The world’s northernmost fortress

The present-day Vardøhus Fortress is both the world’s northernmost and at the same time Norway’s easternmost fortress. The fortress was built during the period 1734 to 1738. Except for a few minor changes, it appears today as it did in 1738. It is shaped as a perfect eight-pointed star, with low, stone-clad earth-walls, based on Central European principles. Inside the walls, there are nine characteristic buildings grouped around a courtyard. As the 1900s progressed, the fortress lost its military significance, but was nonetheless maintained as an operative facility until around 1950. The present-day structure is the third in a series of fortresses in Vardø. The first was built around the year 1300 by the Norwegian king Haakon V Magnusson. The fortress was buildt to mark Norwegian dominion and to ensure that tax income from the citizens of Finnmark went to the Norwegian king. Around the year 1450, a new castle and grounds were built. Today, there are no visible remains left of these first two fortresses above ground.

With its shape, Vardøhus Fortress is a unique example of cultural and military history. Today, Vardøhus Fortress is primarily a flag / salute fortress. The Fortress is open to the public and houses a unique museum. The flag fl ies over Vardøhus every day, and as the only division in Northern Norway with salute duty, salutes are fired on Constitution Day on the 17th of May, (the anniversary of the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905) on the 7th of June, as well as on all royal birthdays. In addition, the fortress fires a salute to the sun when its entire disc becomes visible over the horizon after the darkness of winter.

During WW II, Vardøhus Fortress was the Norwegian military facility which flew the Norwegian flag longest. As the first military facility during the liberation of Norway, the flag was flown again in the autumn of 1944 when the Germans left Finnmark.

(text copied from the Fortress Vardøhus brochure of www.nasjonalefestningsverk.no)