Midsummer in Norway - Beauty of the North | Part 1 | Free Documentary Nature

mid-summer in Norway days when the Sun never really sets an entire country is blossoming [Music] the highlight of the longest day of the year are the big fires [Music] mid-summer long days Bright Nights a celebration of raw nature [Music] thank you [Music] No Way South countless Islands Barren Rocky coasts and Majestic fjords a landscape so vast that man is here at greycast stolen seems like an insignificant pipsqueak [Music] Norway is about the size of Germany and one of the largest countries in Europe but only about 5.3 million people live here the capital is Oslo Bergen is the second largest city in the Kingdom at mid-summer the whole country looks at the coastal town of erlazon [Music] erlison's fishing boy symbol of the town's most important industry [Music] erlison's old town is a unique art nouveau ensemble in Norway in January 1904 a major fire destroyed almost all the wooden houses the German Emperor and Norway admirer Wilhelm II sent help and had the city rebuilt in stone the people of erlison have a special relationship with fire on a small rocky island off the coast the wooden Tower grows into the air every year at mid-summer built by young people of the city on mid-summer's Eve their work is to go up in Flames this year the fire chief is 18 year old Oscar binoni the people here are between 12 and 18 years old they come because it's a tradition but the social aspect is also important we're a close-knit community which appeals to many that is [Music] this tower building is a right of passage for the young men no adult interferes a summer free space for the young people the slinning's burlet named after the small island where it takes place is the largest mid-summer bonfire in Norway the work is not without danger after all the tower will be around 40 meters high yes it is very high but the backup is very good it fits well and the helmet keeps out a lot of risk of injury if something falls on our head planks or something a pretty daring climb loss can be expected the boys climbed the tower and form a chain for hours they persevere up there [Music] in 2016 they made it into the Guinness book of records at 47 meters their Tower was the tallest Saint John's bonfire in the world piece by piece pallets and barrels are handed up [Music] [Music] for two months we're here every day piling things up it's very exhausting but when sent hands arrives it's all worth it for that I do it to then burn it all down it's great fun it's kind of like a hobby every year the young people elect a new fire chief he keeps the group together and coordinates the construction work quite a lot of responsibility for 18 year old Oscar and then there's also the weather uh hi let's see foreign I hope that tomorrow won't be too windy when it's windy the fire becomes particularly blatant but as long as it stays like this we'll be fine I would have liked bright Sunshine but unfortunately we won't get it as long as it doesn't rain it's all good then we'll get the material up they work until the morning at midnight it's still bright and early Sunday the sun touches the Horizon but doesn't set [Music] as if and chanted the fjords lie in the midsummer light from mid-june to early July it never really gets dark until the 1960s Norway was one of the poorest countries in Europe many people live from agriculture summer is the time to drive the cattle to the higher Mountain pastures where there is enough food for the animals and the farmers can produce supplies for the winter [Music] some of these Mountain pastures are still shepherded today in zandalan in the province of Inland Katarina spas that spends the summer in her family's mountain cabin around mid-summer she goes up into the mountains with her horses cows and goats just as her mother and grandmother did before her [Music] hello Commando time for time for the cows know the daily ritual and come to the barn voluntarily up here on the mountain pasture there is no electricity and no milking machine [Music] foreign the cow stands very still because it feels safe and likes to be milked there must be something personal about that then they also come home for milking every day at about four or five o'clock because they feel like it is it milking cookies they like coming home because they feel that I take care of them they know me and I know them they all have names over there is Mark Rosa and this is flora and this is celery and this is wrestling and this is true too right Flora when the cows eat the mountain grass the milk becomes especially good the butter becomes more yellow the cheese tastes better and the animals do excellently the cows like being able to move around freely and being there is insanely nice and homely [Music] after the mountain pasture had been deserted for a few years Katarina resumed the family tradition she makes butter cream and cheese from the fresh milk [Music] the mountain pasture is inhabited only in summer in Winter Katarina lives in the valley with her husband kneels Niels is a teacher and spends his vacations here the Alpine farming is his wife's business [Music] the mountain pasture was the workplace of the women and all the children came up with them own nieces nephews and children from the village there were tons of children most of them helped fetched cows made cheese churned butter the men were down on the farm