Trading post Storholmen

Foto: Frode Pilskog

In 1880 Gerhard C. Brekke (1858-1940) purchased a parcel of land on Storholmen. Brekke married Elisabeth Gaustad, daughter of the lighthouse keeper at Haugsholmen lighthouse. Brekke was a qualified baker and fish oil manufacturer. The largest building, a 3-storey wharfside shed, was moved from Haugsholmen to Storholmen. Here there was a room for salting fish, shop, bakery and overnight accommodation to let. The smallest wharfside shed was built in 1914 and the dwelling house in 1894. The brick building from 1905, built by a Danish mason, was in its time one of the most modern in Sunnmøre. It contained both a shop, bakery with a huge oven for baking bread and rooms to let. In 1907 Gerhard married again, this time to Elisa Malme, daughter of the keeper at Haugsholmen lighthouse. From 1908 Søndmørske Dampskibsselskap’s steamboat called here twice a week. Trading was usually with Bergen. Storholmen’s heyday was 1914-18. From 1919 trade began to decline. Brekke died in 1941 and the trading post was sold. The brick building from 1905, built by a Danish mason, was in its time one of the most modern in Sunnmøre. It contained both a shop, bakery with a huge oven for baking bread and rooms to let. The bricks were originally intended for another construction project. The vessel transporting the bricks sank, but Gerhard Brekke bought its cargo. The largest wharfside shed was moved from Haugsholmen in 1880. The smallest one was erected in 1914. The bakery on Storholmen. The lyric poet Inger Hagerup (1905-1985) knew the area well, and it is possible that the baker on Storholmen provided the inspiration for one of her most famous poems - “Det bor en baker på en bitte liten øy”. “There once lived an old baker on a tiny tiny island”