HISTORY

It was in the year 1868 that a new chapter began at Eie. Hans Engelsen Vaage leased land at Myklestadeie and set up a trading house there, in a place where fjord and mountain meet. The house he used was moved from Godøy – an inheritance from his wife, Ingeborg Bakke. She was reluctant to move, but the family chronicle states: "He was the man, so that's how it was." They built up a small trading post that would grow to become something significant.

His son, Engelaus Haus Martin Vaage, married Anna Briksen in 1894, from the old trading family in Samnanger. She brought a dowry of no less than 35,000 kroner – a fortune at the time – and with those funds they erected a new and proud trading house on the other side of the river. The building was completed in 1902 and became a vibrant gathering point for the community. But life was not always easy. Anna died in childbirth with her fourth child in 1905, and Engelaus was left a widower. He later found love again with Brita Bjødnebøle from Kvinnherad, and together they had ten children. Engelaus had 14 children in total – and people said it didn't show on him.

The golden years for trade at Eie were in the 1920s and 30s. No fewer than three shipping companies docked here, and there was life and activity – both on sea and land. The quay was a hub, a small centre in a larger landscape. When Engelaus died in 1943, the estate was divided, and in 1947 his son Ole Vaage took over, together with his wife Gunda. But times changed. Gradually it was no longer steamboats but roads that connected people. Traffic decreased, and the last scheduled boat docked at E.H. Vaage in 1983. Ole then withdrew from the Sunnhordland Boat Expedition Association. Four years later, in 1987, he and Gunda closed the shop – he was 85 years old, and an era was over.

A foundation was later established to preserve this treasure of cultural history, but the work stalled. It was not until 2015 that new hope came: Torstein took over the property and began a careful and loving restoration – back to how it once stood in 1902. Behind the trading house lies the old wood-fired bakery – once a busy workplace for three bakers. Today the entire trading post stands as a living museum. Here you find a small general store, a chocolate factory and a restaurant – all rooted in history, the smell of freshly baked bread, and memories from a time when steamboats lay rocking at the quay at Eie.