they mowed the meadows and did the work that needed to be done downstairs this was the women's realm and the Absurd thing is that we are trapped in fixed routines from five six seven in the morning until late at night but still it gives you a sense of freedom in the first not free yet thank you Katarina has not changed anything in the Alpine Hut and works with the equipment of her predecessors separating the cream from the way is just as strenuous as it was 100 years ago the Norwegians make a very special cheese from the waste product of the centrifuging process the sweet way what makes it special is that it tastes sweet good in no way we call it Bruno's this is when concentrated by boiling very simple everyone thinks this should taste like french cheese but it's sweet like caramel this is caramel in France they give it to the pigs but in Norway we eat it do they do they give it to the pigs in France terrible it's valuable Spa stat Elm is located in the middle of an unspoiled Mountain environment according to Legend Spirits live here which can benefit people but also harm them further north at the foot of the Dover field mountains the climate becomes harsher large parts of optar municipality lie above the tree line the arctic fox feels at home in this Frosty climate in summer it has gray brown fur the perfect camouflage in the Stony environment Craig Johnson is the only human resident at the Arctic Fox Nursery in the mountains of opdal Craig is a biologist from South Africa his scientific interest has taken him from the Deep South to the Northern end of the world arctic foxes have declined in in Norway and Scandinavia in general over a period of several decades even though they had received protection from hunting and so forth so roundabout in the year 2000 they were only approximately 40 to 60 adult individuals left [Music] the Norwegian nature research or Nina for short breeds the polar foxes in order to release them into the wild later they should have as little contact with humans as possible so that they can later survive in the wild so in this enclosure here we've got the adult breeding pair and six puppies which are about two months old [Music] the foxes are very shy it's only when Craig comes with the food bucket that the male becomes curious [Music] he's very relaxed he always is he's always inquisitive whenever we move move around the enclosure to feed or to do something he always comes up and has a Sniff and looks and wants to see what we're doing the mother on the other hand she's far more shy so you didn't really see her too much after a while she too becomes Brave the environment in the enclosure is designed as naturally as possible so that the arctic fox parents create a protective burrow where the female gives birth to the Cubs now in mid-june it's time for the Cubs to leave the nursery to get to know nature [Music] now gradually spending more and more time above ground so until recently they've they haven't spent much time outside of the den but now they as they're getting bigger they're spending more and more time above ground and playing with one another and investigating [Laughter] the parents playfully teach the little ones how to hunt next spring the young animals are released into the wild the parent pairs remain in the station so far 430 arctic foxes have already been released into the wild hopefully these little ones Will Survive Norway is famous for its impressive landscape the fjords are inlets formed during the Ice Age bizarre rock formations remain stolen is a rocky Peak The Edge vertically drops 600 meters into the looser fjord Norway's first oil field was discovered off the coast of Stavanger in 1969 this triggered an economic boom that made the poor country rich Norway produces around 92 million tons of crude oil a year the oil industry is the most important economic factor and at the same time the biggest polluter [Music] tourism also is an economic power more than 2 300 cruise ships docked at Norwegian ports every year before the pandemic [Music] almost a must the stop in Bergen the port has long been Norway's gateway to the world dried fish Herring Furs and wood are exported when the hanseiatic league was founded in the 13th century a main branch was established in Bergen The Office Buildings at the harbor are the symbol of the old Merchant City in the historic district of brigen the past comes alive again in Norway about 80 percent of the population lives near the sea almost everyone owns a boat the O Selva is a wooden boat that has a long tradition on the Norwegian West Coast is one of the few who can still build it foreign also is one of the last to still Apprentice with Harold daland a traditional boat builder there are no construction plans for the usova the art of construction is passed from one boat builder to another [Music] traditional tools such as the ax this boat building tradition goes back to the Vikings whose boats still are models today [Music] this type of boat comes from Western Norway mainly from the old hodderland this boat here is a large osselval with which eight people can row uh but I want to talk about a special detail which is easy to recognize a little stuff the profile bars here and on the gunnel have the same shape that you find on a viking shipment they keep the sea ghost away if they are missing it will come on board and the fishermen will be dragged into the sea that would