Klaksvík (Town)

© Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Infrastruktur
Klaksvík is referred to as the fishing capital of the Faroe Islands. The end of Kunoy, Kunoyargalvur, stands as a landmark outside the entrance to the harbour, where extensive port facilities have been developed on both sides. On the right side of the port area, a new consumer cooperative (FK) has been built, and the town council house, a grey three-storey building, can also be seen. ÓLAVUR FREDERIKSEN, 2021

Klaksvík, previously called norðuri í Vági, has 4,992 inhabitants and covers 59 merkur and 12 gyllin. 47 merkur and 12 gyllin are copyhold land divided between nine copyhold tenants, and 12 merkur is freehold land. The sheep herd consists of 1,110 animals.

The town is located on and by a low eiðe (isthmus) between high mountains on both sides. On the coast to Borðoyarvík, moraine deposits from two ice advances have been found. Since 2007, the undersea Northern Isles Tunnel, Norðoyartunnilin, has connected Klaksvík with Leirvík on Eysturoy.

Excavations and ruins have also shown continuous settlement since the Viking Age. An overview from 1592 shows that Borðoy only had one church, and sources from 1669 state that the church was in Vági. This means that Klaksvík has been the main village on Borðoy for centuries.

The settlement is located in the only place on Norðoyggjar with a natural harbour, which is well protected by the island of Kunoy on the other side. However, this clear advantage was not exploited until fishing and ship fishing were developed during the 19th century. From 1801 to 1901, the population increased from 88 to 443 people.

A branch of the Royal Monopoly was established in Klaksvík in 1838, and with the introduction of free trade in 1856, the buildings were bought by J. Beck & Sønner, who began trading in the Faroe Islands. In 1912, Jógvan Frederik Kjølbro, who had worked at J. Beck & Sønner since 1902, began to carry on trade himself in the neighbourhood of Biskopstøð.

As a businessman, Jógvan Frederik Kjølbro was the most important profile in Klaksvík for several decades. As a member of the Brethren congregation, he also made a strong profile in the spiritual life, but involuntarily came into conflict with parts of the population during the medical dispute in the 1950s. In 2002, the town’s residents erected a sculpture of him by the artist Hans Pauli Olsen outside one of his businesses. CARLO RHIGER, 2018

Since then, Klaksvík has been the fishing capital of the Faroe Islands with a large and modern fishing industry at sea and on land, in addition to other secondary private and public businesses.

The hospital in Klaksvík was established in 1898 and has been expanded several times since then. In the turbulent years of the early 1950s, the hospital was involved in the famous conflict between parts of the local population concerning the doctor Olaf Halvorsen and the authorities in the Faroe Islands and in Denmark.

In 1917, the Brethren congregation established itself in Klaksvík. During the period 1920‑50, it gained such massive support that it includes 43 % of the inhabitants today. The reason is that Jógvan Frederik Kjølbro joined the Brethren congregation in 1920 and that Klaksvík were experiencing significant social changes during this period of break-up and large immigration. Furthermore, the traditional Evangelical Lutheran Church was weak in the village, and it did not establish itself with a resident vicar until 1934.

There has been a church in Klaksvík since 1592, possibly even earlier. The current church in Klaksvík, Christianskirkjan, is from 1963. When Norðoya Vestara Prestagjald was established as an independent parish in 1934, the vicar in Klaksvík was also responsible for the churches in Kunoy, Mikladalur, Húsum and from 1937 also the new church in Árnafjørður.

The Brethren congregation got its first meeting hall, Betesda, in 1917. In 2014, a new meeting hall of the same name was built. The Home Mission is housed in its own meeting hall from 1950, while another denomination, Kirkjuliga Missiónsfelagið, which established itself in Klaksvík with its own mission house in 1919‑20, got a new mission house in 2005. Several other small Christian congregations or communities were also established in Klaksvík, particularly after 1970.

Klaksvík is also known for a rich cultural life both in music and art. The groups Frændur and Hjarnar have released several records since the 1980s, and the town has hosted a recurring music festival for a number of years. The town’s artists include the graphic artist Elinborg Lützen, of whom a statue has been erected outside her childhood home.

