Agricultural implements from Noralund, Bjerne
Goose yoke from Bjerne at Faaborg. A goose yoke served the purpose to keep the geese inside the croft. This yoke is now at Møntergården in Odense. Photo: Jens Gregers Aagaard.
Wheel plough from Bjerne at Faaborg. It is now at Møntergården in Odense. Photo: René Riis.
Intro
Several artefacts originating from the farm, Noralund, near Bjerne tell us something about agriculture in the 19th century. The artefacts are now at the museum Møntergården in Odense.
From soil to table
Around 6,000 years ago, the first farmers on the isle of Funen began to cultivate the soil and keep livestock. Until 1950, agriculture was the main line of work on the island, but today only 5,000 of the island's inhabitants work in agriculture, market gardening and the food industry.
The village and communal cultivation, 1000-1800
Most farmers on the isle of Funen lived in villages with an average of 12 farms. The village was surrounded by arable fields, pasture and woodland which the farmers owned and cultivated. From c. 1200, they began to cultivate the soil communally according to a principle of sharing the village’s good and poor land between the individual farms.
This location is part of the exhibition 'Funen – at the centre of the universe', at Møntergården in Odense. Read more about the exhibition on our website.
Goose yoke, c. 1850
The yoke was fixed around the neck of the goose preventing it from running away. Geese and hens were kept close to the farm, and they provided the farmer’s wife with a little extra income to buy goods at the markets and in the town. Poultry produced eggs, meat and feathers for quilts and pillows.
See picture on the Intro tab
The most important tool
The plough is indispensable in agriculture and has been so for centuries. It is used to combat weeds and incorporate manure to improve the soil. The example here is a wheel plough from 1850, which comes from the farm, Noralund, in Bjerne, near Faaborg.
See picture on the Intro tab