Upernavik

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Upernavik (Where to
Spend Spring / Summer)
Upernavik
View over Upernavik (2007)
View over Upernavik (2007)
Commune Avannaata Communia
District Upernavik
Geographical location 72 ° 47 '2 "  N , 56 ° 9' 2"  W Coordinates: 72 ° 47 '2 "  N , 56 ° 9' 2"  W.
Upernavik (Greenland)
Upernavik
Residents 1,092
(January 1, 2020)
founding 1772
Time zone UTC-3

Upernavik [ uˈpɜnːavik ] is a Greenland city ​​in the Upernavik district of Avannaata Kommunia .

location

Upernavik is located on the 2.77 km² island of the same name , one of the many smaller islands in the Upernavik archipelago south of the Ikeq (Upernavik Isfjord), where the largest icebergs in the northern hemisphere calve. About ten kilometers southeast is the island of Qaarsorsuatsiaq with the 1000 m high mountain Qaarsorsuaq (Sanderson Hope). The closest settlement is Aappilattoq , which is 21 km northeast.

history

Early colonial times

Upernavik (around 1900)
A peat wall house as part of the museum (2014)

The area around Upernavik was visited by the Grænlendingar in the Middle Ages . This is attested by the rune stone of Kingittorsuaq found 20 km to the north . The island of Upernavik probably served as a place to live for Inuit as early as the 17th century. At the same time, Dutch whalers were also in the area.

In 1768 Carl Dalager proposed the establishment of a new northernmost colony. On June 30, 1769, Andreas Bruun left the Ritenbenk colony northwards and on July 5 reached the island of Qeqertaq , where Upernavik Kujalleq is today. He founded a colony in Eqaluit 25 km northeast of Upernavik Kujalleq, but the population lived further north and so the decision was made to relocate the colony. On August 8, 1772, the colony was transferred to Upernavik.

In Upernavik in 1789 there was a one-story building with a kitchen, four rooms for a businessman, assistant and crew, office and shop, a mission house and a bacon house, each as a half-timbered building, a provision house, a material house and a brewery, each as a peat wall house. However, the mission house was already uninhabitable. There was a merchant, an assistant, a cooper, a carpenter, two cooks and four sailors.

This colony, which was unusually far to the north for the time, was initially not very successful and many colonialists died of scurvy , starved to death, froze to death or escaped directly through suicide. In 1788 they considered giving up the colony and allowing the population to migrate to the colonial district of Uummannaq . Merchant Christen Andersen Enghel suggested relocating the colony to Eqaluit, while Carl Dalager preferred to see it further inland. Although the resident colonists wanted to continue operating the colony, albeit in a different location, it was decided on May 18, 1789 to give up the colony. The plan was implemented in 1790, but most of the people stayed in the area and so the resumption of the colony was discussed shortly.

In 1796 Upernavik was re-established as a facility under the Godhavn Lodge . At that time, however, there were only earth houses in the complex. In 1799 Upernavik was considered to be a potential new colony in Nuussuaq , but this was not realized. In 1805 Upernavik became an independent colony again and a house, a bacon house and a forge were built again. For this purpose, merchant, assistant, boatman, cooper, carpenter, sailor and cook were employed. During the war from 1807 to 1814 Upernavik got into an economic emergency because no ship reached the colony for years. In 1811 some of the colonists were picked up, including the merchant. In 1812 the rest of the ship was supposed to be brought home, but the ship did not reach the colony because of the bad weather. In the winter of 1813 dog sled groups were sent to Upernavik to take care of them. In the summer of the same year, more Danes were picked up. When a smallpox epidemic broke out in 1814, Niels Larsen Steenholdt and his Greenland family were the only ones left to leave the place.

In 1823 Upernavik was re-established as Udsted under the Godhavn Lodge. As early as 1826 Upernavik was raised again to a colony, which became more and more economically successful.

Younger story

A memorial stone in Upernavik in honor of a visit by State Minister Thorvald Stauning in 1930 (2014)

In 1911 Upernavik became a colonial town of its own, to which the residential areas Kingittoq and Tunoqqu still belonged.

