Norway · 20th century
Fjell Fortress ranks #3,275 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #15 of the 26 mapped in Norway. Founded 1942, one of 161 atlas entries founded in the 20th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,405 times in the last 60 days, more than 80% of the atlas. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Norway compares in the castle statistics.
Fjell Fortress ([fjɛl]; Norwegian: Fjell festning, German: Festung Fjell), known during World War II as Marine-Küsten-Batterie 11./504 ('Marine Coastal Battery 11/504') is located on the island of Sotra in Øygarden Municipality in Vestland county, Norway (it was part of Fjell Municipality in Hordaland county during World War II).
The fortress was built by the German occupation forces during the Second World War. The construction works were commenced late summer 1942, and completed so far that they could fire the main gun for the first time as early as in June–July 1943. The fort was a significant link in the coastal defence of Norway. Its main commission was to intercept the seaward approach to Bergen.
The main gun was also to a certain extent employed in the interception of foreign aircraft raids against Bergen.
The fortress has areas over and under the ground, with a network of tunnels two miles long on the surface and in the mountains. The fortress area is today the property of the Norwegian Armed Forces, while Stiftelsen Fjell festning are responsible for conducting the preservation and maintenance.
After sending a petition, the municipal authorities was offered by the Norwegian Armed Forces, represented by Skifte Eiendom (the Norwegian Armed Forces's property management), to take possession of the fortress area without compensation. The offer was rejected by the municipal authorities. The future fate of Fjell Fortress thus remains uncertain as of 2008.
To mount the main gun turret at the fortress, it was necessary to dig 17 metres vertically into the mountain. This was considered a time-consuming task, so the main entrance and gun emplacement were constructed as an open ditch, and later covered with concrete, instead of blasting a tunnel into and down in the solid rock. As a result, water entering the tunnel system has been a problem ever since the tunnel was constructed.
The work was mainly carried out by prisoners from eastern Europe, but also Norwegian prisoners participated. 25 prisoners died during the construction works, either as a result of frostbite, exhaustion or execution.
The 28 cm SK C/34 naval gun turret was taken from battery Bruno of the battleship Gneisenau.
Text adapted from “Fjell Fortress” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
View on the interactive castle map →