Catharine Hermine Kølle

Who was Catharine Hermine Kølle?

Catharine Hermine Kølle was a Norwegian adventurer and painter.

She was born at Snarøya in the Oslofjord as the daughter Christian Kølle. Her father was a language teacher and theologian. In 1803 the family moved to Kopervik on the island of Karmøy in the county of Rogaland, Norway. In 1807 the family moved to Holmen in Ulvik in the district of Hardanger, which became the permanent basis for her life.

She is known as both the first female hiker and the first female painter in Norway. She twice traveled by foot to Italy, and chronicled her travels over 400 pages. She also painted at least 251 watercolor paintings. The total list of works contains not only scenes from places she has visited. She also painted the images in the travel descriptions from inaccessible destinations including North America, Guinea, Istanbul, Sri Lanka and Jakarta. She also painted biblical and mythological scenes.