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Hammerfest kommune

Coat of arms of Hammerfest
Locator map showing Hammerfest within Finnmark
County	Finnmark
District
Municipality
Administrative centre	Hammerfest
Mayor (2007)	Kristine Jørstad Bock (Ap) [1]
Official language form	Neutral
Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage	Ranked 129 849 km 819 km 0.26 %
Population  - Total (2005)  - Percentage  - Change (10 years)  - Density	Ranked 113 9261 0.20 % % 11/km
Coordinates	Coordinates:
www.hammerfest.kommune.no Data from Statistics Norway

Hammerfest (helpinfo) is a city and municipality in the county of Finnmark, Norway. The municipality encompasses parts of three islands; Kvaløya, Sørøya and Seiland.


Hammerfest was established as a municipality January 1, 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 January 1, 1852 - but it was again merged with the city January 1, 1992. (But without the area of Kvalsund, which was separated from Sørøysund as a municipality of its own 1869.)

The 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 for 'fastening' (for boats).

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from 1938. It shows a polar bear.

Geography

Located at , Hammerfest claims to be the northernmost city in the world, although the title is disputed by HonningsvÃ¥g, 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 North Norway. In spite of the extreme northern location, there is no permafrost, as the mean annual temperature is approximately 2°C, about the same as Anchorage which is located at a latitude of 61° North. Monthly 24-hr averages range from -5°C in January to 11.5°C in July.^[2]

Hammerfest is situated on Kvaløya (island), with road connection to the mainland using the Kvalsund Bridge.

Economy and tourism

The construction of the large LNG 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 most other municipalities in Finnmark are experiencing.

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 spectacular North Cape (Nordkapp), northernmost point on the continent of Europe. 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.

Hammerfest is connected to the main road network by route 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.

Sister cities

- Anchorage, Alaska, United States - Ikast, Denmark - Petersburg, Alaska, United States - Tornio, Finland - Trelleborg, Sweden - Ushuaia, Argentina

History

Many gravesites 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 city status by royal decree of Christian VII of Denmark-Norway in 1789.

Napoleonic Wars

During the Napoleonic Wars Denmark-Norway was attacked by the UK and forced into the conflict on the side of Napoleon and France. As one of the main centers of commerce and communications 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-men 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

It 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 was 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 WWII

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 uboat base in Finnmark was in Hammerfest and sea planes were based in Rypefjord. The garrison in Hammerfest was also protected by around 4,000 mines and numerous anti-aircraft guns. During their long retreat after 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.^[3]

Hammerfest was forcibly evacuated by 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 being burnt in mid-January 1945. 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 (Isbjørnklubben), and a museum displaying the history of Arctic hunting.

Birdlife

The region is known for its many areas of pristine nature. Here you can find solitude, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. For people wishing to explore and experience nature, Hammerfest makes a great starting point. Look for reindeer or some of the many species of birds that can be found. For more information check; Bird Watching In Norway - Hammerfest.

Trivia

• In (1999), Hammerfest housed an important GDI base that was defended by one of their potent Firestorm Generators.

Villages in Hammerfest

• Akkarfjord
• Forsøl
• Hønseby
• KÃ¥rhamn
• Rypefjord

See also

• Ole Olsen
• Annemarie Lorentzen
• KÃ¥re Kivijärvi
• Bjørn Sundquist
• Turi Josefsen

References

Literature

• Gamst, Thorbein: Finnmark under Hakekorset - Festung Finnmark, Agdin Forlag, Arendal 1984 (Norwegian)

External links

• Information from Statoil about the Snøhvit LNG construction (English)
• Hammerfest official tourist information (English)
• Finnmark University College (English)
• Arctic booms as climate change melts polar ice cap (English)
• Power station using tidal current as energy in Kvalsund (English)
• New oil field discovered only 45 km off the coast (English)
• Goliat oil field larger than previously thought (English)
• Information about the planned natural gas power plant with CO2 reduction (Norwegian)

Municipalities of Finnmark
Alta | Berlevg | Btsfjord | Gamvik | Hammerfest | Hasvik | Karasjok | Kautokeino | Kvalsund | Lebesby | Loppa | Msy | Nesseby | Nordkapp | Porsanger | Sr-Varanger | Tana | Vads | Vard