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A fishing boat returning to Mehamn harbor.
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There hardly is a place in this world too remote for Man to wage war in. The tiny village Mehamn in the Finnmark province of Northern Norway, by the Arctic Ocean, is one of Europe's northernmost populated places. However, it's not remote enough to have been spared of war and destruction. Evidence of that can be found just outside of the village: ruins of a Second World War German artillery battery.
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Ruins of fortifications.
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In late 1944, as the German troops were withdrawing from Northern Norway, they blew up their own fortifications, laid countless landmines and burned Mehamn, as well as other villages and towns, to the ground. In addition, they forcibly took most of the civilian population with them. Some managed to escape to the mountains, but even those had no homes to return to. Generally, the German occupation during World War II is not fondly remembered in Norway, but in the Northern province of Finnmark the attitude in probably even more bitter and hostile. It is not difficult to see why.
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Remains of a blown-up bunker.
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After the war the citizens of Mehamn returned to rebuild their homes. They used the ruins of the fortifications as their garbage dump. It is easy to understand that they, more or less consciously, wanted to bury the stronghold of hated oppressors and destoryers of homes under waste, and forget it ever existed.
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| Rebuilt Mehamn seen from the ruins of the fortifications. |
Today, what remains of the artillery post have been cleaned of the dumped garbage. There are information board on the history of the place, and a few tables and benches for picnics. The ruins make an excellent place to take in the incredibly beautiful scenery: the coastal artillery batteries were obviously constructed in places with good all-around visibility. It is, however, important to occasionally take a look down, too: one can easily fall in the trenches cut to the rock, or, less dangerously, step on reindeer droppings. From the Mehamn fortifications, one can see, for example, Kinnarodden, the northernmost point of continental Europe - Nordkapp gets a lot of hype, but ir is actually situated on the island of Magerøya and isn't even the northernmost tip of that island.
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Sharp stones like these are typical for the Finnmark coast - they are natural formations, not remains of destroyed fortifications.
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View to the north from Mehamn. Kinnarodden, the northernmost point of European continent, can be seen to the left.
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In and around Mehamn there are many other places to enjoy the scenery, and like everywhere on the Norwegian coast, the scenery is great.
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The rugged beauty of Nordkinn peninsula by the road to Mehamn: mountains...
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...and sea.
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We visited Mehamn in late June and early July 2020, about two weeks after Norway re-opened its borders to visitors from Finland and a number of other countries after closure caused by the Covid-19 epidemic. Northern Norway is a very good place to travel while maintaining some social distance. We stayed at The Blue House at the End of the World, which we warmly recommend. Mehamn can be reached by car - your own or rental - or Hurtigruten , which at the time of writing is resuming normal daily operations.  |
Hurtigruten's Midnatsol in Mehamn.
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We stayed in Mehamn June 29th - July 1st, 2020.