Kjølbro and Klaksvík

When the merchant Jógvan Frederik Kjølbro had successfully established his trading and shipping business in Klaksvík in 1921, 4.9 % of the Faroese population lived in the town, and 6.6 % on the other Norðoyggjar. When the company had reached its peak at the time of his death in 1967, 11.6 % of the Faroe Islands’ population lived in Klaksvík, while only 2.6 % of the population now lived on the other Norðoyggjar. Since then, there have been no significant changes in the demographics.

Kjølbro’s importance can be seen directly from the fact that in 1933, he paid 14 % in municipal tax on a taxable income of DKK 132,000, corresponding to DKK 18,494. In the same year, Klaksvíkar Kommuna had a total municipal tax revenue of DKK 65,000. In 1937, four years later, Kjølbro paid DKK 800,000 in salaries to fishermen and workers. In the same year, the municipality’s tax revenue was based on a total of DKK 538,000.

Kjølbro’s companies, which ran into major financial problems during the 1960s, were too important to the overall Faroese economy to be allowed to go bankrupt. The state’s rescue operations resulted in the establishment of Føroyagrunnin in 1970, which still plays a significant role in the Faroese business community. The company J.F. Kjølbro’s still has significant activities in Klaksvík.

Føroya Bjór has been active as a brewery since 1888. In 2016, it expanded its business
to also produce gin, vodka and bitters, and since 2020, Einar’s Distillery has also produced its own whiskey. The distillery got new equipment in 2016, which can be seen in the photo. ÓLAVUR FREDERIKSEN/TRAP FAROE ISLANDS

Føroya Bjór – The local brewery

The Føroya Bjór brewery in Klaksvík was founded in 1888. For more than 100 years, there were two breweries in the Faroe Islands, Restorffs Bryggjarí in Tórshavn (Town) and Føroya Bjór in Klaksvík, competing for customers.

When the liquor prohibition act came into force in 1908, the two breweries only produced light lagers with a low alcohol content and a somewhat larger selection of soft drinks. In 1980, however, they were given permission to brew stronger beer.

After the Restorff brewery closed in 2007, Føroya Bjór dominated the market until a new brewery, Okkara, was established in 2010. However, Okkara, which still has its own production and beer profile, was taken over by Føroya Bjór in 2020.

With Einar’s Distillery, Føroya Bjór has since 2016 expanded its business with the production of vodka, gin and bitters, and since 2020 also its own whisky. Føroya Bjór is also the only company that produces a large range of soft drinks.

The accidents in Gerðum

In the late 1700s, the present Klaksvík area had four farms, Uppsalir and Vági to the west and Gerðum and Myrkjanoyri to the east. The farms were far apart, and there were uncultivated outfields between them. Together, the four farms housed 88 people and in 1765, 26 of them lived in two houses in Gerðum on the east side.

On the 12 of March 1745, an avalanche from the mountain buried houses and people in Gerðum in snow, and five people died. The houses were rebuilt in the same place, and when a new avalanche was triggered on the 12 of March 1765, these too were buried under a thick layer of snow; 20 of the total of 26 residents died. After this, it was decided to rebuild the houses in a safer place further down. Among the survivors was a single person who had also survived the first avalanche.

On the 12 of March 1910, another accident befell the residents of Gerðum. On this day, a rowing boat belonging to the farm was wrecked and six men drowned. As it happened, three major accidents hit Gerðum on the 12 of March.

Central Klaksvik with important common facilities marked, 2021. The long, narrow harbour is well protected by the island of Kunoy to the north of the map section. In the southeast corner of the map is the northernmost part of Borðoyarvík.
BASED ON UMHVØRVISSTOVAN

Further reading

Read more about The islands, towns and settlements

  • Hans Andrias Sølvará

    (b. 1962) PhD in History and MA in History and Philosophy. Professor and dean of the Department of History and Society at the University of the Faroe Islands.