Hammerfest

A municipality called Hammerfest by og landdistrikt (Hammerfest town and district) was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law), which included the town of Hammerfest and the vast rural district surrounding it. The law at that time required that all towns should be separated from their rural districts, but because of low population and very few voters, this was impossible to carry out for Hammerfest in 1838. (This was also the case in the nearby towns of Vadsø and Vardø.) In 1839, the northern district (population: 498) was separated to become a new municipality of Maasø. This left Hammerfest by og landdistrikt with 2,024 residents. On 1 January 1852, the rural district outside of the town (population: 1,256) was separated from the town to form a new municipality of Hammerfest landdistrikt. This left the town with 1,125 residents. (The rural district was later divided into two municipalities with Sørøysund in the north and Kvalsund in the south.)

On 1 January 1992, the municipality of Sørøysund (population: 2,341) was merged with the town of Hammerfest (population: 6,909) to form a new, larger municipality called Hammerfest.[5]

In 2017, the two neighboring municipalities of Hammerfest and Kvalsund voted to merge into one large municipality effective 1 January 2020,[6] and that merger came into effect on the planned date. Also on the same day, the new municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Finnmark county.[7]

Name

The municipality is named after the town of Hammerfest that was established in 1789. The town was named after an old anchorage. The first element is hammer, referring to a number of large rocks, good for mooring boats, called Hamran (Old Norse: Hamarr meaning "steep mountainside"). The Hamran were covered up in land reclaiming during the early post-war years. The last element is fest, from Old Norse festr which means "fastening" (for boats).[8]

Kvalsund, part of Hammerfest municipality since 2020

On 1 January 2020 when Kvalsund and Hammerfest were merged, the new municipality had two parallel, bilingual, interchangeable names: Hammerfest kommune (Norwegian) and Hámmerfeastta suohkan (Northern Sami).[9] Beside the official Hámmerfeasta, there are also two other common variants of the Sámi name: Hámmarfeasta and Hámmárfeasta.[10]

Painting by Konstantin Korovin, inspired by the Aurora Borealis in Hammerfest

Many grave sites dating back to the Stone Age can be found here. This location was an important fishing and Arctic hunting settlement for a long time before it was given market town rights by royal decree of Christian VII of Denmark–Norway in 1789.

Improved fortifications

After the raid, Hammerfest became a garrison town with some regular troops and much improved and expanded fortifications. A small flotilla of cannon-armed rowing boats also operated out of Hammerfest for the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars.

Hammerfest in the late 19th century

Aerial view of the centre of Hammerfest taken by Walter Mittelholzer in 1923

Destruction in World War II

German sign in Hammerfest in 1941.

Hauen Chapel, the only building in Hammerfest left standing after the Second World War.

After their victory in the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War, the Germans soon fortified Hammerfest and used it as a major base. The importance of Hammerfest to the Germans increased dramatically after their invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. The occupiers installed three coastal batteries in and around Hammerfest, one with four 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns on Melkøya island near the town, one with three 10.5 cm guns on a hill right outside the town and a final battery with casemated 13 cm (5.1 in) pieces on the Rypklubben peninsula near Rypefjord.

The main German U-boat base in Finnmark was in Hammerfest, serving as a central supply base for the vessels attacking the allied supply convoys to Russia.[16] Luftwaffe seaplanes were based at an improvised naval air station in nearby Rypefjord.[17] The garrison in Hammerfest was also protected by around 4,000 mines and numerous anti-aircraft guns.

During their long retreat following the Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation, the Germans no longer managed to transport troops by sea further east due to intensive Red Air Force raids. Thus Hammerfest became their main shipping port in Finnmark in the autumn of 1944.[18]

The town of Hammerfest was bombed twice by the Soviet Air Forces. The first time, on 14 February 1944, the town was hit by explosive and incendiary devices, but little damage was done. On 29 August 1944 Soviet bombers launched a second airstrike, inflicting significantly more damage to buildings and infrastructure in downtown Hammerfest. Two ships were sunk in the harbour.[19] The ships lost were the local transports Tanahorn and Brynilen.[20][21]

The population was forcibly evacuated by the occupying German troops in the autumn of 1944 after a Soviet offensive at the northern extremity of the Eastern Front pushed into eastern Finnmark. All of Finnmark including the town was looted and burned to the ground by the Germans when they retreated in 1945, the last of the town having been destroyed by the time the Germans finally left on 10 February 1945. Only the town's small funeral chapel, built in 1937, was left standing.[19] The Museum of Reconstruction in Hammerfest tells the story of these events and the recovery of the region. The Soviet troops in eastern Finnmark were withdrawn in September 1945.

