Hanøen’s old trading post was once one of two outlets for spirits in Lofoten and Vesterålen, and the place also had distinguished guests, including polar explorer Roald Amundsen.
In earlier times, there were only two liquor outlets in Lofoten and Vesterålen, one at the fishing village of Risvær in Austre Vågan, and the other was located at Hanøen (Hanøy) in the far north of Austvågøy. It is Tor-Eirik Aakre, originally from Hanøy, who tells this to Lofoten.com.
Aakre says that this was something that was told when he was growing up in the trading town of Hanøy, as well as the story of a wedding to the daughter of a fishing village owner in Lofoten.
There was too little liquor in Risvær, and thus three men had to travel by boat to Hanøy to pick up more spirits, a trip that apparently took five days. The men had to row all the way because there was no wind for the entire trip, and were slightly delayed until the wedding.
In 1960, they were visited by an old lady on Hanøy. She had been a governess at the trading post and could tell that the well-known Norwegian polar explorer and explorer Roald Amundsen had spent the night on Hanøy. He did not spend the night in the inn, but in a room called the “hall cabinet” in the main house.
Photo: Courtesy of Tor-Eirik Aakre/ Wikipedia
Source: Hanøy Church Association
