Luftskipsmasta

You are now on Vadsøya, the first stop on this guide. Vadsøya is home to a unique monument: Luftskipsmasta, the airship mast — Vadsø’s most spectacular and best-known heritage site, and one of its most important.

The mast was built in 1926 as a stopover mast for the airship Norge — the craft of the first expedition across the North Pole, led by Roald Amundsen with the Italian Umberto Nobile as captain. Two years later, in 1928, Nobile stopped in Vadsø again with the airship Italia, on a voyage that ended in a crash on the polar ice.

The mast was raised right here because of reliable weather observations by the merchant Hans Fredrik Esbensen — the same man who ran Esbensengården, another stop on this walk. Esbensen kept a weather log from 1880 to 1930, and his records convinced Nobile that Vadsø was a good place for a stopover.

The mast was built in Italy, shipped here in sections and put up by Italian workers who travelled with the ship, together with engineers from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

Vadsøya Culture Park

The mast is part of Vadsøya kulturpark (Vadsøya Culture Park), which is managed by Vadsø museum – Ruija kvenmuseum. The park is open all year round, but it is not cleared of snow in winter.