Qeqertarsuaq District

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Qeqertarsuup Communia
Qeqertarsuaq District
location
Symbols
coat of arms
coat of arms
Basic data
Country Greenland
Commune Qeqertalik municipality
Seat Qeqertarsuaq
surface 15,000 km²
Residents 874 (January 1, 2018)
density 0.1 inhabitants per km²

Qeqertarsuaq has been a district in western Greenland since 2009 .

location

The district of Qeqertarsuaq consists of the Disko Island and the few offshore islands as well as the Kitsissut archipelago . North and east on the other side of the Sullorsuaq (Vaigat) is the Ilulissat district , while to the south on the other side of the Disko Bay of district Aasiaat is.

history

Until the colonial days

The district was visited by the Grænlendingar in the Middle Ages . They called the disco island Bjarney ("Bear Island") and hunted or collected driftwood there. Possibly they wintered there too. Archaeological traces also show that the island was inhabited by Inuit early on . Remains can be found both on the north-west coast, which was later no longer inhabited, and on the north-east coast in Qullissat , Nuugaarsuk, Uunartoq , Naqerloq and Isunnguaq.

In the 17th century, the Disco Island was rediscovered by Dutch whalers. They hunted in Disko Bay and traded with the Greenlanders. At the beginning of the 18th century, Lourens Feykes Haan mainly described the later places Aamaruutissat , Fortunebay , Qeqertarsuaq and Imerissoq . In 1736 Poul Egede first visited Kitsissut, where he found Greenlanders and Dutch graves. Svend Sandgreen indicated that some Dutch even lived in the area. It is also said that the Dutch threatened or stole the Greenlanders. In 1739, in return, some Greenlanders killed a group of Dutch sailors. In the middle of the 18th century, Hamburg and English whalers began to operate in Disko Bay. In 1738 Poul Egede reported about 200 Greenlanders in Qeqertarsuaq and many more on Kitsissut.

After the Christianshaab colony was founded in 1734 , Danes soon began trading and hunting trips to Disko Island and Kitsissut. In 1750 consideration was given to building a lodge on Kitsissut to forestall the Dutch in their trade with the Greenlanders, which was not realized.

Early colonial times

It was not until 1773 that Svend Sandgreen founded the Godhavn Lodge in Qeqertarsuaq at the suggestion of businessman Johannes Pedersen Dorf. Intensive whaling was carried out in it. Below the lodge, whaling facilities were established in Fortunebay and Kitsissut in 1778. In 1782 another system was built directly at the lodge. In the same year Godhavn became the seat of the North Greenland inspector . Also in 1782 the lodge in Kitsissut became independent and left the colonial district of Godhavn.

The population of the colonial district fell sharply during the epidemic of 1774/75. 1777 lived 22 families with 180 people in Qeqertarsuaq and living places east of it, including Marraq . During the great epidemic of 1785/86, the number of inhabitants fell again. In 1799 28 people lived in the lodge, 157 in the complex and 14 in Fortunebay, which makes a total of 199 inhabitants. In 1805 the colonial district had 182 inhabitants, 165 of whom lived in Qeqertarsuaq and 17 in the Kangerluk fjord. Between 1792 and 1811, the residential areas Qullissat , Naqerloq and Isunnguaq on the northeast coast were also inhabited. A place called Luses Hul was once mentioned, but it is not clear where it was.

In the first few years, the situation was difficult despite good yields. Danes, Dutch, Hamburgers and Englishmen competed for the whales in Disko Bay and sometimes there were even attacks on each other. The Danes also reported how the English made the Greenlanders drunk with their alcohol and then abandoned them on deserted islands, where they froze to death or drowned so that the English could pillage their houses. The Danish government finally got the situation under control when they had the ships armed around 1790. After all, only the English were still active as Danish competitors in Disko Bay and they too withdrew at the beginning of the 19th century.

But there was also competition internally. Mainly because of the two plants and the lodge on the south coast of Disko Island, the yields of each whaling station were too low. In 1789 the two plants were merged and on July 1, 1791 Fortunebay was abandoned. The facility and the lodge in Qeqertarsuaq were given a common bookkeeping system, and in 1802 the staff was also combined. From the 1790s to 1804 hunting yields increased, but then decreased. The economy suffered particularly from the war from 1807 to 1814. In the first years after the war, quite a lot of whales were caught again, but from the 1830s onwards whaling was virtually unsuccessful. In 1851 the facility was abandoned.

