Hammerfest centre
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Visit Hammerfest
Welcome to Hammerfest, Finnmark’s metropolis and the gateway to the Kingdom of the polar bear, hardy Finnmarkers put down roots here thousands of years ago, co-existing with the wild harsh weather and beautiful nature reflected in the colours of the stunning northern lights. In this audio guide, you will become acquainted with Hammerfest’s exciting history and learn more about the people, places and maybe some of the myths and stories from bygone times. All of this you can experience through the comprehensive narration, pictures, and text as you approach the places of interest along the route. If you should come across a reindeer on your travels, then just stop and greet it with “Bures”, which means good day in Sami. As a rule, you will normally receive a small nod or a grunt in return. God Tur!
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Points of interest
#1
Intro
Welcome to Hammerfest, Finnmark’s metropolis and the gateway to the Kingdom of the polar bear, hardy Finnmarkers put down roots here thousands of years ago, co-existing with the wild harsh weather and beautiful nature reflected in the colours of the stunning northern lights. In this audio guide, you will become acquainted with Hammerfest’s exciting history and learn more about the people, places and maybe some of the myths and stories from bygone times. All of this you can experience through the comprehensive narration, pictures, and text as you approach the places of interest along the route. If you should come across a reindeer on your travels, then just stop and greet it with “Bures”, which means good day in Sami. As a rule, you will normally receive a small nod or a grunt in return. God Tur!
#2
Reconstruction Buildings
In the Autumn of 1944, Adolf Hitler gave the following withdrawal order from Hammerfest “Burn, blow up and destroy everything you see, and show no compassion”. Hitler’s order to use the scorched earth tactic left the whole town in ruins. He didn’t want to leave anything that could have been used as valuable materials by the Russian enemies. The town therefore had to be rebuilt from scratch. The reconstruction of the houses was carried out following standard drawings, which is why they all look the same. The houses have a simple shape, but are well thought out, spacious and solid. In the planning work the use of the houses and their liveability was given highest priority, therefore, for the first time, there were designs with bedrooms for the whole family and a large modern kitchen that could have many functions. Many believe that Hammerfest is one of the best-preserved reconstructed towns in Norway, the simple two-storey residential buildings surrounding the important public brick-built buildings with 3 floors, were all placed in the town centre. The slate rooves were the same for all the buildings, but the vivid colours of the houses gave variation. If you would like to find out more, feel free to take a visit to the Reconstruction Museum for Finnmark and North Troms, or check out the links below:
#3
Stolperstein - Isak Goldmann Meyer
If you turn your gaze down the street you will be able to see a stone with an engraved brass plate, inscribed with the name Isak Goldmann Meyer. Isak was one of 773 Jews in Norway who were arrested and deported to German concentration camps during the Second World War. Only 35 of them survived and Isak was killed on the very day that he arrived in Auschwitz on the 1st of December 1942. The stone that you can see, is known as a stolperstein, these were set up over the whole world as a Holocaust memorial. To commemorate the lives of the Jews who were victims of the Nazi’s genocide of the Jews before and during the Second World War, when more than 6 million Jews were murdered. Isak ran the Beklædningsmagasinet A/S shop here in Hammerfest from 1927 until his arrest by the Nazis in 1942. He was married and had a daughter in Poland but lived alone in the house that you see here Kirkegata 22. He was described as a sympathetic, but reserved man, whom people liked to trade with, and his shop was especially well known for the beautiful classical music that he always had playing inside. Please take a minute to not only remember the horrible fate of Isak and all the other Jews, but also all those who have faced injustices in their lives.
#4
G. Hagen
You are now standing in front of G Hagen AS, which was the first trading house in Northern Norway. In 1855 the founder Gunder Hagen from Rendalen established the region’s first bookstore here in Hammerfest. Around 1890 he expanded the store and established a printing company and a ticket agency, followed by a bakery in 1910. Guner Hagen was also a savvy businessman, and the company has remained in the family for over four generations. Today, G.Hagen is affiliated to the Noril and Kontorspar chains, and is a significant property developer here in Hammerfest and in Honningsvåg. A little further down the street you will find Nissen Hammerfest shopping centre, which is also owned by the company. The family have also shown a burning commitment to the cultural life of the town. Gunder Hagen died in 1914, at the age of 88.
#5
Ole Olsen
You are now standing in front of Ole Olsen, who is northern Norway’s greatest composer. Ole Olsen was born here in Hammerfest in 1850. At just five years old he had mastered both the violin and the piano, and just a few years later he was standing in for his father as the organist in Hammerfest Church. For a few years he was a watchmaker, but it was music that was his passion, and after having studied the organ and composition in Trondheim, he completed his music studies in Leipzig in 1874. He finally settled in Oslo and became a famous composer with several productions shown at the national theatre, including the Sami inspired opera Lailja and the musical Svein Uræd. Many Norwegian and international critics praised his musical elegance which was characterised with a freshness that was missing in other music of the time. In addition to composing, he was also both a conductor and a musical inspector in the Norwegian Armed Forces. He referred to himself as the world’s most northerly composer and fought for the cultural and artistic wellbeing of the region, right up until his death in 1927.