not be good why her footage of the Vikings is still a source of identity in Norway today [Music] full replica of the Europe ship the depression of the shipbuilding art of the Vikings [Music] Norway has one of the longest and most spectacular coasts in the world all fjords bays and Islands together would probably add up to more than one hundred thousand kilometers [Music] foreign glow and lush green and summer [Music] bjerg devic aurelian's herb garden grows on the steep slope [Music] a trained Gardener she grows kitchen herbs and edible flowers wildflowers grow on a part of her property now in mid-summer it is Harvest Time Bjork is assisted by her co-worker May nubok from the neighboring Village the two women Harvest Meadow Suite this flower tastes slightly like almonds it is also called the vanilla of Scandinavia although it does not quite taste like vanilla it is used in pastries and desserts as vanilla sugar The Taste is slightly different from real vanilla summer in Norway is very special because of the long bright days because it is cold in Winter we especially appreciate the warmth as a herb grower I have a hectic summer professionally nature determines everything it has its own pace and my job is to observe what is happening and do the right thing at the right time so as to get products of the best possible quality foreign this is exhausting and at the same time a pleasure we always say that we have to wait until autumn and winter to sleep the Steep Fjord slope has a microclimate it gets very warm in the summer that's why even some Mediterranean plants thrive in bjork's herb garden [Music] today we cut our time we grow about 25 different kinds of herbs and I don't even know if I can list them all right now we grow herbs for teas as well as spices the biggest Advantage but also the biggest challenge for Burke is the steep slope [Music] all right machines can't be used here even a small tractor would capitulate on this slope the herbs enjoy the sun exposed position the health fin for Plantana the best this is perfectly fine for the plants on the slope they grow best probably because then water does not stand and consequently the plants do not suffer Frost damage in the winter here we have sun in the morning and not in the evening this is ideal for the herbs foreign [Music] there is only one helpful tool the self-made ropeway [Music] we use the cable car because we don't have to carry the boxes to the top it is quite steep here and we would have to carry the boxes quite fast with the ropeway we spare our arms it is a good Aid [Music] so the herbs go on their short Journey to the drying shed [Music] the herbs are gently dried before they are delivered [Music] many restaurant chefs from the area ask for exotic kitchen herbs Bjork can't and won't deliver those foreign my concept is I wanted to find out which herbs grow best in our climate but now it is the case that many cooks like to use rosemary and basil I've sorted out these herbs because I do not necessarily want to grow what is currently in or trendy but also what grows here wildly and can be harvested foreign [Music] not only on the Fjord but also in the mountains on the mountain pastures to stock up for the winter [Music] it's early in the morning and Niels is enjoying the first rays of sunshine at breakfast after all he is on vacation his wife Katarina is already back at work the life of a Dairy Maid is hard today just like Batman my great grandmother had moved from the neighboring Valley when she started working here as a Dairy Maid and when new ones come they are always subjected to tests when she had just started some of her goats got lost on a very steep ledge but also very good grass grew there steep very dangerous to go there she didn't get any help from the others though they just sat up here with their arms folded and waited to see what would happen so Paul Barrett had to climb up and the goats rushed at her she had to lie flat on the ground the goats jumped over her and she managed to get them down unharmed it was only then that she was invited for coffee the house is unchanged since the last Dairy Maid of the family gave up work in the 60s when Katarina revived the mountain pasture she simply started where her predecessor left off [Music] Katarina makes cheese from the fresh cows and goat's milk she has milked in the morning foreign this house here on the mountain pasture was built exclusively to process milk so this is not a vacation home this is the living room this is where I live but the living room is also where the cheese is made it is very important that everything here is very clean we have to clean every day mop the floor every day the utensils and everything that is made of wood is washed with a decoction of juniper in the Big Tub there cleanliness is terribly important in this house and we have learned that foreign Hunt is small but perfect in its function while the oven warms the living room and bedroom the cool north side of the house hides the holy of holies the ripening chamber [Music] traditional tradition has it that the most beautiful gift a woman moving into a new house could receive was a board from the cheese shed of her home Farm because it had the good microorganisms that she could take to her new house so these boards are very valuable and I will keep them as long as possible they are about 180 years old and contain tons of good microorganisms muscles