Museum of Reconstruction for Finnmark and Northern Troms, Northern Norway, Norway
4.5 (76 reviews) Spent 1-2 hours Ranking #3 in Finnmark Speciality Museums
Living museum
This is a very good introduction to the WW2 history of Hammerfest and the whole Finnmark region. The museum is huge, filled with artifacts, reconstructed locales, movies, and the like. I spent much longer in there than I expected honestly. Worth it.
Address
Kirkegata 19, Hammerfest 9600 Norway
Mobile
Website
http://www.kystmuseene.no/the-museum-of-reconstruction-for-finnmark-and-northern-troms.107297.en.html
Current local date and time now
Sunday, May 12, 2024, 8:44
User Ratings
4.5 based on (76 reviews)
Excellent
52%
Good
43%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Reviews
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5Baby-Babble 5:00 PM Feb 27, 2014
What an education, had no idea these people suffered so much!
What a breath taking experience, the visit left me very sad, especially after having watched the old 10 minute black and white footage of what these poor people endured during the WW2 occupation was beyond belief. I never realised that they were made to suffer so very much thanks to Hitler - he sure was a busy man!!! 75000 people were forcibly evacuated from Finnmark and Northern Troms in 1944-45, and 25000 fled into the mountains. Imagine - if you possibly can! - how cold they must have been.. It was cold when we were there, but we were wrapped up in warm with coats, thick socks in boots, gloves and scarves.. they didn't have any of that. Even now, when we see programmes about WW2 complete with horrendous images, Norway is hardly ever mentioned - so I have to say that visiting this wonderful informative museum was certainly a great education. We didn't have a great deal of time to spend wandering around {had to be back in time to board our ship} otherwise we would have stayed longer. I take my hat off at how Hammerfest and its people reconstructed their town after the war If you get a chance to visit, then do please take time out, it's an education for young and old alike - you may shed tears - I certainly did!
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5Knut H 5:00 PM Jun 23, 2012
THE museum in Hammerfest
This museum tells the story of how the northernmost part of Norway was forcibly evacuated and burned to the ground in late 1944 and early 1945, and how people came back and started to rebuild their towns, fishing villages and country hamlets. This is done in an unsentimental way, you get all the information with the help of photos and surviving artefacts (a barber´s chair that was digged into the ground, a christening gown with swastikas - the father was a German soldier). It is when you start thinking that you get a tear in your eye. A special exhibit in the tower of the building has photo displays on old houses from the region, and what they look like today; a key exhibit to understand things when travelling through these remote parts of Norway. The museum is excellently done; unsentimental, clear and well-researched, make sure you get to see the film in there (hankie within grasp, though...)