Aside from whaling, the economic situation was even more difficult. The area was sparsely populated, so trading with the Greenlanders was not very profitable. In addition, there was the surreptitious trade between the English and Greenlanders, which caused great losses for the Danes. Seals and fishing were unsuccessful. Yarn fishing began in 1792 near what is now Kangerluk and in Fortunebay in 1796, but all attempts were soon abandoned. From around the 1830s the economic situation was so difficult that the district threatened to be abandoned. The situation only improved when Udsteder was founded in Kitsissut in the middle of the 19th century (which fell back to Godhavn in 1830), on Kangerluk, in Fortunebay and Aamaruutissat. In 1830 an Udsted was founded in Ujarasussuk on the northeast coast, which at that time belonged to the Ritenbenk colony . Previously, on this side of the Disco Island, a failed attempt to build a facility in Kuugaaq had only been made in 1791 .

The colonial district of Godhavn did not play a significant role in the missionary system. There was only a brief missionary in Qeqertarsuaq at the end of the 18th century. Consequently, a large part of the population was pagan for a longer than average. It was not until the 1830s that the last Greenlanders were baptized on Disco Island. From 1799 the colonial district was part of the missionary office of the Egedesminde colony . Only in 1909 was a separate pastor employed.

From 1793 to 1827 Qeqertarsuaq was the seat of the North Greenland doctor before he was transferred to Ilimanaq .

In 1821, 187 people lived in the colonial district, 176 of them in Qeqertarsuaq and 11 on Kangerluk. In 1850 the population had risen to 257, of which 123 lived in Qeqertarsuaq, 25 in Fortunebay, 19 on Kangerluk and 90 on Kitsissut.

Coal mining on Disko Island

Disco Island has always been an important place for coal mining. In 1776 coal deposits were examined for the first time in the colonial district of Godhavn at Aamaruutissat and in 1791 at Marraq. In 1836 permanent mining was planned in Marraq, but in the same year two ships sank there and finally from 1837 coal was mined in Aamaruutissat under the direction of two Faroese . Yields were good, but in 1843 the coal ship sank and coal mining was abandoned.

Coal mining on the northeast coast was more important. There investigations were carried out for the first time in 1777 by Gottfried Friederich Schramm. In 1780 Johan Friedrich Schwabe visited the area and finally Ritenbenks Kulbrud was founded in 1782 on the southernmost of the places inspected. In 1791 the mining site was moved north. Mining there was given up in 1793, but resumed two years later between the two previous locations. In 1833, Ritenbenks Kulbrud was given up.

Recent history

In 1911 the colonial district of Godhavn was divided into four parishes. None of the four parishes of Godhavn , Diskofjorden and Skansen and Kronprinsens Ejland had an associated place to live. The Ritenbenk colonial district also included the Ujarasugssuk community on Disko Island with the Uunartoq residential area . All municipalities were part of the 7th district electoral council of North Greenland.

When the colonial district of Ritenbenk was dissolved in 1942, the northeast coast of Disko Island briefly became part of the colonial district of Jakobshavn .

During the administrative reform in 1950, the colonial district of Godhavn became the municipality of Qeqertarsuaq, while parts of the former colonial district of Ritenbenk were re-established as the municipality of Vaigat . Since the dissolution of the municipality of Vaigat in 1974, which now only comprised the part on Disko Island, the entire Disko Island belonged to the municipality of Qeqertarsuaq. During the administrative reform in 2009, the municipality Qeqertarsuaq was incorporated into the Qaasuitsup Kommunia and became a district. The Qeqertarsuaq district has been part of the Qeqertalik municipality since 2018 .

places

In addition to the city of Qeqertarsuaq , only the village of Kangerluk is located in the Qeqertarsuaq district.

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

The abandoned Nipisat station is also located in the Qeqertarsuaq district.

coat of arms

Blazon : In blue a silver bowhead whale , above which the aurora forms a silver arc between the shield edges.

Symbolism: bowhead whale = importance of whaling, aurora borealis = location in the polar region

literature

Coordinates: 69 ° 35 ′  N , 53 ° 27 ′  W