#6
The Pavilion and Town Park
“It is like a diamond in the heart of the town, just what we have been waiting for in the post war era” that is how the Mayor Kåre Rønbeck described the music pavilion, on the New Years Eve of 1988/89, when the municipality received this outstanding work of art as a gift. 20 volunteers, with the wood carver Knut Arnesen at their helm, put in over 1500 hours of work, to recreate the previous music pavilion which was lost during the Nazi withdrawal in 1944. Even though this pavilion is still new and shiny, it is an everyday reminder of what Hammerfest was like in the olden days. The pavilion, or music pavilion, in the centre of Hammerfest, is also a well-known and beloved landmark to the town’s people. In addition to being a popular attraction and photo opportunity for tourists and visitors. PS: NRK caught the reaction on film. You can view it on the link below: The gifting of the Pavilion by the Round Table, Hammerfest.
#7
Northern Europe’s first electric streetlights
«The impressive lighting naturally gives a great happiness to the town’s people, who of an evening are coming out to admire the beautiful lights” wrote the Finnmarksposten on the 10th of February 1891. Referring to when Hammerfest became the first town in Northern Europe to get electric streetlights. In Hammerfest the interest for using electricity for lighting began early. Representatives from Hammerfest municipality visited the world fair in Paris in 1878, where the first attempt to light up a street was being made. Hammerfest were able to obtain the same type of generator, financed with money from arctic fishing and the pomor trade. Several years later the municipality obtained access to the local co-operatives electric lighting fund, which at the end of 1890 had amounted to 17 000 kroner. This stretched to building a dam and a turbine over Storvannet which generated enough power for 18 streetlights and 300 incandescent bulbs for the houses. It could be claimed that the lights were financed by the town’s thirsty inhabitants. The co-operative was responsible for the sale of all liquor in the town and the profits were used for good causes, amongst them the streetlights. Here next to the pavilion, you can see a replica of the old street lighting!
#8
St Mikael’s Catholic Church
We give you a very warm welcome to the world’s most northerly catholic church. You are now standing at the entrance to St. Mikael’s church, where you can see the beautiful mosaics depicting how the church first gained its footing here in the town. The first church was finished in 1885, but as with the rest of the buildings in the centre, it became a tragic victim of Hitler’s scorched earth tactic in the Autumn of 1944. It was a whole 14 years later before the persistent catholic volunteers were allowed to build this beautiful church that was consecrated in 1958. The church was designed in the same functional style as the rest of the reconstructed buildings in the centre, but at the same time was also characterised with both local and catholic symbols. The tower which stretches up towards the sky, has the same shape as the bollards which are used to moor the boats in the harbour, and the beautiful 8-metre-high image which adorns the wall, is the archangel Mikael, who is the patron saint of the catholic Church. The church is also richly decorated inside. The wooden cross was made by the German prisoner of war Georg Wimmer and symbolises God’s good will and atonement. The wall is ornately decorated with mosaics depicting the archangels Mikael and Olav in addition to 15 mysteries relating to the rosary that Jesus wore during the crucifixion. St Mikael’s also has its own website – see the link below:
#9
The Findus Factory
Take a deep breath and think yourself back a few decades. At that time, this area was a hive of activity and the smell of fresh, salted, dried, fried, and smoked fish wedged itself in your nostrils. The Findus factory started production with frozen fish filets in 1952. And after a while they were producing fish fingers, fish balls, fish cakes, frozen cod, Norwegian perch, haddock and much more. Here the delicate raw ingredients were available nearly right outside the factory door, and with the advent of the home freezer at the end of the 1950s, the assortment of products grew, amongst other things they started producing fish fingers here in 1958. In its heyday there were over 1300 employees coming in and out of the factory door every single day. For a long time, Findus was Norway’s biggest fishing industry company, and played a significant role in the development of Hammerfest. But all fairy tales must come to an end, and so it was, that this factory closed in 2001. The factory buildings were later demolished and replaced with the monumental and beautiful Arctic cultural centre building. There you can find reminders of the Findus factory in the cinema room ‘Frityen’, the ‘fileten’ gallery or at the open-air theatre Frysa.
#10
Snow Fences
You will without a doubt have seen them, fences along the slopes or on the bare mountains, and have perhaps wondered what they are. They are called snow fences and have traditionally been used to prevent snow from falling on the roads and the railway. Both the high mountains and the landscape in northern Norway have sparse vegetation and therefore little protection from the wind. In the winter, the wind can get a good hold of the upper layers of snow which lie across the landscape and turn them into large slopes or piles of snow. In turn these can trigger avalanches on the slopes, but the fences are an effective protection for both people and houses. Today, snow fences are also used in alpine ski resorts, but with a different purpose. They want to keep the snow in place there so that it is not blown away, at the same time as wanting to collect drift snow along the fences.