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The history of the museum
  

The Sørvág Museum (Sørvágs Bygdarsavn) was founded in 1963. The founders where Jóhan á Ørg, Arnhold Jacobsen, Dánial Thomasen and Zacharias Petersen.

 

The only picture we have from  the museum when it was  in the building which today is the  towncouncil  hall. From  the right  there  is Zacharias Petersen, Jóhan á Ørg and his wife Lena á Ørg. The other people on the photo are danish visitors. The photo is from 1971.

The demolition of a very old house called Oyran in the middle of the town, where a lot of old items where, was the start of the museum. The owners of the old house gave all the items in this house to the museum and these items where the foundation of the museum.
    But an energetic collection of all sort of old things was started and many people in all the towns in the island gave items to the museum and soon the collection got bigger and bigger.

 

You could say that it was on high time this collection took place, because in the sixties people threw all the old things away, and many of the rare items that are on the museum would definitely where thrown away and would not be present if the collection was not started then.     Sørvág Museum is today the third biggest museum in the Faroe Islands, after the national museum in Tórshavn and the big museum in Klaksvík, which is representing all the northern part of the country.

To day you could say that the museum represent all the towns in the island Vágar.

Jóhan á Ørg was the leading founder and leader of the museum in 33 years until his death in 1995.

Zacharias Petersen was helper and presenter in the museum in many years till about 1980.

In the early days the museum was in the building which today is the town council hall.

 

About 1989 the museum moved to a rented  basement hall in Sørvágur in this house.	The museum in the new rented hall.

 

The leading founder and leader  of the museum 1963 - 1995,  Jóhan á Ørg, (1923 - 1995)