“My friendship with the Bergmann family in Ørsta from 1929 and into the 1930s.”
“In 1929 I made a good friend in Ørsta, Harald Bergmann, and at the same time I got to know his parents and most of his siblings. A significant factor in connection with this acquaintance was probably that I was absent from home from the summer of 1929 to the fall of 1930, when I started at Volda gymnasium. I had graduated from high school in the spring of 1929 and turned 17 in August that year.
Harald's father, Sigurd Bergmann, a book printer, and his wife Sofie (born Thoresen), came to Ørsta from Ålesund in the mid-1920s with several of their children. [Author's Note: That’s Sigurd Bergmann senior, Sigurd Bergmann's (born in 1930) grandfather also named Sigurd Bergmann.] Bergmann started publishing a new newspaper called "Ørsta Avis", and most of his sons were eventually employed by their father as typographers or apprentices. Sigurd Bergmann was born in Ørsta. He was the son of Ørsta's first newspaper owner, Johan Ludvig Bergmann, who published "Søndmøre Avis" for many years. He was married to Henriette Moen. Sigurd Bergmann's younger brother Thorleif first followed in his father's footsteps and continued to publish "Søndmøre Avis", which he later called "Sunnmøre Avis". But it was closed down in the early 1920s, so Ørsta was without a local press for a short time, until Sigurd Bergmann, as mentioned, started publishing "Ørsta Avis".
I knew the Bergmann family before my special friendship with Harald took place. The print shop for "Ørsta Avis" was first established in a small rented room that belonged to my father, Arne Svendsen Clausen. But soon the print shop moved to larger premises in the former "Helseheimen". The building was large, and Sigurd Bergmann and wife also got an apartment there together with the adults and unmarried members of the family and those who were still schoolchildren.
In 1929 and the next year I got to know Harald's brothers: Arnor (married to Elfrida Åmås), Johan (married to Aslaug Engeset), Reidar, Tor and Bernhard (Benna) who were still in primary school. I had also met their eldest brother Øivind (married to Anna Olsen), who at the time lived in Ålesund with his family, and Mrs. Dagny Heen who had the apartment in Ørsta. She was married to steward Leonhard Heen (he was killed at sea during World War II). The youngest daughter Solveig also lived with her parents. Mrs. Gunbjørg Værnes, married to parish priest Ragnar Olav Værnes, visited Ørsta from time to time, and I also visited her. The eldest of Sofie and Sigurd Bergmann's children, Mrs. Bergljot Klauseth, who lived in Kristiansand and was married to factory owner Kaspar Klauseth, was the only member of the family I did not meet.
In the following I will give an account of my friendship with Harald and those of his brothers who were to have the greatest impact on my development in the latter half of my teenage years.
I can't answer exactly what prompted my friendship with Harald today. It was probably a coincidence. I just remember the two of us and his brother Tor, who was a couple of years older than me, playing Indians over in Holmane. Harald was an adult for his age, and at the age of 15 he had already been selected for training for an intended football match that year, which became a reality when the football team that had been founded the year before made its debut at the end of August 1929 against Volda Fotballklubb. Harald played forward. It was a big loss, but within a couple of years Ørsta Idrettslag's football club came back stronger. Harald and his brothers Arnor and Reidar would play a significant role for the football club in the years to come. Later, his youngest brother Bernhard (Benna) also joined. In athletics, Harald, Arnor and Tor were outstanding athletes. In the 1930s, Harald became junior circuit champion in short put and senior circuit champion in javelin (later county championship). After World War II, Benna became nationally known as a weightlifter with Norwegian championships in both the junior and senior classes (1946-47) and a bronze medal in the Nordic Championships (1948). The latter achievement was accomplished in an injured state. A great deal has been written in "Ørsta 1.L. 50 years" (1928-1978), including the Bergmann brothers' achievements in football and athletics, and about Benna in weightlifting. As far as I know, there has been no other family in Ørsta where as many as 5 brothers have made such a strong contribution in sports, including football, as the Bergmann brothers.
It was mainly in the years 1929-1933 that the Bergmann brothers came to play a major role for me. I formed a close friendship with Harald and eventually especially with the brothers Tor and Reidar. Arnor and Johan also became my friends. As you know, they were all very interested in sports, and in the first year we met as often as possible on the road below the print shop during the lunch break at 12-13 o'clock, where we played marbles and jumped long jumps. I, who had been very strongly affected by asthma for many years,was encouraged to take part in training, mostly privately in the evenings. There was also some football, but only training as far as I was concerned. One summer, probably in 1930, I even joined and trained with the B-team 1 football club in Ørsta, but that was it. As far as I can remember, I never became a member of Ørsta Idrettslag. But my interest in physical activity, encouraged by the Bergmann brothers, was aroused, and I believe this was a decisive factor in my greatly improved health during these important developmental years. During my time with Harald and his brothers, I gradually got rid of my asthma, and by 1932 I was cured. At that time I was attending high school in Volda. But we were fed on weekends.