Mines and munitions left over from the Second World War were found and destroyed as late as 2008.[22]

The town is partly located near Storvannet lake

The island municipality encompasses parts of the mainland as well as three large islands: Kvaløya, Sørøya, and Seiland. Other small islands such as Lille Kamøya and Kamøya are also located here. Seiland National Park is partially located in the municipality. Seilandsjøkelen is a large glacier in the park. The Nordefjorden is a fjord that is part of the park. The mountains Komagaksla and Seilandstuva are some of the largest mountains in the municipality.

Hammerfest claims to be the northernmost city in the world, although the title is disputed by the nearby Norwegian town of Honningsvåg (achieved town status 1996). The validity of the claim depends upon one's definition of a city; although Hammerfest is further south than Honningsvåg it has a population over 10,000, which is required by Norwegian law to achieve town status (law from 1997). In retrospect, Parliament ruled that a city should be located in a municipality with at least 5,000 inhabitants. But the provision has not been made retroactive. Honningsvåg is the northernmost town today, in Norway.[23] Utqiagvik, Alaska, population c. 4,000, is further north than both the Norwegian towns, but does not lay claim to the title of northernmost town.[24] Some foreigners may find it strange that either Hammerfest or Honningsvåg claims to be cities, given the small size of both places and it may help to know that the Norwegian language does not distinguish between city and town. The closest translation for either term is the word by, meaning the translation from Norwegian to English is ambiguous. If both Hammerfest and Honningsvåg were to be defined according to old British tradition, neither of them would be considered cities, as neither has a cathedral. Both of them may, however, be considered towns, given the status of both settlements as economic hubs of the surrounding areas and the status as municipal centres.

Hammerfest is, together with Vardø, the oldest town in Northern Norway. The town of Hammerfest is situated on the island of Kvaløya, with road connection to the mainland using the Kvalsund Bridge.

All municipalities in Norway, including Hammerfest, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.[30] The municipality falls under the Hammerfest District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

The LNG site on Melkøya at dusk seen from the Storsvingen Tourist center.

The construction of the large liquefied natural gas site on Melkøya (island) just off Hammerfest, which will process natural gas from Snøhvit, is the most expensive construction project in the history of Northern Norway. This project has resulted in an economic boom and new optimism in Hammerfest in recent years, a stark contrast to the economic downhill and negative population growth most other municipalities in Finnmark are experiencing.[56][57][58][59] After the opening of natural gas production on Melkøya there have been some problems with significant smoke and soot pollution in the initial production phases.[60] Snøhvit is Europe's first export facility for liquefied natural gas.[61]

Station of the Struve Geodetic Arc in Hammerfest

Hammerfest offers sport and commercial fishing, both sea and freshwater, as well as scuba diving. The northernmost glacier on the Norwegian mainland is a hiking destination. The town is a starting point for northern tours. There is a daily boat to the North Cape (Norwegian: Nordkapp). One chain of the Struve Geodetic Arc, now on the World Heritage List, is located at Fuglenes in Hammerfest.

Hammerfest is also a centre of Sami culture. Hammerfest is home to the Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society (Norwegian: Isbjørnklubben); a museum displaying the history of Arctic hunting.

The newspaper Hammerfestingen is published in Hammerfest.

