- Address: Varanger Museum IKS avd Sør-Varanger, Gnr 26 Bnr 77, 9900 Kirkenes, Norge
- Phone: +47 78 99 48 80
- Website: www.varangermuseum.no
- E-mail: glm@varangermuseum.no
- Opening date: 09.1.2009
Near the city of Kirkenes , which is located in the north-east of Norway , about 8 km from the Norwegian-Russian border, in the small village of Sør-Varanger there is the Museum of Borderlands, the main exposition of which tells of the Second World War through the eyes of local residents.
The Sor-Varanger Museum is part of the Varanger Museum. In addition to it, the museum also has 2 branches: in Vardø, which tells about Kven (settlers from Finland and the Swedish valley of Thorne), and the Vardø Museum, which is the oldest Finnmark museum in Finland. Dedicated to the history of the city and fisheries.
Exposition dedicated to the Second World War
The museum tells of military events through the eyes of local residents who had to survive both the German occupation and the bombing of the Allied forces, since Kirkenes, the headquarters of the German troops, was subjected to massive air strikes.
Among the main exhibits are the following:
- The plane . The visiting card of the museum is the raised from the bottom of the lake and the restored Soviet IL-2, which was shot down in 1944 over this territory. The pilot managed to eject and reach the Soviet troops, the radio operator died. The plane was raised from the bottom of the lake in 1947, in 1984 it was returned to the Soviet Union, and when the museum was created, the Russian side presented it to Norway.
- Panorama , depicting a Norwegian partisan, conveying to the Soviet troops information about the movements of German troops. Indeed, quite a lot of young people from the coast of Finnmark reached the Rybachiy Peninsula on the Kola Peninsula, where they trained in espionage, and then landed on the coast, where they monitored the activities of the German troops.
- Documents telling about the life of the population in the period from 1941 to 1943. Then in the municipality, which at that time was home to about 10 thousand people, was placed more than 160 thousand German soldiers. After 1943, the Soviet Union's actions against the Kirkenes-based German troops became more active, and Soviet aviation carried out 328 air raids on the city. During these times, residents hid in Andersgört , a temporary bomb shelter in the center of the city. Today it is a popular tourist destination.
- A blanket of a woman named Dagny Lo, who, after the Germans executed her partisan husband, was sent to a concentration camp. On this blanket she embroidered the names of all the camps in which she happened to visit. Dagny survived and donated her blanket as a gift to the museum.
Other rooms of the Museum of Frontier Lands
In addition to military history, the museum's expositions also reveal other topics:
- The ethnographic museum of the border commune Sør-Varanger is represented by several halls, telling about its history, nature, cultural customs and traditions of the population . Another part is devoted to the culture and life of the Saami. Of particular interest is a collection of photographs taken by a public figure Elissip Wessel.
- Exhibition of the history of the creation and existence of the mining company Sydvaranger AS.
- The museum, dedicated to the Saami artist Jon Andreas Savio , is located in the same building. There is a permanent exhibition of his paintings.
The museum has a library, which can be used by prior arrangement, and a shop offering tourists a wide selection of local historical literature. In addition, there is a cafe.
How to visit the Museum of Borderlands?
From Oslo to Vadsø you can fly by plane. The flight will take 2 hours 55 minutes. From Vadsø to the museum you can get by car on the E75 highway, then on the E6; the road will take another 3 hours. You can come by car or bus from Oslo to Kirkenes, but the journey takes almost 24 hours.
The museum is very close to Kirkenes . From the pier Hurtigruten you can get to it by the municipal bus.