Grense Jakobselv: Enchanting Edge of Europe

Some of my blogs simply demand more attention than I initially anticipated. There are just certain locations that, despite being abandoned and uninhabited, carry such a rich history… and/or the adventures I have there, they’re simply too extensive to describe in just one page. That’s why this time I had to split my blog and provide a handy table of contents, so you as the reader can determine what you want to read more about. During my adventure here in Grense Jakobselv, I also had to seek out a wealth of information, which naturally took extra time but also brought clarity. It is my sincere hope that you, as the reader, can enjoy this blog, as I take you on my exploration and give you a glimpse into the unique world here, near the Russian border. Because this blog is not only meant to inform but also to inspire.

Table of Content:

How I discovered and experienced Grense Jakobselv:

We’re in the year 2019, finally arriving at the place I had been eagerly looking forward to, the ‘King Oscar II Chapel’. Until recently, I had never heard anything about this chapel, but I stumbled upon it by chance through my then girlfriend’s (now ex-girlfriend) daughter. She gave me a beautiful booklet about North Scandinavia for Father’s Day, and I was immediately captivated when I came across a photo of it. I looked it up and found that it could be reached via the Fv8860, and based on my experience, Fv roads often prove interesting to me. As I drove towards it, it felt like a dream. The route alone is a combination of Tundra and Taiga as if Mother Nature couldn’t decide. Not only did I pass by Norway’s oldest mountain plateau (N69° 42′ 59.856″; O30°31 9.771″‘), which is said to be nearly 3 billion years old, but the road also took me right past the border checkpoint with Norway. What made it even more exciting was that the paved road suddenly turned into a gravel road. During my youth, I read a book by Anton Quintana called “Padjelanta.” It’s about a boy who grows tired of city life and seeks refuge in the tundra. It’s a shame that the Dutch book was never released in another language because it won numerous awards. However, I felt a strong connection to the Swedish boy portrayed in the story, it felt as if I was being drawn into that adventure once again. And let’s be honest, that’s how you want to travel as an overlander: reaching destinations where there are no paved roads. Furthermore, you are slowly transported back in time here, but it also makes you aware of the tense relations between Norway and Russia. Signboards clearly indicate the rules to maintain the optimal relation between the two countries (not only between these two countries but also between NATO and Russia), which I will delve into later.

Along the way, I pass by an abandoned school. In my photos, you see a toilet standing outside a small school in the distance. I don’t need to tell you how cold it can be in Northern Norway, but due to global warming, it is here also a few degrees warmer. However, when you see photos of the history, you can imagine what it must have been like for the children to go to school here at temperatures of -20°C (-4°F) and then have to walk to those freezing cold toilets. It must have been truly harsh times! Officially, no one lives in the village anymore, and all the houses are locked with a padlock. When you look inside, you are almost further teleported back in time. It touches me in some way.

Eventually, I arrive at one of the biggest checkmarks on my list, the King Oscar II Chapel. As I step out of the car, I notice the harsh and incredibly cold wind. I check the thermometer in my car and see that it’s 2 °C, but my phone’s wind chill temperature reads -8 °C. In the distance, I hear the waves of the Barents Sea crashing forcefully against the rocks. It almost seems like the Barents Sea wants to destroy everything in its path. During my initial exploration outside, I feel my forehead skin cracking and my lips splitting apart. I quickly reach for my jar of petroleum jelly, but it’s too late. Little did I know, this was just a precursor of what was to come.

While driving here, I constantly pass along the Pasvik River (known as the Pasvik River in Norway and the Jakobselva in Russia). Only Norwegian citizens are allowed to fish in the river! If you look closely, you’ll see military presence on both sides. You can’t help but feel constantly watched. Along the road to this place, you drive just a stone’s throw away from the Russian border. However, there’s one problem: signs along the road clearly indicate that it’s not even allowed to throw stones toward Russia! So be warned! The border literally lies in the middle of this little river.

