About us
ABOUT THE AARVAK ICE MUSEUM
Ishavsmuseet Aarvak is an independent foundation with the purpose of preserving the history of our dramatic maritime, hunting and polar history, and to facilitate study and research.
Ishavsmuseet Aarvak is a specialist museum within the polar subject, with a main focus on Norwegian seal hunting and wintering.
An exciting story about the true heroes of the Arctic Ocean, the everyday heroes, and about an industry that would have so much to say to an entire nation. Seal hunting and wintering. The men who fought against the forces of nature and homesickness. Those who set out at 15 years old without a doubt in their souls. Skippers and trappers. It was about surviving, and perhaps fulfilling a dream of wealth. Many did not return, but were given their wet graves. There were ships made of wood, and crews made of iron.
The foundation resides at Brandal, where the Ishavsmuseet moved into a new building, an old seahouse from 1950, in 1998, 100 years after the first ship left Sunnmøre. In the same year, the Arctic liner "Aarvak" was seen ashore in a dock next to the museum. In 2009, a large, fine conservation building around the ship was opened.
The foundation has so far collected around 6000 objects, approximately 75.000 photographs, and several films from polar regions dating back to 1924, and an ever-growing documentary archive. Much of this is available to the public in permanent exhibitions.
The Ishavsmuseet also manages a large ship archive that contains information on over 500 Arctic ships. An important part of our work is the dissemination of history to future generations. The Ishavsmuseet has so far published eight books that discuss this story. "Wooden Ships — Iron Crew" 1986, "On the Rocking Ground" 1990, "In the Power of the Polaris" 1998, "When the Great Storm Rage" 2002, "On the Ground of Memory" 2003, "The Story of Aarvak" 2012, "Polarstar, the Grand Old Lady of the Arctic" 2017, "From Balsfjord to Brandal" 2020 and "Ishavsfolk fortel" 2020.
Please contact us if you have any questions about ships or other parts of history. We will try to help you as much as possible.
The Arctic Museum Aarvak
Brandalsvegen 28
6062 Brandal
Tel. 95 11 76 44
E-mail. post@ishavsmuseet.no
Ishavsmuseet Aarvak is a foundation subject to the Foundations Act.
