Isbjørnklubben

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The Isbjørnklubben (German Der Eisbärclub , English also called The Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society ) is a club in the city of Hammerfest , Norway , which calls itself the northernmost city in the world . The company was founded in 1963 by two businessmen to promote Hammerfest's history as a hunting and trading center. The purpose of the club is to finance a small city museum in the town hall.

For a one-time donation you become a member for life and receive - in addition to a certificate, a sticker, a pin, the association's statutes in several languages ​​and a membership card - also free entry to the museum for life. The membership is mainly aimed at tourists (the membership of numerous celebrities is also documented in the club rooms, such as Stephanie of Monaco or of course the last Norwegian kings Olav and Harald). Every year on the third Sunday in January the annual general meeting of the "polar bear club" takes place, to which the almost 250,000 members are automatically invited, of whom understandably only a few find their way to Hammerfest, not only because of the season. An essential requirement for admission to the club is personal presence in the club rooms, a condition on which Elvis Presley failed because membership was not important enough for him to appear here.

The museum consists of two areas in which several objects from the history of Hammerfest are on display. These include stuffed animals such as polar bears , seals , lynxes and wolves , hunting and travel equipment from the early history of the region as well as numerous photographs, paintings and documents that document the history of the city.

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Coordinates: 70 ° 39 ′ 51.9 ″  N , 23 ° 40 ′ 40.1 ″  E