in the Cheese room still serve their purpose today in a particularly elaborate form the mysterious caramel cheese matures from whey foreign [Music] this is brown cheese now we can take it out of the mold and eat it this is a Norwegian specialty almost all Norwegians have brown cheese on their sandwiches [Music] shapes are not only decorative they have a deeper meaning [Music] the peculiarity of this old mold is that it has a cross this was very common in molds for cheese in the past the cross was supposed to protect the food out in nature and on the mountain pasture there are many different forces good and bad this cross should protect against evil forces appear on the mountain pasture all the food for winter was made if something went wrong with the food people below did poorly for the rest of the winter how hard the Norwegian winter can be can even be guessed in summer [Music] it has snowed further north towards opdal in the dorf Rafael mountains that's nothing special even in mid-summer the mountain range is considered the border between South and Central Norway Fiel is a protected habitat for reindeer Lemmings and Musk Oxen the attraction of the National Park this is the new home of the arctic foxes from the breeding station in opta they seem to be comfortable here and will hopefully breed Southwest towards Bergen fjords dominate the landscape they were formed by glaciers that pushed through river valleys and widened them during the Ice Age the melting led to a rise in sea level the water flowed into the deep valleys [Music] thanks to the Gulf Stream of the Atlantic Ocean the climate here is warmer than other places located on the same latitude such as Alaska [Music] is the second largest in Norway thanks to the mild climate apple trees thrive on the steep slopes it has been the orchard of Norway since the 14th century in June Apple farmer Jana Larson is busy bringing order to her Orchard I'm picking the apples that we call weaklings so that the apples that remain grow big and sweet yeah we have a large one and a small one close together and there I take away the smallest and leave the biggest one hanging when there are too many apples on the tree then there is a so-called rescue here then the tree is so exhausted that no more apples grow [Music] if this slope was 2 000 kilometers further south grapes would probably be grown on it in hardanga the short summer is just enough for the apple harvest [Music] the soil is very good in her Danga it was discovered a long time ago that it is so fertile hadanga is therefore also called Norway's Orchard the sun shines a little longer here in the summer than in the rest of the country it is also very steep which means that the work is very difficult for us but it is good for the trees apples can be used to make not only juice but also alcoholic beverages cider is a regional specialty with a controlled designation of origin [Music] I would see the started came to Norway with the cistercian monks they lived in hardanga in the 14th century they taught the people of hard anger to plant apple trees and to use the apples at that time sugar also came to Norway as a commodity and could be used to increase the alcohol content of The Cider it tasted very sweet and that was the other side of the coin I don't know in Norway beverages with more than 4.7 alcohol may only be sold in the state wine Monopoly cider is considered the light version of wine in Scandinavia [Music] smell the fragrance of the discovery Apple you can smell it in the garden when it's ripe and that's what this cider smells like it smells sweetly of ripe fruit hmm very fruity but also fresh a little like marzipan when you inhale the aftertaste is fresh as lemon exciting during the first world war alcohol was banned in Norway cider disappeared into the cellars now it's to become a Norwegian cultural asset again for the red one we use raspberries and apples they fermented in the same tank it is fantastic with chocolate and cheese but we also have very still varieties without bubbles it goes well with a variety of dishes this one is very good with crabs fish and shellfish then we have other varieties with meat and also with desserts so it actually goes well with any occasion this is the answer of the north to Champagne [Music] it's about 100 kilometers to Bergen [Music] the old hansiatic city is considered the secret cultural capital of Norway although it only has 280 000 inhabitants it's also known as the rainiest city in Europe [Music] boat builder beard osmondson's Workshop is located in US the traditional Wooden Boat o Silva is still built here these are both Sailing and Rowing boats the smaller Boats were mainly used in The Fjord between the islands but with the larger ones with up to eight rowers they also went out to the Open Sea poor off and half I like this The Wooden Boat can only be as good as the tree from which it is built when bearded plans a new boat she personally goes to the forest to choose the tree for it not every tree is good enough for her expert eye first the tree has to be the right age mature this can be seen from the crown of the tree which must no longer be so pointed but flattened then the tree is mature the bark is also important it should be as light as possible and not have a course but a fine structure I look to see if a tree is big enough to build boats out of an awesome you have to know your own body your own