Hammerfest
Town/City[a]
View of the city
Interactive map of Hammerfest
Hammerfest Show map of Finnmark Hammerfest Show map of Norway
Coordinates:70°39′48″N23°40′56″E / 70.6634°N 23.6821°E /70.6634; 23.6821
Country	Norway
Region	Northern Norway
County	Finnmark
District	Vest-Finnmark
Municipality	Hammerfest Municipality
Established as
Kjøpstad	1789
Area [1]
• Total	3.02 km2 (1.17 sq mi)
Elevation [2]	2 m (6.6 ft)
Population  (2023)[1]
• Total	7,882
• Density	2,610/km2 (6,800/sq mi)
Demonym	Hammerfesting
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Post Code	9600 Hammerfest
Former municipality in Finnmark, Norway
Former municipality
Hammerfest kjøpstad
Finnmark within Norway
Hammerfest within Finnmark
Country	Norway
County	Finnmark
District	Vest-Finnmark
Established	1852
• Preceded by	Hammerfest by og landdistrikt
Disestablished	1 Jan 1992
• Succeeded by	Hammerfest Municipality
Administrative centre	Hammerfest
Area  (upon dissolution)
• Total	2.9 km2 (1.1 sq mi)
Official language [3]
• Norwegian form	Neutral
ISO 3166 code	NO-2001[4]
Data from Statistics Norway

Hammerfest^ⓘ orHámmárfeasta is atown/city^[5] that is also theadministrative centre ofHammerfest Municipality inFinnmark county,Norway. It is located on the northwestern coast of the island ofKvaløya, just north of the village ofRypefjord and southwest of the village ofForsøl. The 3.02-square-kilometre (750-acre) town has a population (2023) of 7,882 which gives the city apopulation density of 2,610 inhabitants per square kilometre (6,800/sq mi).^[1]

The town has an ice-free harbour, including the nearby island ofMelkøya, which is home to anatural gas processing station. It processes gas from theSnøhvit gas field in theBarents Sea.Rypefjord is a suburb to the south of the city. The main church for the city and municipality isHammerfest Church. The "midnight sun" is above the horizon from 15 May to 31 July, and the period with continuous daylight lasts a bit longer.Polar night, on the other hand, lasts from 23 November to 19 January. The town is visited bycruise ships from all over the world each summer. In 2016, there were about 19,000 tourists who visited the city of Hammerfest.^[6]

Hammerfest claims to be thenorthernmost city in the world, although the title is disputed by the nearby Norwegian town ofHonningsvåg (achieved town status 1996). The validity of the claim depends upon one's definition of a town/city. It may help to know that the Norwegian language does not distinguish betweencity andtown. The closest translation for either term is the wordby, meaning the translation from Norwegian to English is ambiguous. Although Hammerfest is further south than Honningsvåg, the town of Hammerfest has a population of nearly 8,000 people (and over 11,000 people living in the municipality). A Norwegian law from 1997 says a municipality must have over 5,000 residents in order for it to declare town status to one of its settlements. Parliament, however, did not make this provision retroactive. Honningsvåg was given town status prior to the 1997 law, so it is a town under current Norwegian law, making Honningsvåg the northernmost town in Norway. Thus, Hammerfest is the northernmost town with more than 5,000 residents. This is a point of contention between the two towns, who both claim to be the northernmost town in Norway.^[6][7][8]Utqiagvik, Alaska, population c. 4,000–5,000, is further north than both the Norwegian towns, but does not lay claim to the title of northernmost town. There are many other smaller "northernmost settlements" in the world.^[9]

Many grave sites dating back to theStone Age can be found here. This location was an important fishing and Arctic hunting settlement for a long time before it was givenmarket town rights byroyal decree ofChristian VII ofDenmark–Norway in 1789.^[10]

• 1684: Hammerfest gets its first church,Hammerfest Church. The population is around 60 people.
• 1764: Russia begins to send ships with grain to Hammerfest as part of thePomor trade.
• 17 July 1789: Hammerfest receives "town status" as akjøpstad.
• 1792: The first doctor arrives in Hammerfest.
• 1807–1814: Hammerfest is affected by diseaseepidemics and food shortages, the latter as a result of theRoyal Navy blockade during theGunboat War.
• 1809: The city is attacked and captured by two Britishbrigs, which proceed to sack it before withdrawing.
• 1839: Hammerfest's first firefighter is employed.
• 1859: The first lighthouse in Finnmark is constructed:Fuglenes Lighthouse.
• 1868: The first water plant in the town is built.
• 1870: Atelegraph station, which is used by all of Finnmark, is built.
• 1890: Two-thirds of the city is destroyed by fire.
• 1891: Reconstruction of the city begins. AMethodist chapel is opened.
• 1891: Hammerfest becomes the first town in Norway and Northern Europe with electricstreetlights.
• 1940: After theGerman occupation of Norway the German Navy used the harbor of the city as a base.
• 14 February 1944: A Soviet aircraft bombed the city for the first time, but the damage was small.
• 29 August 1944: A similar, but far more powerful air assault, a number of buildings and streets in the city and ships on the harbour were destroyed. When theGermans retreated, they finalized the destruction.
• November 1944: the Germans began systematically burning all the settlements in Finnmark, including Hammerfest.
• February 1945: citizens are forcibly evacuated by the German authorities. Only one building was left standing, a burial chapel. This was built in 1937 and is the oldest house still existing in the town.
• 1989: Hammerfest celebrates its 200th anniversary as a city.
• 2003:Melkøysund Tunnel is completed connecting the town to the island ofMelkøya.
• 2007: The Snøhvit plant onMelkøya becomes operational in September. It is the biggest industrial development in Northern Norway.