King Oscar II Chapel is a parish church of the Church of Norway in the municipality of Sør-Varanger, in the Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located near the village of Grense Jakobselv, about 500 meters from the border with Russia.

After my initial exploration, I decided to drive all the way to the northeasternmost point of Europe where it ends at the Barents sea. Arriving at that spot, no matter how small the area is, I am completely enchanted by the beauty of nature. Even the beach is mesmerizing. You would almost think you’re on a secluded piece of tropical paradise. However, the temperatures quickly remind you that it’s not the case. The cold continues to bother me, even though it’s only 2°C (despite later on my journey I’ll face temperatures of -22°C).

…..Hunger starts to nag at me, but I noticed an isolated parking lot near the church. I decide to drive there and park my car, sheltered from the wind by the King Oscar II Chapel. As soon as I step out, I immediately feel the difference—no wind… What a blessing! I gather my photography equipment and start taking some pictures. While capturing the moment, I notice several observation towers and a remarkable pillar on the Norwegian side. Apparently, that pillar is strategically placed to hinder the Russians from intercepting certain communications. It also reflects the radar image, preventing further visibility. Somehow, I still had the feeling that I was constantly being watched. The outcome of my photos isn’t exactly what I wanted, but the cold and my hunger are truly getting to me, something that doesn’t happen often. So I let it be and lower the tailgate of my vehicle to cook my dinner.

Suddenly, I notice a car with a Russian license plate constantly driving back and forth. After the fifth time, people in civilian clothing step out and approach the inlet where I am. There’s a somewhat tense atmosphere, but I greet them kindly, and the men decide to leave. I knew that in the region, you’re not allowed to use camera lenses larger than 200mm, as it’s clearly stated, I had a 300mm lens with me, but I hadn’t used it, and honestly, what do they have to say on European territory… but you never know what they are capable of… Initially, I had planned to spend the night there, but my intuition told me it wasn’t a good idea. While doing the dishes after preparing my dinner, a Norwegian man suddenly stopped and showed interest in my car. He thought it was cool and asked where I was from. I told him I was from Belgium and that I had driven all the way here, “At this time of the year?” he asked. He looked surprised and thought it was cool. He told me he lived in Kirkenes and had just finished fishing, and he invited me to take a warm bath at his place. I couldn’t refuse such an offer. So, I decided to follow the man. The reason(trustable)? In the meantime, he received a phone call from his wife during our conversation, and they spoke in pure Norwegian, so I had confidence in him.

Once at his house, he introduced me to his wife and their two children. After a warm bath, I started asking some questions about the many Russian license plates I had seen. They told me that if you live in Kirkenes for about three years, you can cross the border without a visa, and the same applies to Russian residents on the other side of the border. There is an area of about 200 kilometers on both sides where you can travel without a visa as a resident. This is because in the past, mainly Sami people lived in this area, who traveled with their reindeer, and animals don’t recognize borders. That’s why an exception was made. I can’t tell you if this still applies during the tensions in 2023.

I also told them about my encounter with the Russians. The man furrowed his brows and started speaking slowly as if weighing his words. He told me that in 2017, a retired employee, Frode Berg, from the Norwegian border post was arrested on suspicion of espionage. Since then, it seems that tensions have increased again, and there is speculation in the media that there might be a chance of him being exchanged. I will come back to this later in this blog post.

I also mentioned that I had endured some cold in Finland, but the cold and the strong northerly wind combined with the salt in the air on the Barents Sea dried out my face and caused my skin to crack. “Oh,” said the woman, “wait a moment.” She went away and not long after, she appeared with a jar. “Here,” she said, “you can have this. It’s for hands and face. The problem is,” she continued, “the products you’re used to using often contain a lot of moisture, and that makes your skin crack,” I asked her what she wanted in return, but she insisted on not wanting anything. All in all, it was a pleasant evening, and I learned a lot!

