Hotel Ullensvang
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In midsummer 1877, the famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg and his wife Nina came to Hardanger for the first time. They developed a close friendship to Brita and Hans Utne, their hosts at Hotel Ullensvang, and Nina and Edvard Grieg visited Lofthus summer after summer. Several of Grieg’s greatest works are inspired by the Hardanger nature, the culture and the people here, and much of it is considered the most precious in Norwegian music. At Lofthus, he composed String Quartet in G minor, Opus 27, Den bergtekne (The Mountain Thrall), Album for Male Voices, Opus 30 and some of the incidental music to "Peer Gynt". "Dovregubben's hall" (In the Hall of the Mountain King) was re-written after he saw a huge avalanche thundering down into the waters at Velure on the other side of the fjord. Large parts of the Holberg suite were also created at Lofthus, then in the farmhouse of Arne Lofthus, another good friend of his in the village. His original composers cabin stands to this day in the garden of Hotel Ullensvang, and here our tour "In Edvard Grieg's Footsteps" begins. Edmund Harris Utne, great-grandson of Brita and Hans Utne and 4th generation former owner of the hotel, takes you on an audio-guided tour around the Lofthus village. The round trip takes 60 - 90 minutes.