Ilulissat district

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Ilulissat Communiate
Ilulissat district
location
Symbols
coat of arms
coat of arms
Basic data
Country Greenland
Commune Avannaata Communia
Seat Ilulissat
surface 47,000 km²
Residents 4873 (January 1, 2019)
density 0.1 inhabitants per km²

Ilulissat has been a district in western Greenland since 2009 .

location

The Ilulissat district fills most of the coast in the east of Disko Bay from the south coast of the Nuussuaq peninsula in the north . It is bordered by the Uummannaq district in the north and the Qasigiannguit district in the south . In front of the coast is the Disko Island with the district of Qeqertarsuaq .

history

Until colonization

The district has been inhabited by Inuit for a long time. Among other things, Saqqaq is the eponymous place of the Saqqaq culture , which dates from around 2400 to 800 BC. Inhabited Greenland, in the Ilulissat district. One of the oldest residential areas is Sermermiut south of Ilulissat . Sermermiut was already inhabited thousands of years ago and in 1737 Poul Egede found 20 inhabited houses there, the largest group of people in Greenland at that time. In the ground there are layers up to four meters thick full of archaeological finds from various cultures. Other extremely old finds can be found at Torsukattak Fjord , especially in Qeqertaq and Nuugaaq . More old residential courses in the area are from south to north Eqaluit, Inussuk, Illumiut, Narsarmiut, Qaarsormiut, Eqi , Qajaa, Qallunaap Illua, Allorarfimmiut, Qaaqqat (Qaqqaaqqat) Saveerneq, Oqaatsut , Kangaarsuk, Niaqornaq, Qilersiut , Paakitsoq , Sissarissoq, Qitermiut , Saattut, Salliaruseq, Illuluarsuit, Arsivik , Illutalik, Nuuk, Appat , Ulussat, Itilliarsuk, Niaqornaq, Akunnaaq , Saqqaq, Atanikerluk, Mannik and Ataartaa .

Shortly before the colonial era, it is said that many Sermermiut residents crossed the ice fjord to take part in a competition. On the way back they got caught in a storm and had to take shelter under stones, and they all froze to death. Their remains can still be found here today.

Early colonial times

Before the colonial era, the Dutch traveled to Disko Bay and traded with the residents. Lourens Feykes Haan described the port of Ilulissat ("Makelik Out"), Oqaatsut ("Roe Bay") and Appat ("Swarte Vogel Bay"). In the first years of Danish presence in Disko Bay (i.e. since the establishment of the Christianshaab colony in 1734), the Danes tried to overtake the Dutch in this regard. In 1738 Jacob Severin had foreign trade forbidden, which was not right for the Dutch. The conflict escalated in 1739 when Mathias Andreas Fersleff had four Dutch merchant ships sunk off Ilulissat. Englishmen later came to the area and it wasn't until the late 1770s that they both withdrew.

In 1741, on the advice of Hans Egede, a mission box was built in Ilulissat, which was named Jakobshavn, named after Jakob Severin. At first it was only operated in summer, from 1745 a trading box was built in winter. An assistant and a team were employed for this, but for years the trade was mainly carried out via Christianshaab. Since the residents mostly moved away in summer, the summer mission turned out to be a mistake. A mission house was not built in the lodge until 1751 and soon there were major successes in missionary work. In 1763 the number of those baptized was already in three digits. Later, the Danish catechist Jacob Poulsen Møller began to pretend to be a prophet, many baptized people fell apart and the mission came to a standstill. The situation only improved under Jørgen Sverdrup . When he returned home in 1788, almost everyone in the colonial district was baptized. The last pagans were baptized in the 1810s. Together with the colonial district of Ritenbenk and from 1792 with the colonial district of Christianshaab, the colonial district of Jakobshavn formed a missionary office managed from there (with the exception of 1832 to 1846). In 1906 Ritenbenk received a district pastor.

Also in 1741 the mission lodge Claushavn was founded in the colonial district of Christianshaab , which is also located in today's district area (for more on its history, see District Qasigiannguit ).

