Vardøhus fortress

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Aerial view of the fortress

The fortress Vardøhus , Norwegian festning Vardøhus , is the easternmost fortress of Norway . It was built by King Håkon V around 1300 on the island of Vardøya . It served to protect Norwegian interests in the Northeast Passage against Novgorod .

history

The fortress is the northernmost fortress in the world. Today it no longer has any military significance. So far, the time of completion was assumed to be 1307, when the church in Vardø was consecrated. However, recent excavations make completion around 1330 just as likely.

In 1326 the bailiff there received half of the ecclesiastical six-year tenth , which was raised for a crusade to the east, in order to wage a fight against the Russians and Karelians . In the same year there was a peace treaty between Norway and Novgorod, so that the war did not take place. But the church never got the money back. The capture was probably used to build the first Vardø fortress. It was a square area 30 X 40 m surrounded by a 4 m high and 2 m thick wall. There were several buildings and a well on the site.

"Observatio transitus Veneris ante discum Solis", 1770

Numerous witch trials took place here in Norway in the 17th century , and 77 women and 14 men were burned at the stake . Since 2011, the nearby witch memorial has been a reminder of these victims.

The current fortress is octagonal and was completed in 1738. There are several buildings in this fortress, all of which were constructed before 1825.

In 1769 the Austrian Jesuit priest Maximilian Hell built an observatory in the fortress and carried out successful observations of the Venus transit , which helped to narrow down the distance between the earth and the sun more precisely. Soon after, the observatory was removed again.

The fortress contained the commandant's building, a holding cell , a dungeon , a magazine , a well house, a building for the cannon charger, a powder magazine, a building for the grenades, salute batteries and real cannons. They were used in the spring and summer of 1940 to protect the important coastal radio station Vardø-Radio . It was bombed and destroyed. The fortress was the last Norwegian unit during the war to fly the free Norwegian flag. Even after Norway's surrender, when the German soldiers had moved away, the occupation dared again and again to lower the swastika flag and to hoist the Norwegian flag with all sorts of excuses until the Germans' patience was exhausted. Reich Commissioner Josef Terboven drove personally to Vardø and arrested the Norwegian fortress commander. The Norwegian flag was hoisted for the last time on November 1, 1940, and then again on October 31, 1944, after the Soviet troops had driven the Germans out.

Todays use

Today the fortress serves as a school for the naval forces . The fortress has a salute. It is the only fortress north of the Arctic Circle that fires a two-shot salute when the sun disk is visible from the fortress for the first time in the year. Then all pupils have no school.

The fortress museum is open daily depending on the season.

Until 2002, Norway's most famous, best guarded and most photographed tree, a rowan tree, stood in the fortress . It was packed up in winter, but did not survive the harsh winters in the long run and had to be felled. In 1995 two new rowan trees were planted at the entrance to the commandant's house and in 2004 another one on the corner of the house.

Commanders of the fortress

  • John Cunningham (1619-1651)
  • Lieutenant Colonel Carl Albert von Passau (Passow) (1739–1755)
  • Major Peter Hanson With (Huid) (1755-1757)
  • Jørgen Rosenkrantz (1757–1759)
  • Major Conrad Henrich Ecklef (1759-1780)
  • Major Otto Christian Rosenkrantz (1780–1785)
  • Major Hartvig Segelcke (1786–1787)
  • Major Hans Friderich Gemtze (Giemtze) (1788–1793)
  • Position vacant from 1793 to 1800
  • Captain Trost (1802-1807)
  • Captain Ole Brock (1808 - June 24, 1812)
  • Captain Christian Hiorth (June 24, 1812–1814)
  • Captain Johan Frey (1814-1818)
  • Lieutenant Gottfried Pley (1818–1823)
  • Lieutenant Hermann Nicolai Scharfenberg (1823–1829)
  • Lieutenant Haldor Lykke (1829-1830)
  • Lieutenant Eilert Hegrem (1830–1832)
  • Lieutenant Reinert Ulfers (1832–1833)
  • Lieutenant Petter Heiberg Ross (1833–1838)
  • Captain Paul Conradi (1839-1852)
  • Captain CFW Scharfenberg (1853-1859)
  • Captain Nicolai Beichmann (1859–1865)
  • Lieutenant Hans Juell Borchgrevink (1865–1866)
  • Captain JA William T. Apenes (1866–1868)
  • Captain Carl Schultz (1868–1890)
  • Captain V. Count Lonnevig (1890-1894)
  • Major Mauric. Cock Arnesen (1894-1914)
  • Captain Olav Silvertsen (1914-1915)
  • Major Axsel Fredrik Holter (1915-1934)
  • Captain Johan B. Basilier (1935-1940)
  • Captain (V) Ronald Rye Rynning (June 18, 1940 - November 7, 1940)
  • Major Erik Presterud (1947–1955)
  • Major H. Willoch (1955–1957)
  • Captain Per Evensen (until 1988)
  • Captain Ivar Olaf Halse (until June 2003)
  • Captain Lasse Haughom (June 2003 - June 2005)
  • Captain Lars Andreas Rognan (June 2005 - August 2008)
  • Major Tor Arild Melby (since August 2008)

literature

Web links

Commons : Vardøhus festning  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Vardøhus Festning. Åpningstider. forsvarsbygg.no, accessed April 7, 2017 (Norwegian).

Coordinates: 70 ° 22 ′ 20 ″  N , 31 ° 5 ′ 41 ″  E