Liffengren family in front of the house. The house itself is a nice two story house, painted red, and it appears that the farm used to go down to the river. Route 13 is a two lane road that appears to split the farm from the River. If you are looking for the farm, locate the red church across the river in the south end of Bang. The home is directly across the river from the church.

The church is very attractive, with a graveyard around the church. There are names of families connected with our family, but in Norway, as in much of Europe, graves are recycled after a number of years, say 20 to 40 years. So there are no graves from our ancestors unless someone paid to keep the grave site over the years, or if there was no need for additional burials.

I also visited the Stave church above Bagn, in Reingly. This is the church that the Tronruds attended.

Beth and I went to dinner with cousin Aslak Tronrud and his fiancee Linda Davidson friend in Oslo. Oslo is a beautiful city on the fjord, with numerous boats coming in and out the harbor overlooked by great restaurants. We had a great time.

Photos of Bagn:

https://plus.google.com/photos/110129761917727570893/albums/5180926550213361889?banner=pwa