>Back to Table of Contents

Capturing the Enchanting Landscapes of Grense Jakobselv: A Photographic Journey

A nerdy deep dive into Grense Jakobselv

THE FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF EUROPE’S EDGE

Rense Jakobselv, an abandoned Norwegian settlement on the edge of the Russian border, has a little-known fact: it is the northeasternmost point of mainland Europe.

The Sør-Varanger area in Arctic Norway, which shares a 195 km border with Russia, was first inhabited by the Skolts, a Sami ethnic group widely regarded as the indigenous population of Fennoscandia: a geographic region encompassing the Russian Kola Peninsula, Karelia, the Scandinavian Peninsula, and the northern parts of Finland and Norway.

The Skolts traveled relatively freely throughout Fennoscandia until a treaty in 1326 between the Republic of Novgorod and Norway closed off the border. However, the delineation between the two countries was not determined by a logical land boundary or an arbitrary line on a map, as one might typically expect. Instead, it was designated as a territorial entity, allowing the Norwegians and the Novgorodians to tax the Sami communities fairly. In the Middle Ages, these jointly controlled areas were known as border markers and were widely used throughout Europe to maintain security and promote interregional trade.

The treaty remained in effect for approximately five hundred years until the Russian Empire and Norway drew an official boundary line in 1826 to settle minor border disputes. However, in Grense Jakobselv, Norwegian and Russian fishermen continued to quarrel over the demarcation of the border and ownership of fishing grounds at the mouth of the Jakobselv River and the wider area of Varangerfjord, Norway’s most eastern fjord.

The Norwegian Ministry of Internal Affairs sought a way to keep the ongoing maritime disputes under control. Eventually, they sent Lieutenant Commander Heyerdahl from Oslo to assess whether regular supervision of fishing by the Royal Norwegian Navy could be a straightforward solution. By that time, numerous Norwegians and Kvens, a Finnish ethnic minority, had already settled in the region, bringing with them Lutheranism. However, at the time of Heyerdahl’s arrival, the community had no chapel for worship and used the Prestestua, a wooden hut for traveling clergy, which is said to still stand partially in ruins. Twenty miles southwest, in the Russian village of Boris Gleb, the Kremlin housed an Orthodox church that served as an active border marker. So, Lieutenant Commander Heyerdahl decided to follow a similar approach. He built the King Oscar II Lutheran chapel in Grense Jakobselv, just 500 meters from the Russian border. The chapel was completed in 1869 and still stands today as a symbol of the area’s history and religious significance.

In the following decades, the population of Finnmark, the region where Grense Jakobselv is located, began to grow. This was partly due to the emerging iron ore industry. At that time, a young photographer named Ellisif Ranveig Wessel lived in the nearby town of Kirkenes with her husband. Ellisif witnessed the demographic and industrial changes taking place in the region and their impact on the traditional Sami culture. She embarked on an ambitious project to document the transition from the far north to the 20th century.

With her dedicated work, Ellisif created one of the most recognized and extensive photographic collections of Grense Jakobselv, as well as numerous other locations and landscapes in Finnmark. Her photos offer a fascinating glimpse into the past and depict both the natural beauty of the region and the lives of the people who lived there. After quite a bit of research, I came across a Saami blog on Flickr, and it seems that many of her photos are housed in the Preus Museum. However, I’m not sure if they are currently on display and available for viewing.(it could be that they are only viewable @Flickr)

Samer med hunder uten for teltet ved Langfjordvann i Sør-Varanger. Wessel, Ellisif Rannveig.

Photo by Preus museum, 2010.

FLICKR

For more info visit the site of:

Front page - Preus Museum

Today, everyone is a photographer, and the amount of images in everyday life is enormous. Preus Museum's aim is to create commitment to the history of photography and the role of images in a perspective of democracy and freedom of expression.

preusmuseum.no

Although the border areas around Grense Jakobselv were influenced by historical events such as the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Ba