After the trade trips continued northwards, the Ritenbenk colony was founded in Saqqaq in 1755 . The colony was successful. In 1763 Carl Dalager suggested relocating it because of the establishment of the Kolmánaĸ colony . In 1770 Ritenbenk was demoted to a lodge. In 1781 it was actually moved to Appat . In the first few years the lodge was extremely successful and whaling and twine fishing were carried out. In 1790 the lodge was returned to colony status. 1793 Garnversuch on Sund was Ikerasannguaq in northern Alluttoq established. In 1794 a yarn trial was started in Saqqaq. After further such stations up to Nuussuaq in what is now the Uummannaq district , a yarn trial was also founded in Qeqertaq in 1799 . In 1805 the same happened in Anaa and in 1806 in Itilliarsuk . During the war from 1807 to 1814 most attempts at yarn had to be given up. After the war, yarn fishing was resumed and some places like Qeqertaq or Saqqaq became Udstedern .

Whaling was particularly important in the Ritenbenk colonial district. Along with the relocation of the lodge, a whaling facility was built next to it, but it did not last long. In 1783 a system was built in Illutsiaq for this purpose , which was operated until around 1798 but was not very successful and in which boats were constantly sinking. Klokkerhuk (Alluttoq) was much more successful . The facility was founded in 1783 after Carl Dalager had been active there since around 1775. In 1784 Klokkerhuk became an independent lodge. Whaling went well, but other food-gathering options were less successful and in 1794 a famine broke out and many people moved away. Nevertheless, the situation improved again. In 1799 Carl Dalager died and Klokkerhuk was subordinated to Ritenbenk. In the 1810s the place disappeared into insignificance, in 1854 it was demoted to Udsted and abandoned around 1870.

Jakobshavn only became a colony in 1781. For many years it was the only larger town in the colonial district. In the 19th century there were trading centers in Oqaatsut and Illuluarsuit . In 1832 the first official Udsted was founded with Paakitsoq .

In 1776, some people died of an epidemic in the Ritenbenk colonial district. The great epidemic of 1785/86 did not arrive here. In 1796, some fell victim to an epidemic again.

Recent history

The colonial district of Jakobshavn was divided into the three parishes Jakobshavn , Rodebay and Atâ in 1911 . Apart from the suburbs of Ilulissat, there was only one residential area in the district. The colonial district of Ritenbenk consisted of four parishes, of which the three parishes Ritenbenk , K'eĸertaĸ and Sarĸaĸ are in what is now the district area.

The parish of Ilulissat was responsible for the entire Disko Bay coast to Ikamiut . The Jakobshavn colonial district consisted of a senior catechetical district.

For a long time, the Jakobshavn medical district was responsible for the whole of northern Greenland. It was not until 1905 that the colonial districts north of Nuussuaq were spun off, and in 1916 the Egedesminde medical district as well.

In 1942 the Ritenbenk colony was demoted to Udsted and incorporated into the Jakobshavn colonial district. During the administrative reform in 1950, the colonial district was split up again. The part of the original colonial district became the municipality of Ilulissat while parts of the former colonial district of Ritenbenk were re-established as the municipality of Vaigat with Qullissat on Disko Island . In 1963 the part not located on Disko Island was given to the Ilulissat municipality. In the late 1960s, the community of Ilulissat grew in the south when the former community of Ilimanaĸ fell from the community of Qasigiannguit to Ilulissat. During the administrative reform in 2009, the municipality of Ilulissat was incorporated into the Qaasuitsup Kommunia and became a district. The Ilulissat district has been part of the Avannaata Kommunia since 2018 .

places

In addition to the city of Ilulissat , the following villages are located in the Ilulissat district:

In addition, the following abandoned settlements are in what is now the district area:

coat of arms

Blazon : Split into silver and blue with an iceberg in confused colors , the left side is higher, accompanied by a snowflake in confused colors floating in every upper corner.

The name Ilulissat means something like icebergs , which is why the coat of arms also shows icebergs.

literature

Coordinates: 69 ° 18 ′  N , 48 ° 0 ′  W