In 1918 six Danes and 170 Greenlanders lived in Upernavik. Among the Greenlanders were 23 hunters, eight trade employees, namely the blacksmith, the carpenter, the baker, two boatmen, two cooperators and another colonist, as well as two catechists. The Danes included the colonial administrator and a volunteer. There was also a pastor and the district doctor. The Greenlanders lived in 25 houses. The public buildings included the colonial administrator's apartment from 1832, the commercial assistant's apartment from 1903, the pastor's apartment from 1866, the doctor's apartment from 1915, a coal house that was previously used as a church, a shop, and another coal house that was used as an assistant's apartment in 1826 a cooper's workshop from 1848, the old team's apartment from 1828, which now served as a carpentry workshop and bakery, a forge from the same year, a bacon house from 1912, a brewery from 1867, the church from 1882, a school from 1911, the Hospital from 1908, three packing houses from 1876, 1912 and 1916, a third coal house from 1833, a petroleum house from 1908 and a powder house from 1877.

From 1950 Upernavik was the main town of the Upernavik municipality . The parish was by far the one in Greenland to which most of the villages belonged. During the administrative reform of 2009, the community was incorporated into Qaasuitsup Kommunia and has been part of Avannaata Kommunia since 2018 .

List of colonial employees until 1921

Colonial administrator

The following colonial administrators worked in Upernavik until 1921. In the meantime, the colonial status was withdrawn and the administrators were thus trade assistants or Udsteds administrators.

  • 1769–1770: Andreas Bruun
  • 1770–1771: Carl Christopher Dalager
  • 1771–1775: Andreas Bruun
  • 1775: -0000Johannes Andreas Willumsen
  • 1775–1778: Nikolaj Daniel Muus
  • 1778-1780: Jørgen Arnkiel
  • 1780–1782: Nikolaj Daniel Muus
  • 1782–1783: Ole Krabbe
  • 1783–1784: Hans Frisach Gløersen
  • 1784–1785: Johan Philip Fleischer
  • 1785–1786: Caspar Gottlieb Lidemark
  • 1786–1789: Christen Andersen Enghel
  • 1789: -0000Rudolph Friederich Lassen
  • 1789–1790: Andreas Lauridsen Nørregaard
  • 1796–1797: Asarpane Andreas Sandgreen (commercial assistant)
  • 1797–1803: Rasmus Jensen Brandt (commercial assistant)
  • 1803–1804: Rasmus Nielsen (commercial assistant)
  • 1804–1805: Rasmus Jensen Brandt (commercial assistant)
  • 1805–1809: Johannes Winding
  • 1809–1811: Frederik Friedlieb von Rosbach
  • 1811–1814: Niels Larsen Steenholdt (commercial assistant)
  • 1824–1826: Hans Christiansen (Udsteds administrator)
  • 1826–1828: Georg Jacobsen
  • 1829: -0000Claudius Andreas Stephensen
  • 1829-1830: Hans Christiansen
  • 1830–1838: Severin Michael Cortzen
  • 1838–1840: Wilhelm Christian Hansen
  • 1849–1843: Poul Georg Lauri Bolbroe
  • 1843-1846: Rasmus Møldrup
  • 1846–1858: Knud Geelmuyden Fleischer
  • 1858–1874: Christian Nicolai Rudolph
  • 1874–1878: Jens Karsten Nielsen Thygesen
  • 1878–1884: Niss Lauritz Elberg
  • 1884–1890: Edgar Christian Fencker
  • 1890-1892: Herman Valentin Høst Beyer
  • 1892–1896: Anders Peter Olsen
  • 1896–1910: Hans Peter Kraul
  • 1910–1914: Carl Frederik Harries
  • 1914–1918: Axel Kristian Marius Vinterberg
  • 1918–1919: Einar Andersen
  • from 1919: 00.Aage Carlhegger Erik Østerberg Bistrup

Missionaries and pastors

The following missionaries were active in the Upernavik colony. There was no mission from 1790 to 1833.

doctors

Upernavik was spun off as a separate medical district from the medical district Uummannaq in 1915 . From 1787 to 1788, a surgeon was already working as a commercial assistant in Upernavik.

  • 1787–1788: Johan Poul Gerhardt
  • 1915-1919: Hans Jensen Bryder
  • 1919–1920: Spodsbjerg

economy

The New Upernavik Church (2007)

At Upernavik there is a rich fauna. Here there are polar bears , musk oxen , reindeer , arctic foxes and arctic hares . Belugas , narwhals , seals and walruses also swim in the water . Numerous species of birds also live around the city, for example puffins , crab grebes , razorbills , eider ducks , king eiders , loons , cormorants , common ravens and kittiwakes . In earlier times in particular, catching the thick-billed mummies and collecting their eggs was important. Today, however, the majority of the catch is concentrated in black halibut . There is a fish factory in town. Especially since the opening of the airport, tourism in Upernavik has been greatly expanded and used as a source of income.

