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Ny-Ålesund: Airship mast

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The famous air­ship mast, just a few hundred met­res east of Ny-Åle­sund, is the his­to­ri­cal main attrac­tion of the area.

The air­ship mast was built in 1926 during Roald Amundsen’s north pole expe­di­ti­on with the air­ship Nor­ge. The Ita­li­an buil­der and Cap­tain of the air­ship, Umber­to Nobi­le, was also part of the expe­di­ti­on, tog­e­ther with the Ame­ri­can spon­sor Lin­coln Ells­worth and many others who were in the air­ship and ground crew. The lat­ter included many workers who had hel­ped buil­ding the mast and the han­gar, which does not exist any­mo­re.

In 1928, the air­ship mast was used again when Umber­to Nobi­le retur­ned with a new air­ship, the Ita­lia, for ano­ther north pole expe­di­ti­on. It is well-known polar histo­ry that the Ita­lia rea­ched the north pole but cra­s­hed on the ice north of Nord­aus­t­land on the return jour­ney (click here to read more about the north pole expe­di­ti­ons by Amund­sen and Nobi­le in 1926 and 1928).

Visi­tors who want to go to the air­ship mast need a rif­le or a gui­de equip­ped with a rif­le as the mast it out­side the sett­le­ment. Polar bears are quite com­mon in Kongsfjord in recent years, also during the sum­mer.

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last modification: 2019-01-21 · copyright: Rolf Stange
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