ÅBØBYEN

Åbøbyen is one of the best-preserved housing areas for industrial workers and clerical staff we still have from the development of energy-intensive industry in this country.

The town site, or the Americans’ Town as it also has been called, includes fine examples of Neo-classicist architecture from the 1920s as well as functionalist and post-war architecture.

The residential districts at the Sauda smelting plant have obviously been divided by social class with the workers’ houses closest to the factory, the clerical staff’s houses farther away and the director’s villa farthest from the factory and highest up on the hill.

The harmony of the town setting, its variations, details and high architectural qualities make it an especially good place for a leisurely walk.

INDUSTRIARBEIDARBOLIG – The appartments of the industrial workers 

Ryfylkemuseet has established an industrial workers’ museum in the four-family house at Haakonsgate 51-53 in Åbøbyen.
In Haakonsgate 51 we have established an industrial worker’s museum. The four-family house has an apartment furnished in 1920-s style to reflect the style from when the house was newly built, and another one on the second-floor which style dates to the 1960s.

EXHIBITION – Under the smoke – about life in Åbøbyen

In Haakonsgate 53 we have established exhibition rooms. The ground floor-apartment houses the exhibition «Under the smoke, about life in Åbøbyen».

The exhibition tells about life of the industrial workers in Åbøbyen, how it was to be a industrial worker, about the factory and about daily life in Åbøbyen.

ARRIVING HERE

Industriarbeidarmuseet lies a short walk from Sauda’s business district. Walk toward Sauda stadium and then on Håkonsgata. The museum lies to the right a short distance up this street (address: Håkonsgata 51-53).