Denmark–Norway became involved in theNapoleonic Wars in 1807. As one of the main centres of commerce and transportation in westernFinnmark, Hammerfest was subject to aRoyal Navy blockade. Upon the request of local merchants, the town received four6-pounder guns from the government armoury inTrondheim. Subsequently, a 50-strongmilitia unit was formed to defend Hammerfest from potential British attacks. Local merchants formed the militia's officer corps, andSámi andKvens served as enlisted members of the unit.^{[citation needed]}

On 22 July 1809, the British brigsHMSSnake andHMSFancy approached the town. Before reaching Hammerfest, the two vessels had briefly occupiedHasvik. The following battle between Hammerfest's militia, who had built twoartillery batteries, andSnake andFancy was unusually intense and ended after the Norwegians ran out ofgunpowder after about 90 minutes of combat and fled. BothSnake andFancy had suffered a number of cannon hits and lost one man killed, a sailor who was buried at a local cemetery.

During the battle, the town's populace evacuated elsewhere, and the crews ofSnake andFancy remained in Hammerfest for eight days after the Norwegian withdrawal, sacking the empty town before leaving. After the raid, Hammerfest became agarrison town with a detachment of regular troops and improved and expanded fortifications. A smallflotilla ofgunboats also operated out of Hammerfest for the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars.^{[citation needed]}

Hammerfest was struck by a fire in 1890 which started in a bakery and wiped out almost half the town's houses. After the fire Hammerfest received donations and humanitarian assistance from across the world, with the biggest single donor beingKaiser Wilhelm II ofGermany. The Kaiser had personally visited the town several times on his yacht and had great affection for the small northern settlement.

In 1891, Hammerfest became the first urban settlement inNorthern Europe to get electricalstreet lights.^[11] The invention was brought to Hammerfest by two of the town's merchants who had seen it demonstrated at a fair inParis.^[12]

After their victory in theNorwegian Campaign of theSecond World War, theGermans soon fortified Hammerfest and used it as a major base. The importance of Hammerfest to the Germans increased dramatically after theirinvasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. The occupiers installed three coastal batteries in and around Hammerfest, one with four 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns onMelkøya island near the town, one with three 10.5 cm guns on a hill right outside the town and a final battery withcasemated 13 cm (5.1 in) pieces on the Rypklubben peninsula nearRypefjord.^{[citation needed]}

The mainGerman U-boat base inFinnmark was in Hammerfest, serving as a central supply base for the vessels attacking theallied supply convoys to Russia.^[13] Luftwaffeseaplanes were based at an improvised naval air station in nearby Rypefjord.^[14] The garrison in Hammerfest was also protected by around 4,000mines and numerousanti-aircraft guns.

During their long retreat following thePetsamo-Kirkenes Operation, the Germans no longer managed to transport troops by sea further east due to intensiveRed Air Force raids. Thus Hammerfest became their main shipping port in Finnmark in the autumn of 1944.^[15]

The town of Hammerfest was bombed twice by theSoviet Air Forces. The first time, on 14 February 1944, the town was hit by explosive and incendiary devices, but little damage was done. On 29 August 1944 Soviet bombers launched a second airstrike, inflicting significantly more damage to buildings and infrastructure in downtown Hammerfest. Two ships were sunk in the harbour.^[16] The ships lost were the local transportsTanahorn andBrynilen.^[17][18]

The population was forcibly evacuated by theoccupying German troops in the autumn of 1944 aftera Soviet offensive at the northern extremity of theEastern Front pushed into eastern Finnmark. All of Finnmark including the town was looted and burned to the ground by the Germans when they retreated in 1945, the last of the town having been destroyed by the time the Germans finally left on 10 February 1945. Only the town's small funeral chapel, built in 1937, was left standing.^[16] TheMuseum of Reconstruction in Hammerfest tells the story of these events and the recovery of the region. The Soviet troops in eastern Finnmark were withdrawn in September 1945.^{[citation needed]}

Mines and munitions left over from the Second World War were found and destroyed as late as 2008.^[19]

The municipality calledHammerfest by og landdistrikt was established on 1 January 1838 (seeformannskapsdistrikt law). It included the town of Hammerfest and the vast rural district surrounding it. The law required that all towns should be separated from their rural districts, but because of low population, and very few voters, this was impossible to carry out for Hammerfest in 1838. (This was also the case in the other towns in Finnmark:Vadsø andVardø.) In 1839, the northern district (population: 498) was separated to become the newMaasø Municipality. This leftHammerfest by og landdistrikt with 2,024 residents. On 1 January 1852, Hammerfest was divided. The rural district outside of the town (population: 1,256) became the new municipality ofHammerfest landdistrikt. This left just the town remaining in what was once a vast municipality of Hammerfest. The town at this time had 1,125 residents. (The rural district was later divided intoSørøysund Municipality in the north andKvalsund Municipality in the south.) On 1 January 1992, the town of Hammerfest (population: 6,909) was merged with the neighboringSørøysund Municipality (population: 2,341) to form a new, largerHammerfest Municipality.^[20]

The climate is Dfc (subarctic), just abovetundra, but with daily means in July and August above 10 C (50 F). It features short, cool summers and long, cold (though mild for its latitude) winters.^[21]

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  1925
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  c. 1800
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  c. 1890–1900
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  before 1955

• Hvaldimir
• List of towns and cities in Norway

• Hammerfest Municipality
• Cities and towns in Norway
• Port cities and towns in Norway
• Populated places of Arctic Norway
• 1789 establishments in Norway
• Populated places established in 1789
• Administrative centres of municipalities of Norway

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