Visiting a Museum – Part 2 of 3: The Tirpitz Museum – More than just the Tirpitz Museum

The Tirpitz Museum, which opened in 1980 in Kåfjord in the municipality of Alta, is more than a museum about the German battleship Tirpitz. Before we visited the museum (many years ago) we thought it was just a shipwreck and some photos. No, here is an in-depth study of the history of the war not only over a period of two years (1943-44), but from the first day of the war on April 9 until the end of 1945. That is, more than six years.

Although we don’t particularly care about rifles, pistols, or other weapons, uniforms, differentials, or other effects of war that were produced long before 1940, they were still more cool than we thought!

Uniforms, drinking glasses and wedding dresses made of German parachute silk

Objects, weapons, and other effects are placed along walls and in stands. We chose the farthest room. Along the long wall are three German officers (mannequins) in uniform, with uniform berets, brochures (= military rank, awards) and medals of honor showing their bravery and efforts in the war.

One of them is a tall naval officer with a sixth and binoculars on his chest. On the right side of the uniform, he has a parachute jump symbol. So it is also efficient as a parachute jumper. Next to him stands a sailor with a transmitter. He has a headset. The wall behind them is covered with a large Nazi flag with a swastika.

Inside there is also a general (his name) in the Luftwaffe (created in 1935, decommissioned upon surrender in 1945, that is, in Air Force uniform, he is also with distinction. Behind him is a swastika flag. In the middle of the room is a model of a warship.

On the opposite long wall we find a screen with the most varied influences found on fallen German soldiers at Tirpitz. Below are the distinctions (degree insignia), medals of honor, ie. Iron Cross (a very high prize), German banknotes, passports and IDs, name cards, glasses, tubes and lighters, drinking glasses and coffee mugs, Nivea ointment and perfume bottles and ointments in tubes. Yes, there is an inkwell here, as well as forks, spoons, and cutlery from Tirpitz. This room, along with many others, is an example of how the museum delivers its message.

The room above the hallway is interesting. Here a mannequin stands as a bride (after the war), dressed in a white silk dress, – a dress sewn from a German umbrella! On the opposite wall stands a soldier in a field coat, helmet, and rifle with a bayonet attached. In the middle of the floor is a large pavilion with heavy weapons, machine guns, grenades and other explosives. There are also many models of German warplanes here. A model of a particular type of aircraft that I miss, a bi-hull plane. They may not have been that common, but when I was 4-5 years old I saw a few times when they flew over my childhood home in Siebe in Kautokeino.

In this room there is also a junior suite with packs of cigarettes and tobacco such as Norsk Røketobakk, Mørk Elefant Waste Tobacco, Goldschnitt, Lux Shampoo and more.

War Museum – Lath Log House

The Tirpitz Museum is a private private museum in a log house originally built in Lillehammer in the 1880s and moved to Alta in 1946. It came as war aid and was first established as a hospital in Kåfjord. Outside a memorial boat made of the Altaskifer stands on a 12 cm thick armor plate of Tirpitz (named after Admiral Alfred von T.)

The Tirpitz Museum is not the only private museum in this country. There is a road museum, an air museum, a railway museum, an oil museum, an industrial museum, a ski museum, a whaling museum, a picture museum, a mountain museum, a glacier museum, etc.

The Tirpitz Museum consists of 6-7 rooms, one of which is intended for watching a movie for 15-20 people. In many other rooms there are models by Tirpitz, Sharnhorst, Lützow, etc. But the most interesting is the authentic stock with Tirpitz wreckage, weapons such as submachine guns, rifles with attached bayonets, pistols, revolvers, transmitters, radio stations, uniforms, office supplies, advertisements and posters, cutlery, musical instruments such as trumpets and trumpets, documents, letters and things Many others belong to the crew of a large ship.

The museum focuses on the Tirpitz, which was one of the largest German battleships during World War II. The ship had been stationed in Norway since 1942, and had docked at Cafford for about two years. The ship was one of their most important weapons against the convoys heading to Murmansk.

At Altafjorden it was the largest German naval base during the war. Other German warships also had the Altafjorden as their base, for example the battleship Scharnhorst and the battlecruiser Lutsu with dozens of destroyers and supply ships. They were going to hit the freight traffic to Murmansk. On September 22, 1943, Tirpitz was damaged by British mini-submarines and bombed by British aircraft in April 1944. Allied bombers sank the battleship near Tromsø on November 12, 1944.