Hanna Geiran, the National Antiquarian, said the mast is one of the few remaining airship masts globally and represents a monument to daring polar expeditions and international cooperation. The mast was a key stopover for Roald Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth, and Umberto Nobile before their 1926 expedition, which became the first successful flight over the North Pole. The airship 'Norge' left Gattsjina in Russia on May 5 and arrived in Vadsø 20 hours later.
According to NRK Troms og Finnmark, conservator Anders Bache described the expedition as a great-power political journey, not just a cold drama, involving positioning and national struggle in the Arctic. Minister of Climate and Environment Andreas Bjelland Eriksen said the mast is a unique cultural monument that tells an important part of Norway's polar history.
This is about something other than just an icy drama.
Vadsø was chosen for the stopover partly because merchant Hans Fredrik Esbensen's weather diaries showed favorable conditions in early May, according to NRK Troms og Finnmark, citing Lisbeth Dragnes of Vadsø museum. A similar mast on Ekebergsletta in Oslo was demolished during World War II, while the mast in Ny-Ålesund is already protected. The current condition of the Vadsø mast and plans for its maintenance remain unclear.
It is about the Arctic Ocean, about great powers positioning and national struggle, much like what we see around the Arctic Ocean today.
Norway has a rich polar history, and the airship mast in Vadsø is a completely unique cultural monument that tells an important part of that history.
100 years ago, the world's eyes were on Vadsø and Roald Amundsen's expedition. Now we are securing this unique cultural monument for future generations.
There were several reasons for that, but one important reason was that we had a merchant in Vadsø named Hans Fredrik Esbensen.
Where he had observed and noted the weather conditions. With the help of these notes, it was known that in early May there were quite favorable weather conditions on Vadsøya, where the airship mast stands today.