Dimensions to do this I know that a tree has to be this thick for me it has to have this circumference but it's also allowed to be this thick that's even better [Laughter] [Music] the summer solstice plays a major role in many Northern cultures the longest day of the year is celebrated on June the 21st Norwegians celebrate the event a little later on the eve of June the 24th the birthday of John the Baptist [Music] Saint Hans is therefore actually a Christian holiday but the Pagan Customs have survived people light fires all over the country this year as well the biggest one takes place in erlison [Music] the Builders of the wooden Tower have worked through the last nights and have just finished everyone is correspondingly tired before their work goes up in Flames they strengthen themselves Oscar this year's fire chief gives final instructions it's a long-standing family tradition both my uncles my father and my cousins have been there and helped build the Tower they also were fire chiefs that means a lot to me I feel good about it it's a good feeling to be the fire chief it's great to continue that tradition I can't imagine anything better that's all girls have not come to the party this is man's business with a lot of noise [Music] [Applause] [Applause] the puberty-induced testosterone access starts moving towards the fireplace around nine o'clock in the evening a fire tower has made erlison famous the lighting of the midsummer fire is eagerly awaited only the young people who climb the tower to light the fire must remain sober [Music] we climb all the way to the top while being secured that's the hardest job when we get to the top we ignite an emergency rocket and throw it into the barrel and climb back down there's a mixture of diesel and sawdust in the barrel and then everything goes by itself [Music] this year the year that is almost 40 meters high now comes the all-important moment [Music] [Music] [Music] the tower is on fire and the young fire chief Oscar is relieved overwhelming stressful it was important that everything went well as there were six people up there we had laid out a plan for ourselves downstairs calm and controlled a few had also been up there before we climbed up talked a little took lots of pictures that was it this is how midsummer's Eve begins in earlison well that's only the start the fires on Saint hunts are supposed to drive away evil spirits around the year 1 000 Christianity established itself in Norway but the belief in nature Spirits lives on to this day they populate the secluded mountains and valleys and the people do well to come to terms with them the dairy woman Katarina sparstat firmly believes in The Invisible roommates holdra's lovely female figures Who cleverly hide a cow's tail according to Legend they live in the Sandy Hills in the area [Music] [Music] the hog of folk lives here this is where the huldras live there are also this is known to all who've spent a little time here these are beings that live underground preferably under the Sand Hills uh you can get along with them as long as you answer them and respect Natures Love to play a little prank on you the milk in the bucket turns sour things disappear I must confess once in the 25 Summers I've spent up here I was mean to a cow I hit her lightly with my stick and then I also said something unkind because she didn't do what I wanted and that's when the stick slipped out of my hand and flew so that it hit me right in the face that served me right on mid-summer Norwegians celebrate the longest day of the year aware that from now on the days will be shorter again [Music] on the actual Midsummer Eve we usually are down in the village we celebrate with a fire and the neighbors get together but sometimes one stays at home with a smaller fire the most important thing is to be outside and enjoy the light it's fantastic when it's been so dark the rest of the year and then the light comes and it's bright all of the time every year again it's a great miracle waffles for the summer guests who may pass by Catalina's Mountain pasture on their hike to experience the magic of the long summer nights in seclusion foreign [Music] the Sea of the small island of slingsholmen is littered with boats everyone is waiting for this year's highlight of the saint hand celebration [Music] [Music] who was the fire chief a few years ago knows how much the successful mid-summer celebration means to his successors [Applause] we're so happy I have no words it's a beautiful bonfire fireworks and everybody is having fun it's this is like for us this is the national day for slings bowler and Hasa the island we live on I'm proud [Music] Midsummer in Norway a whole country in a frenzy at midnight the sun still briefly flashes from behind the mountains and turns night into day there is still enough sleep in winter [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary - Nature

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Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), nature documentary, Free Documentary Nature, Nature, Wildlife Documentary, Wildlife, Animals, Animals Documentary, Midsummer in Norway, Norway Documentary, Scandinavia, Scandinavia Documentary, Midsommar, Midsommar Documentary, Part 1, Scandinavian Wildlife, BBC Documentary, National Geographic

Id: aURBzdjaMXA

Length: 52min 12sec (3132 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 03 2023