The execution place

When you stand here on the headland and look out onto the fjord, to the left hand side you can see a small farm, with a white house and a red barn on the other side. It is called ‘Meisterplass’, although its original name is actually ‘Meistermannsplass’ which means the execution place. There is no definitive information or facts that confirm that the so called ‘meistermannen’ actually lived there, but there is no doubt that corporal punishment was a common practice in earlier times, and there is plenty of documented evidence confirming it. It was the ‘Meistermann’ that physically punished people for their wrongdoings. It could be cutting off a finger, breaking an arm or a bone, or simply beheading people! The pay varied, depending on the punishment. It was a lonely profession, the executioners generally lived away from other people, and now and then they were even convicted of murder, the profession was often handed down from father to son. The last beheading in Sogndal was in 1841 and was carried out by a mobile executioner from Bergen. It took place on Eiggja, one of the farms you can see to the right over the centre of Sogndal, in line with the law, the punishment was delivered where the crime was committed. If you want to experience more drama, you can drive by Meisterplass and carry on to Fimreite. One of Norway’s most bloody battles took place in a bay in Fimreite in 1184, when 2 Kings who were fighting for power in Norway met with their armies amounting to several thousand men. Both of them wanted to be King of Norway, and both claimed a right to the throne. Magnus Erlingsson fell in the battle and Sverre Sigurdsson emerged victorious.