Ostrobothnia
Bergö
Land & Livelihood
Bergö is the largest island and the only one with a permanent population in the Malax archipelago. Fishing and shipping have been, and are, the biggest income resources on Bergö.3
This map of the Bergö parish in 1938 displays on the HisKi project website, made available by the Genealogical Society of Finland. 5
Parish History
- In the 1500’s Bergö belonged to the large Korsholm parish 1, 8
- In 1607 it became a part of the Malax Parish 1, 8
- By the late 1690s, Bergö had a chapel under the Malax parish 8
- 1908 Bergö become an independent parish 1
Villages & Farms
By the mid-1500s, Bergö’s population was 70 and the number of homes was nine. Because of devastating epidemics and wars, by the late 1600’s, the population had drastically reduced to 34 people. By 1801 the population increased to 188; in 1855, 428 people; before emigration to America in 1890, there were 759 people. 5 The island of Bergö has one historic village, also called Bergö.
Because parish Communion records are listed by village and farm name and because farm names often were used as a part of a person’s name, it is interesting to note the following farms. Since the village of Bergö and its farms were recorded in T.W. Karsten’s work, Svesk Bygd I Osterbotten: Nu Och Fordom; Helingfors, records were not reviewed in the Bergö Parish Communion records. To open a printable list of farms (pdf), click here.
Historic farms in the village of Bergö
- Väst
- Östman
- Nyback
- Högbacka
- Back
- Gästgivars
- Stark
- Lång
- Berg
- Nyman
Bergo Parish Map, 1935 Public Domain 4
Of Interest
Norrskär Lighthouse
The first lighthouse in Ostrobothnia was built in 1846 on Bergö. It is made of stone and brick and is 21 meters tall. It is an eight-cornered tower. The tower is black with a large band of white. To see a picture of the lighthouse click here. Then at the side navigation, click on ‘Norrskär’ in the lighthouses section.
“Hemp oil was used to light the nine oil lamps of the lighthouse. The lamps rotated by means of a clock equipped with a weight that had to be wound up twice a day. In winter no lights was needed, as there was no traffic due to the hard ice. The light keepers, however, still lived there, totally isolated. Life was hard. They got their annual salary in the autumn although most of it had to be used to buy supplies for the whole winter. Fish and seal meat was added to help make it stretch further.” 8
Parish Church
According to historian KV Åkerblom, there was a chapel on Bergö in the 1600’s. The chapel likely was built before 1696. After that time the area was in such poverty there likely would not have been the funds to build it. Poverty was brought on by famine and threats of war. The Bergö chapel did not have its own priest for nearly 150 years. Starting in 1652, outside priests performed summer services for the islanders.
The building was vandalized during the ‘great riots’ of 1714. It is said that Russian soldiers damaged the church and took the church bell. The present day church was built by townspeople between 1800 and 1802. It was a simple long church. Additions and restorations occurred throughout the 1900’s. In preparation of the church’s 200th Anniversary, major restorations occurred between 2001 and 2002. The church was re-dedicated on November 17, 2002. 1
Bergö parish church in 2016 This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Attribution: Mikkoau
Folk Dress
Each parish has a unique folk dress. Parish folk dress can be recognized by its style, colors, and patterns.
Bergö folk dress photo is used with permission of the Brage costume agency. 2
References
- Bergo Church image, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Berg%C3%B6n_kirkko.jpg
- Bergö Folk Dress image, The association Brage, Helsinki, https://www.brage.fi/sve/draktbyra/draktbyran/folkdrakter/view-163648-67
- Bergö Forsamling, http://www.xn--bergfrsamling-lmbb.fi/kyrka-och-lokaler/kyrkan/las-mer-om-bergo-kyrka
- Bergö Parish map, Doria Maps, http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fd2015-00006768
- Genealogical Society of Finland, HisKi project, Bergö parish, http://hiski.genealogia.fi/hiski/6p3rh?en+0020
- Jensen, Alicia, ‘Discovering Swedish-speaking municipalities: Malax’, Helsinki Times; November 21, 2014, , http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/themes/themes/travel/12789-discovering-swedish-speaking-municipalities-malax.html
- Karsten T.W., Svesk Bygd I Osterbotten: Nu Och Fordom; Helingfors, 1923, pages 76 -77
- Welcome to Bergö, http://www.bergo.nu/
