A glimpse of the past

Let us now retrace the history of the North Cape through old photographs taken in the 19th and 20th centuries. Before the opening of the road in 1856, visitors to the North Cape would come by boat and disembark in Hornvika before climbing the zigzagged path up to the plateau. King Oscar II ascended this very path the day of the unveiling of the Granite Obelisk in 1873. Quickly, it became a tradition to drink champagne by the monument while admiring the beauty of the Midnight Sun. In 1891, Stoppenbrink’s champagne pavilion was built, later replaced by a post office and waiting room in the 1930’s. Through the years, it became clear that for a building to withstand the North Cape climate, it had to become part of the plateau itself and as the road opened, the number of visitors quickly increased and the need for a long lasting building arrived. The North Cape Hall you know today started with a much smaller stone building, which opened in July 1959. Since then, the Hall has undergone many renovations and expansions adapting to both the extreme Arctic weather and the increasing number of travellers wishing to visit the North Cape.