Om Rauhelleren

The history of Rauhelleren tourist cabin

Of: Anne Gallefos Wollertsen

"He who has not seen Rauhelleren, has not seen the plateau," claimed a hiker in 1950.  This beautiful tourist cabin got its name Rauhelleren from the red crust that grows in the lush rock wall behind the cabin. Rauhelleren was inaugurated on July 21, 1925. The cabin cost kr. NOK 30,000 as well as a lot of heavy work.
The cabin is originally a hunting cabin owned by Wilhelm Mustad, where the core had been a schoolhouse in Skurdalen. The plot was given to the tourist association by Gunnulf Sønstebø from Uvdal. Hans Myklatun from Eidfjord demolished the cabin and transported it piecemeal and divided the four miles into Langesjøen in the spring of 1924, under difficult conditions. The horses were given snowshoes. Over 100 loads were driven throughout the spring, summer and autumn. The foundation was erected in the summer of 1924, and the cabin was erected from early spring 1925. The cabin consisted of 5 bedrooms and a large fireplace lounge. One of the doors was painted rose, and had the inscription "Here live Wilhelm and his Lady". Unfortunately, the door disappeared during the first extension. Hans Myklatun was the first manager. He and his wife Brita ran the cabin until 1964, when their daughter Johanna and her husband, Lars Lægreid, took over. In 1987, their son, Hans Olav Lægreid, took over the manager's job. Hans Olav is married to Mona Helle Lægreid, and they have a son, Lars Magnus, born in 2008.
Hans Myklatun died in 1988. Johanna continued to work at Rauhelleren during the seasons, as a solid support for her son. The first time she came to the cabin was in 1925, 5 years old. She remained "Queen Johanna of Rauhelleren" until her last summer in there, in ........ A conversation with Johanna was a memory for life. She was the kind of person you never forget. Wise and with an infinite life experience. Rauhelleren quickly became popular, located on the shore of Lake Langesjøen and with hiking trails in almost all directions. The ferry across the Halnefjord was started in 1953, and by that you could reach Rauhelleren after only 3-4 hours of walking in easy terrain. As the years passed, the cabin's capacity became too small. There was a major development in 1950 – 1951, where the main building was "pushed on" eastwards. Today there are about 60 beds, and a security cabin that also serves as a self-service cabin outside the staffed season. Until 1978, there was a summer farm with up to 20 cows and a herd of goats of 20-30 animals. In the first years, goods were transported by sleigh and cloven-hoofed horse. After the war, it became a snowcat and a weasel, and laundry was done in Langesjøen until 1952. At that time, a brewery house was built and water was installed. In 1981, the diesel generator arrived. Today, 2018, a solar cell system is planned, and there have been animals on the farm again for several years, to the great joy of young and old. Horses are used in the transport of goods in the summer.  After about half an hour's walk, you are up on the nut behind the cabin, 1365 meters above sea level. From here you can see, among other things, Hardangerjøkulen, Hallingskarvet and Hårteigen. The flora is lush on the hillside between
Langesjønutan and Rauhellerskoran. During the war years 1942 and 1943, the Germans closed the plateau almost after the heavy water action on Rjukan. 

Source: Article by Stig Sundkuist and Per L. Andersen in Drammens og Oplands Turistforenings (DNT)
Drammens and Ome