Norway's oldest hotel, dating back to 1640
Walaker Hotel is over 385 years old and has been in the Nitter family's possession since 1690.
The hotel has been passed down from generation to generation and is today an attraction in itself.
The Nitter family
The Nitter family originally came from Scotland. The family came to Bergen in 1603 and settled as traders in Western Norway. A few years later, parts of the family moved to Sogn. Christen Nitter, who would later become the founder of what is today the Walaker Hotell grew up in Indre Sogn. He went out into the world to learn a trade, and spent several years as a goldsmith's apprentice, before returning to Solvorn in 1690 and renting the trading post at Vollåker.
Merchant in Solvorn
Together with his wife Birgitt, Christen started a business as a merchant and innkeeper in Solvorn. They had seven children, and their youngest son Ludvig took over the business.
Ludvig was known for brewing good beer. The beer was brewed from barley in the winter and then stored in a cold cellar, to have enough to drink all summer.
Ludvig Nitter married "demoiselle" Øllegård Klingenberg.
When he died in 1776, she continued to run the business by virtue of his charter, as widows were entitled to.
The couple had six children and this time too, it was the youngest son who took over the business of the hotel. Henrik ran the hotel from 1790 to 1821, when his son Erik took over.
Erik married Malene Mo from Hafslo. The couple had one son, who died as a child, and four daughters. It was then the eldest daughter, Mette Malene, who received the title deed to the property.
The first tourists
In the mid-19th century, the first tourists began to come to Western Norway. In 1865, the Swedish-Norwegian crown prince, later King Carl XV, traveled through Norway. He traveled over the Sognefjellet Mountains, and out into the Sognefjord. He was accompanied by photographer Mathias Hansen, and it was probably he who took the first photos of Solvorn and Walaker Hotel.
Hotel hostess
Mette Nitter Walaker died in childbirth, only 40 years old. It was the 11th birth in a 23-year marriage to Jakob Sjursen Talle. Four of the 11 children died early, and of those who grew up, it was the eldest son Erik who took over the place in 1878, only to hand over the business to the nobleman Wilken.
Wilken was married to Inga Ragnhild Mo from Luster who gradually became a legend as a hotel hostess in Solvorn. In addition to running the guesthouse, they also had the boat expedition in Solvorn and responsibility for the post office. It was now that the foundation was laid for a more modern hotel business at Walaker, when in the mid-1930s they rebuilt the old innkeeper's farm to make it more functional.
The annex, now Hagefløyen, was built in 1964 to increase the room capacity.
In recent times
In 1990, the old barn was renovated to function as an art gallery. In connection with the 300th anniversary of the hotel, the gallery was named Galleri Walaker 300 by the then hosts Hermod and Oddlaug. Hermod and Oddlaug, the eighth generation, took over as owners in 1978, but ran the hotel since they married in 1968.
Their son Ole Henrik and his wife Astrid are the ones who manage the business today, passionate about carrying on the venerable family traditions.
The 10th generation is Theodor Nitter Walaker who was confirmed in 2021. He must be well educated and trained in many things, before he will hopefully take over the hotel operations in about 20 years.