In 1929-30, but also later, in the evenings we used to hang out in the print shop premises, where we discussed and also engaged in physical activities. The premises were quite large; there was a gymnastic pole and the older brothers taught Harald and me both boxing and dancing. Reidar, who was 8 years older than me (and 10 years older than Harald) took care of us a lot and I perceived him as a caring "big brother". Otherwise, Harald and I were very close friends who could go to each other at any time with almost any problem that arose in our teens, and the two-year age difference didn't matter to either of us. Music also came into the picture. Reidar played the mandolin and Harald was very musical. He could whistle difficult pieces of music cleanly. The family also had a nice radio that we listened to in the evenings. In my dealings with the Bergmann brothers, there was never any alcohol. The manner was consistently healthy throughout the years.
When I went to Oslo in 1933 to start studying pharmacy, I was probably physically separated from my friends, but we met during the holidays, and then everything was fine. The printing company had moved to new premises that same year.
Eventually Harald's brothers left Ørsta, and almost immediately after the outbreak of war in 1940, it was he, Tor and Benna who returned. Johan and his family first traveled to Sykkylven, where he started his own printing company, then to Moss, where he was employed by "Moss Avis". He was later employed by the newspaper "Nordlys" in Tromsø. Arnor also moved to Sykkylven with his family, where he ran an axide printing company and printed "Sykkylvsbladet", among other things. Reidar moved to Alesund. He married Sigrid Didriksen, and later set up a printing company in Spjelkavik. It has developed considerably. Tor married Ingrid Øvregård and first went to Spjelkavik, where he set up his own printing company. Later he traveled to Vennesla and established a printing company there. He ran this for many years, but now lives in Sandefjord in retirement. Bernhard is married to Magny Serheim. They live in 1 erata.
"Ørsta Avis" went into operation in the autumn of 1940, and from New Year 1941 Harald took over the print shop as a newspaper printer from his father. That same year he married Ragnhild Barstad. He ran the print shop in Ørsta until recent years, when his eldest son Stig took over. Stig is now carrying on the Bergmann tradition as a 4th generation printer. His wife Hanna (née Hesthagen) is his skilled employee. They have several children. Ragnhild and Harald's daughter Kristin was educated at the University of Glasgow. She was married to Peter Gray. They had 3 children. She later moved back to Norway and is now employed as Head of Human Resources in Ørsta municipality. The youngest of Ragnhild and Harald's children, Harald Johan, is an information manager in the Industrial Guard in Oslo. He is married to assistant professor Sidsel Scheyen. They have one child.
Finally, I would like to give the following general characterization of my acquaintance and friendship with the members of the Bergmann family in Ørsta, whom I got to know from 1929 and into the 1930s:
Letterpress printer and newspaper owner Sigurd Bergmann and his wife Sofie were two exceptionally fine people, who allowed their children to be educated. The two of them also cared for the friends of their large flock of children. It was a painful loss for the family when Mrs. Sofie Bergmann passed away in 1933. Both she and Sigurd Bergmann have a memorable place with a strong anchor in my consciousness. Sigurd Bergmann died in 1957.
Arnor was very close to me in many ways, because he had a considerable ability to encourage me to engage in physical exercise, even if the results were modest. But this small-scale physical activity had a major impact on my health. I also appreciated Johan very much. He had a naturally amiable nature and always showed me great kindness. These two brothers have now passed away. Reidar was the family psychologist and became Harald's and my educator to an adult, positive youth life. He somehow transformed us from the teenage mentality while we still belonged to that category and into the adult world, always with a brotherly hand. I had and still have the utmost respect for him. Tor also gained a particularly strong position in my consciousness. Among other things, he taught me to become interested in physical exercise. Tor was a very good friend, protective, friendly and faithful. Like several of his brothers, he was an outstanding athlete. Bernhard, or Benna as they called him, was very young in 1929. But as mentioned above, he later became the country's leading weightlifter in the heavyweight class. He was an extremely likeable young man. The charming Solveig and her fiancé at the time and later husband, factory owner
Anton Eiken, should be mentioned. They always showed me good friendship. My friend Harald has always been particularly close to me because, together with his brothers and his family, he gave me back the spark of life after many years as an asthmatic and thus in very poor health. His wife Ragnhild has also been Elses and my good friend together with Harald. Many of Sofie and Sigurd Bergmann's children and their relatives are now dead. Age takes its toll, and that applies to all of us.
I did not get to know some members of the Bergmann family, including those who married into the family, whom I have not mentioned in detail in this account, in the years 1929-1933, or in the years immediately following. But I would like to state that no other family besides my own has had such a great and strong influence on my life and development in my early youth as the Bergmann family. Therefore, each of you will always have a respectful place in my consciousness, where gratitude and love are included.
Your friend
Ole G. Clausen
Hosle, March 29, 1989.
Ole G. Clausen professor, dr.philos. Benedikts vei 11, 1347 Hosle.”
