Lopra

	Lopra; [ - ]; ( Danish Lobra );
	Lopra; [ - ]; ( Danish Lobra );
position	61 ° 27 ′ N , 6 ° 46 ′ W Coordinates: 61 ° 26 ′ 40 " N , 6 ° 46 ′ 8" W
Resident; rank	91 (2013);
Commune	Sumbiar communa
Post Code	FO 926
Markatal
Grammar; dative (in / from ...); genitive (after ...)	; í / úr Lopra;

Lopra ( Danish name : Lobra ) is a place in the Faroe Islands that belongs to the municipality of Sumba ( Sumbiar kommuna ) on the island of Suðuroy .

The place

Lopra is located in the south of the east coast of Suðuroy at the end of the fjord Lopransfjørður , which flows into the Vágsfjørður . At the same time there is an isthmus , off whose west coast lies the 3.4 hectare Lopranshólmur , one of the eleven spars of the Faroe Islands .

The place is one of the new foundations ( niðursetubygdir ) on the Faroe Islands, many of which were founded in the 19th century. Lopra itself was founded in 1834 . At first only a family of five lived here. In 1901 a whaling station built by Norwegians was put into operation on site. In the 19th century , the hunt for large whales in the waters around the Faroe Islands was of great economic importance. After stocks declined, it was abandoned and the Lopra station was one of the last to close in 1953 . Today there is a fish processing industry here instead. In the 1990s, Lopra was also drilling for oil, albeit unsuccessfully.

The road to the south, which climbs in serpentines here , leads past the bird cliff Beinisvørð on the west coast of the island. The Faroese bird life can be observed well there.

The shipwreck of 1742

In September 1742 there was a memorable shipwreck on the west coast of Suðuroy. The Dutch VOC East India voyager "Westerbeek" with 94 men on board got caught in fog for days on the return journey from the Dutch East Indies and lost his bearings. On September 2, 1742, the sailing ship ran aground on the rugged rocky coast near Lopranseiði and was damaged. The desperate struggle of the crew to save the ship dragged on for hours. Eventually she had to abandon the ship. Most of the crew were able to save themselves on a small rock ledge via a broken ship's mast. In a dramatic operation, some of them succeeded the next morning in conquering the steep and rugged rocky coast and calling for help in order to then save the rest. Around 80 men survived the accident. Most of the survivors then had to wait nine months in the Faroe Islands before they could return to Holland.