Honningsvåg Bamse Statue – Norway - Atlas Obscura

Honningsvåg Bamse Statue

This beloved wartime mascot has been honored with not just one, but two statues. 

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This beloved wartime mascot has been honored with not just one, but two statues.

Bamse was actually more than a mascot onboard the Norwegian minesweeper Thorodd during the Second World War. As a registered crew member he served onboard with his fellow crew members and he was known for his bravery during battle. He would stand guard in the front gun tower and not move until hostilities were over and never cowered below decks. This served as an inspiration to the crew and they were so concerned about Bamse’s safety that they had a special tin helmet made for him to wear.

In 2006 a bronze statue of Bamse was ereceted in the Scottish town of Montrose where Bamse was stationed throughout the war. The Royal Norwegian Navy Museum (Marinemuseet) at Horten had planned to install a smaller bronze version of the statue in Honningsvåg, the town Bamse originally came from. The media attention had renewed the interest in Bamse in Norway and a fundraising campaign was started to raise the funds needed to install a duplicate of the bronze statue found in Montrose. The campaign was successful and in 2009 schoolchildren from Honningsvåg and from Montrose unveiled the statue on the Honningsvåg harbour

Bamse was a beloved crew member and companion onboard the Thorodd, so much that he has been honored with not just one, but two statues. The one in Montrose is facing north-east towards Honningsvåg and the one there faces south-west towards Montrose and Scottland.

 

 

Sources (where has this gone?):

http://www.bamsemontrose.co.uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamse_(dog)

Know Before You Go

The statue is located in the harbor of Honningsvåg.