Infrastructure and supply

Upernavik Harbor is located in Ukuarluk Bay in the north of the city. It consists of a 30 m long container quay and a 15 m long quay for smaller ships at a water depth of around 4.20 m. In the southwest of the city there is also another landing stage for small fishing boats in the bay of Iterlannguaq . The construction of a new, large port on the much larger island of Akia (Langø) to the south is also possible. Upernavik Airport was opened on the mountain on Upernavik in 2000 , which connects the town better to the rest of the country and also acts as a stopover to Qaanaaq . A new, larger airport can also be built on Akia. The city has a road network, but it is in poor condition and needs to be expanded.

Nukissiorfiit is responsible for the electricity, heat and water supply. The Tasersuaq (Tyfussø) in the east of the island ensures the treatment of drinking water in the city. However, there is no fresh water network in Upernavik. Only a few buildings in the city are connected to the sewage network. The wastewater is discharged into the sea. The landfill in the south of the city is due to be relocated to the north in the near future because of its stench.

Development

Upernavik old church as part of the museum (2014)

Upernavik city center is south of the port in the west of the city. Here you will find the hospital, the municipal office, a Pilersuisoq branch, the city's old people's home, a dormitory, the post office, the fire station and the Prinsesse Margrethe Atuarfia , who teaches 300 students up to the tenth grade and houses the district library. The city also has a branch of the Piareersarfik vocational center and a cultural center that is used for sporting and cultural activities.

Numerous buildings in Upernavik are worthy of preservation or are listed. These include the colonial buildings in the south of the city that are now part of the Upernavik Museum , the northernmost open-air museum in the world and oldest in Greenland.

Town twinning

Sons and daughters

Population development

Upernavik's population increased into the 2000s and has declined slightly since then. Upernavik is one of the smaller towns in Greenland.

panorama

Upernavik in the evening (2007)

Web links

Upernavik climate diagram
Commons : Upernavik  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Map with all official place names confirmed by Oqaasileriffik , provided by Asiaq
  2. ^ Hother Ostermann : Beskrivelse af Distrikterne i Nordgrønland: Upernivik District. History . In: Georg Carl Amdrup , Louis Bobé , Adolf Severin Jensen , Hans Peder Steensby (eds.): Grønland i tohundredeaaret for Hans Egedes landing (=  Meddelelser om Grønland . Volume 60-61 ). tape 1 . C. A. Reitzel Boghandel, Copenhagen 1921, p. 508 ff . ( Digitized in the Internet Archive ).
  3. ↑ Hans Jensen Bryder : Beskrivelse af Distrikterne i Nordgronland: Upernivik Island district. De enkelte Bopladser i Upernivik district. In: Georg Carl Amdrup , Louis Bobé , Adolf Severin Jensen , Hans Peder Steensby (eds.): Grønland i tohundredeaaret for Hans Egedes landing (=  Meddelelser om Grønland . Volume 60-61 ). tape 1 . C. A. Reitzel Boghandel, Copenhagen 1921, p. 471 ff . ( Digitized in the Internet Archive ).
  4. ^ Upernavik in Den Store Danske
  5. ^ A b c Hother Ostermann : Beskrivelse af Distrikterne i Nordgrønland: Upernivik District. History . In: Georg Carl Amdrup , Louis Bobé , Adolf Severin Jensen , Hans Peder Steensby (eds.): Grønland i tohundredeaaret for Hans Egedes landing (=  Meddelelser om Grønland . Volume 60-61 ). tape 1 . C. A. Reitzel Boghandel, Copenhagen 1921, p. 516 ( digitized in the Internet Archive ).
  6. ↑ History at greenland-guide.gl
  7. ↑ Upernavik at groenlandkreuzfahrt.de
  8. ↑ a b c Upernavik at qaasuitsup-kp.cowi.webhouse.dk
  9. ↑ Venskabsbyer at avannaata.gl
  10. ↑ Population Upernavik 1977-2020 at bank.stat.gl