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Hammerfest
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is a city and municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The municipality encompasses parts of three islands: Kvaløya, Sørøya, and Seiland. Hammerfest was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The law required that all cities 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. (See also Vadsø and Vardø.) The rural district of Hammerfest (Sørøysund) was separated from the city on 1 January 1852, but it was merged back into the city on 1 January 1992.
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Encyclopedia
is a city and municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The municipality encompasses parts of three islands: Kvaløya, Sørøya, and Seiland. Hammerfest was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The law required that all cities 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. (See also Vadsø and Vardø.) The rural district of Hammerfest (Sørøysund) was separated from the city on 1 January 1852, but it was merged back into the city on 1 January 1992. (But without the area of Kvalsund, which was separated from Sørøysund as a municipality of its own in 1869.)
General information
Name
The town is named after an old anchorage. The first element is hammer, referring to a number of large rocks, good for mooring boats, called Hamran. (These were covered up in land reclaiming during the early post-war years). The last element is fest which means 'fastening' (for boats).
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from relatively modern times. They were granted on 16 December 1938. The arms of Hammerfest, a silver polar bear on a red background, were prepared for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the town's foundation in 1939. The polar bear was chosen as a symbol for the fishing in the polar seas north of Norway. The polar bear itself is not native to Norway itself.
History
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.
Napoleonic Wars
During the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark–Norway was attacked by the Great Britain and forced into the conflict on the side of Napoleon and France. As one of the main centres of commerce and transportation in western Finnmark, Hammerfest became a natural target of the Royal Navy's blockading warships. Thus, on the request of local merchants, the town received four six-pound cannon from the central armoury in Trondheim. Subsequently, a 50-man strong coastal defence militia was formed to defend Hammerfest. A number of merchants formed the officer corps of the militia, while Sea Samis and Kvens were mobilized as gun crews and soldiers.
British attack
On 22 July 1809, the expected British attack came when the brigs Snake and Fancy approached the town. Before reaching Hammerfest, the British vessels had looted the village of Hasvik, laying waste to the small fishing community. The following battle between Hammerfest's two two-cannon batteries and the British warships with a total of 32 cannon was surprisingly intense and did not end before the Norwegian cannons had run out of gun powder after about 90 minutes of combat. Both attacking warships had suffered a number of cannonball hits and had at least one fatal casualty; a sailor who was buried at the local cemetery. During the battle, the local populace had been able to make good their escape with most of the town's goods, but the raiding warships still stayed in the good port of Hammerfest for eight days. During their stay the Royal Navy sailors looted all they could get their hands on, including the church donation box and some of the church's silver.
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.
Fire of 1890
Hammerfest was struck by a fire in 1890 which started in the bakery and wiped out almost half the town's houses. After the fire Hammerfest received donations and humanitarian assistance from across the world; the biggest single donor being Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. The Kaiser had personally visited the town several times on his yacht and had great affection for the small northern settlement.
Electric street lighting
In 1891, Hammerfest became the first urban settlement in Northern Europe to get electrical street lights. The invention was brought to Hammerfest by two of the town's merchants who had seen it demonstrated at a fair in Paris.
Destruction in World War II
After their victory in the Norwegian Campaign of World War II, 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 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 pieces on the Rypklubben peninsula near Rypefjord.
The main U-boat base in Finnmark was in Hammerfest, serving as a central supply base for the vessels attacking the allied supply convoys to Russia. Luftwaffe seaplanes were based at an improvised naval air station in nearby Rypefjord. 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 massive Red Air Force raids. Thus Hammerfest became their main shipping port in Finnmark in the autumn of 1944.
Hammerfest was forcibly evacuated by the occupying German troops in the fall of 1944 and then looted and burned to the ground by them when they retreated, 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 by the retreating Germans. The Museum of Reconstruction in Hammerfest tells the story of these events and the recovery of the town. Hammerfest is also home to the Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society ; a museum displaying the history of Arctic hunting.
Mines and munitions left over from World War II are still being found and disposed of in the Hammerfest area.
Geography
Hammerfest claims to be the northernmost city in the world, although the title is disputed by Honningsvåg, Norway; Barrow, Alaska; and Longyearbyen, Svalbard. The validity of the claim depends upon one's definition of a city; Hammerfest is the world's northernmost settlement of more than 5,000 inhabitants. It is also 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.
Climate
In spite of the extreme northern location, there is no permafrost, as the mean annual temperature is approximately , about the same as Anchorage, Alaska which is located at a latitude of 61° North. Monthly 24-hr averages range from in January to in July. Mean annual precipitation is . The driest months are May, June, and July; with on average of of rainfall each month. The wettest period is October through December.
Hammerfest often experiences heavy snowfall in winter, and on some occasions, avalanches or risk of avalanches have forced some inhabitants to be evacuated from their exposed homes until the danger was over.
Economy and tourism
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 North 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. 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. Snøhvit is Europe's first export facility for liquefied natural gas.
Hammerfest offers sport and commercial fishing, both sea and freshwater, as well as scuba diving. The northernmost glacier on the Norwegian mainland is a popular hiking destination. The town is a popular starting point for northern tours. There is a daily boat to the North Cape . One chain of the Struve Geodetic Arc, now on the World Heritage List, is located at Fuglenes in Hammerfest.
Hammerfest is also a center of Sami culture.
Transportation
Hammerfest is connected to the main road network by Norwegian national road 94 which branches off from European route E6. The town is a port of call for the Hurtigruten ship route. Hammerfest also has Finnmark's third largest airport, Hammerfest Airport, opened since 30 July 1974. Up until the opening of the airport, the only air link to Hammerfest was by seaplane, the first route established in 1936.
Reindeer issues
During 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 walking into the town itself, wandering in the streets and among the houses. Although very popular amongst tourist 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 would have to be spent every year at cleaning up after the animals. In response to the complaints the town authorities has built a long high fence encircling the town to block the animals out. However, as of the 2008 reindeer season, the fence has been ineffective, with reindeer managing to pass through on road crossings despite the presence of electrified embedded grates.
Villages
Sister cities
Hammerfest is town twinned with the following foreign settlements:
Foreign consulates
Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have honorary consulates in Hammerfest.
External links
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