The old Telegraph Station in Ny-Ålesund was built in 1918. It was renovated in 2012 and today it is part of the museum. In 2014 it was opened for the public. It is obviously about the early days of wireless communication, something that brought a great step of modernisation to a remote place like this. But it was of course quite expensive to send a message this way, so the telegraphist, who was not too keen on too much work, used to tell people that it was much cheaper to send a letter from the post office. The postman again is said to have sent people back to the telegraph station by telling them that their message would be delivered much faster from there ☺
Huts are places of longing, dreams and adventure in Spitsbergen’s beautiful landscape. Even if the modern visitor’s eye may mostly be directed towards nature, most will have an open ear every now and then for exciting survival stories about explorers and expeditions, adventurers and trappers.
These huts are silent witnesses and and every one of them tells a little part of the whole story. The little book “Svalbardhytter” and the poster that is part of the same project make these fascinating places accessible for everyone.
From remote ruins, just traces in a few cases, to “famous” trapper huts such as Fredheim in Tempelfjord and Bjørneborg on Halvmåneøya, the war weather station Haudegen, the former scientific base Würzburger Hütte on Barentsøya and Hammerfesthuset, Svalbard’s oldest building.