American author Bill Bryson begins his European travels in 1990, documented in his book Neither Here Nor There, with a visit to Hammerfest in order to see the Northern Lights, calling it "an agreeable enough town in a thank-you-God-for-not-making-me-live-here sort of way".[62]

Hammerfest is connected to the main road network by Norwegian national road 94 which branches off from European route E6 at Skaidi in the neighbouring municipality of Kvalsund. The town is a port of call for the Hurtigruten ship route. Hammerfest also has Finnmark's third largest airport, Hammerfest Airport, opened 30 July 1974. Before the opening of the airport, the only air link to Hammerfest was by seaplane, the first route established in 1936.[63]

Reindeer grazing outside Hammerfest's town hall.

During the summer, massive reindeer herds migrate from their winter pastures in the inner parts of Finnmark to the coast. Among the islands inhabited by reindeer during the summer months is Kvaløya, the island on which Hammerfest town is located. For years many of the 2,500 to 3,000 reindeer in the area have been coming into the town itself, wandering in the streets and among the houses. Although popular with tourists, this has been less favourably received by the town's population, with people complaining of traffic disturbances and the dung and urine left by the animals. For hygienic reasons large sums of money have to be spent every year to clean up after the animals.[64] In response to the complaints the town authorities built a 20-kilometre-long (12 mi), 1.2-metre-tall (4 ft) fence encircling the town to keep the animals out.[65] However, as of the 2008 reindeer season, the fence had proven ineffective, with reindeer managing to pass through on road crossings, despite the presence of electrified grates embedded in the ground.[66] The problem continues – the mayor, Alf E. Jakobsen, joked during the local election in 2011 that he was contemplating a career as a reindeer herder if he lost the vote.[67]

Ole Olsen, 1909

• Sir John Rice Crowe (1795–1877) an English businessman and diplomat, deputy vice-consul in Hammerfest and British consul in Finnmark, lived in Hammerfest
• Ole Olsen (1850–1927) a Norwegian organist, composer, conductor and military musician
• Adolf Lindstrøm (1866–1939) a Norwegian chef and polar explorer
• Paal Berg (1873–1968) a Norwegian politician, 12th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 1929 to 1946
• Charles Robertson (1875–1958), Norwegian Minister of Trade 1926–1928
• Jørgen Holmboe (1902–1979) a Norwegian-American meteorologist
• Per Møystad Backe (1914–1991) a Norwegian jurist, developed Scandinavian Airlines
• Annemarie Lorentzen (1921–2008) teacher in Hammerfest, politician and Norwegian ambassador to Iceland 1978 to 1985
• Knut Moe (1921–1989) a Norwegian resistance member in WWII and radio agent for the SIS
• Kåre Berg (1932–2009) a Norwegian professor in medical genetics, discovered the Lipoprotein(a)
• Sven Ullring (born 1935) a Norwegian engineer and businessperson
• Turi Josefsen (born 1936) a Norwegian-American businesswoman
• Kåre Kivijärvi (1938-1991) a Norwegian photographer, did photojournalistic work in Northern Norway
• Bjørn Sundquist (born 1948) a Norwegian actor, famous for TV, theatre and movie roles [78]
• Annelise Josefsen (born 1949), Norwegian-Sami artist
• Bodil Niska (born 1954) a Norwegian jazz musician on saxophone, grew up in Hammerfest
• Samoth (born 1974) as Thomas Thormodsæter Haugen, a black metal musician and multi-instrumentalist
• Gunnar Garfors (born 1975) a Norwegian traveller, author, media professional and public speaker
• Máret Ánne Sara (born 1983) a Sami artist and author, lives and works in Kautokeino

• Brooke, Arthur de Capell (1826). A winter in Lapland and Sweden, with various observations relating to Finmark and its inhabitants. John Murray.

• Municipal fact sheet Archived 21 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Webcam Hammerfest
• Hammerfest travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Information from Statoil about the Snøhvit LNG construction
• Tromsø University Museum: Maritime hunter - fishers through 10,000 years at Melkøya
• Hammerfest official tourist information
• Finnmark University College
• Arctic booms as climate change melts polar ice cap
• Power station using tidal current as energy in Kvalsund
• New oil field discovered only 45 km (28 mi) off the coast
• Goliat oil field larger than previously thought
• Information about the planned natural gas power plant with CO2 reduction (in Norwegian)