Smeerenburg
| Smeerenburg | |
|---|---|
| Dutch-Danish whaling station (1619–1657) | |
 Smeerenburg
|
|
| Coordinates: 79°43′54″N 10°59′42″E / 79.73167°N 10.99500°E | |
| Country |
 Norway
|
| Syssel | Svalbard |
| Island | Spitsbergen |
| Settled | 1619 |
| Closure | 1657 |
| Population | |
| • Total | 0 |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 (UTC) |
The settlement of Smeerenburg on Amsterdam Island in northwest Svalbard was founded by Danish and Dutch whalers in 1619 as one of Europe's northernmost outposts.
During the first intensive phase of the Spitsbergen whale fishery, Smeerenburg served as the centre of operations in the north. (The name Smeerenburg, in Dutch, literally means "blubber town"). The image at right shows the concretized remnants of whale oil that built up around the large (ca. 2-3m diameter) copper kettles in which the blubber was rendered. Leftover blubber was used as fuel for the fires.
The site of Smeerenburg was first occupied by the Dutch in 1614, when ships from the Amsterdam chamber of the Noordsche Compagnie (Northern Company) established a temporary whaling station here with tents made of canvas and crude, temporary ovens. In 1615, 1616, and 1618 the Dutch again occupied the site. In 1619, a 500-ton ship with timber and other materials was sent to Spitsbergen. The tents and temporary ovens were replaced with wooden structures and copper kettles "set in a permanent fashion on a brick foundation, with a brick fireplace beneath and a chimney for the smoke."
In its first year only Amsterdam and the Danes occupied Smeerenburg, the former to the east and the latter to the west. In 1619 and 1620 the Danish ships that went to Smeerenburg were sent by merchants from Copenhagen, while those that went there in 1621 and 1622 were sent by a royal undertaking. In 1623 two Basque ships employed by the Danes arrived at Smeerenburg and began taking whaling gear from the Danish huts before they were driven away by the Dutch. In 1625, when the Danish-employed Basque ships arrived at their place in Smeerenburg they found that their station had been damaged, the work of the Dutch and English in the previous season. After 1625 the Danes were expelled by the Dutch, their place being occupied by the Hoorn, Enkhuizen, and Vlissingen chambers. By 1626 there were five big "huts" at Smeerenburg, and by 1633 all the chambers of the Northern Company were represented at the settlement.
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Wikipedia