Vardøhus Fortress

Vardø, Norway

In 1251, an embassy from the Republic of Novgorod to King Haakon IV Haakonson of Norway complained of clashes between the Norwegians and the Karelians in northern Finnmark. A Norwegian embassy was dispatched to Novgorod where a treaty (the original of which is unfortunately now lost) was signed to conclude a peace between the two countries, including the Novgorod tributary land of Karelia. The first fortification was erected by Haakon V Magnusson in 1306 and was called Varghøya. It is not known how long this fort was manned, but in 1307 the Archbishop of Trondhjem went to Vardøhus to consecrate the new Vardø Church. The earliest record still extant which defines the border between Norway and Russia is from 1326. In 1340, records show the Archbishop made further efforts to improve conditions there.

The second fortification to be built was in Østervågen (the 'East Bay') which was erected between 1450 and 1500. This fortification was rectangular with two corner bastions. It appears on various maps from the 14th and 15th century.The Captain of Vardøhus owned a share of the fishery.

By the 1730s, Vardøhus had become decrepit. The seat of government of Finnmark was transferred from Vardøhus to Altengaard. Major upgrades to the current fortress began in 1738. Vardøhus never saw enemy action until the 20th century. The last time the fortifications were on active anti-invasion duty was during the First World War. During the period from the beginning of the Second World War to the German invasion of Norway Vardøhus Fortress was an active unit under the command of Naval District no. 3 in Tromsø.

During the immediate post-war period, from 1945 to 1947, the fortress was demilitarised and used as a prison for people convicted of treason in the post-war legal purge. In 1947, Vardøhus was returned to fortress status manned by a commander and a few privates. The command of the fort is now the responsibility of the Royal Norwegian Navy, with a commander and four soldiers stationed there. Today the fort has few practical military purposes and serves primarily as a salute fortress, firing gun salutes on Norwegian Constitution Day (17 May), dissolution of the Union with Sweden Day (7 June) and on all royal birthdays.

The fortress is unique for the fact that on the winter day that the sun can again be seen from the fortress walls after the period of continuous darkness the fortress guns fire a two round salute. The gun shots announce to the school pupils of Vardø that they have the rest of the day off in celebration of the return of the sun.

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Founded: 1306
Category: Castles and fortifications in Norway

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4.3/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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User Reviews

D-Dog S (4 months ago)
Very short visit, sweet and simple. Teammate started lighthouse before we could defend. Only 3 survived. People who sit on cannons are sissy's. Nobody knows how to shoot bombers so our walls explode constantly. Bad map for endless however the song at the end is a banger so it gets 4 stars.
idiotic Dilyan (4 months ago)
It's a nice place but some gray individuals tried to eat my regiment and the Swedish and Russian soldiers ? and someone rang the bell before the sappers get to build ?
Slaughterer Purple (6 months ago)
Some grey fellas were trying to eat us so we grabbed some shovels in the basement and dug our way to the docks, luckily there lighthouse and luckily a boat of men rescued us. 5/5 recommend.
Кабан Валера (7 months ago)
A very interesting place, my friends and I decided to rest here after a hard battle, but strange people appeared who were biting and wheezing terribly, among them there were people with axes and people with barrels of gunpowder who rushed at us to the death. We launched a signal flare and began to dig our way to the lighthouse, we turned it on and began to hope for help, we waited for a long time and fought with the cannibals and then a ship arrived (it was apparently British since the crew spoke English) well, that’s how we escaped. It's cold but it's good to relax!
Karol Sobik (10 months ago)
A very pleasing place! Must say that i didnt expect that hordes of undead would attack me, and my friends from Russia, Sweden, and Denmark. Someone turned on the lighthouse too early so the zombies were coming at us while we were not ready, i almost fell into the water while jumping onto the ship, but a very nice experience.
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