A Heritage Walk through Harstad’s Historic Town Centre
Harstad is a large city in the far north of Norway. While it’s not as historic as its neigbhours Bodo and Tromso, the town has some charming historic buildings from the mid-19th century heyday of shipping. There are lots of terrible post-war buildings, too. So I wrote this guide to show you the highlights of Harstad.
When I visited Harstad in June 2021 to plan this walk, I was surprised by how empty the town was. There are many shopping malls around the town today, so the inner town centre is in decline. Harstad isn’t exactly a place where people come to walk around; it seems to be more of a stopover on the way to popular natural attractions. But that’s why I wanted to try and figure out if there was any history in Harstad, and if so, where was it?
Large parts of the historic buildings have been destroyed by fire or war, but there are some true historic gems to be found in Harstad.
A huge help for this guide was LokalHistorieWiki, a Norwegian Wiki page where history enthusiasts can upload information about their town, broken down by street and house number. The group in Harstad is a very enthusiastic one, and there is a wealth of information and photographs there! The site is only in Norwegian, but I’ve included some links so you can look at the old photos.
Here is a guide to the historic buildings in Harstad town centre.
In this article...
Norway's Coastal Ferry
Kirkenes is a port of call of Norway’s coastal ferry. Find my guide for the coastal ferry by clicking the link below.
Harstadhamn
Located just north of the city today is Harstadhamn, a small cove that served as the basis for the foundation of Harstad.
Harstad wasn’t the original settlement in the area. Ever since the Viking Age there has been a settlement in the area around Trondenes Church, today a 10 minute drive from Harstad town centre. It was an important political centre in the Viking Age and was the main town for hundreds of years.
Harstad began to overtake Trondenes in importance after Bergen’s monopoly on trade declined and traffic increased along the northern coast. Harstad had a better natural harbour than Trondenes, so gradually the town moved.
The first settlement took place around Harstadhamn. The small cove was perfect for the smaller ships and here the sea-related business flourished as skilled and forward-looking people moved to the area.
Havnegata
Havnegata is where all the industry around Harstadhamn developed. Many large factory buildings used to be here; today pretty much all of them are gone.
You can see more of the buildings if you walk down Havnegata, but the nicer walk is to head to the pier and follow the promenade towards the city.
You can find some old photographs and maps at LokalHistorieWiki (click here).
Harstad Library and Culture House
Library operations have been in Harstad since 1848. The current library is incorporated into Haarstad’s Cultural Centre. The culture house was built in 1992 and is the city’s main venue with 1,000 seats.
Havnegata 5B
Next to the Culture House is a building that has kept its old factory appearance. This building is from 1916, when it was a factory for the Midnight Sun Preserving Company. Today the building is part of the University and works as a student hostel. Not a bad place for students to stay!
Havnegata 9
Number 9 is arguably the most beautiful house on the street. It was built for the Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani in 1919 and is now for the student union.
Havnegata 23B - Gammelbrygga
Here we find another old warehouse. This one is a well-known landmark that has been threatened with demolition for the past 10 years. A support group, Gammelbrygg’s Friends, has been established to research the pier and work to protect it.
There’s still some disagreement about when it was built and what it was used for, but it is nice to see in the city.
You can see some old photos of the pier at LokalHistorieWiki (click here).
Harstadsjøen
Harstadsjøen is the name for the old settlement of Harstad. As steamships began to overtake sailing ships, Harstadsjøen was a better spot for them to dock. The first merchant houses were developed along Strandgata because of its close proximity to Harstadsjøen, and many of them had harbour access.
The yellow building is the Swedish Port Authority’s expedition building from 1913. It has architectural style in both Neo-Baroque and Art Nouveau, and the building housed many consulates for around Europe as well as many representatives from the Norwegian shipping companies.
Strandgata
Strandgata (Beach Street) is the street where many of Harstad’s most distinctive buildings stand. It is also mostly a pedestrianised street with lots of the local buisnesses.
This street is fascinating because it really tells Harstad’s history. People came from all over Norway to try and establish a successful business in Harstad after the boom in shipping and trade. Most of the businesses along the street were established by out-of-towners coming here to try their luck.
Here are some of the older houses along Strandgata.
Strandgata 19
Strandgata 19 is a bit of a detour away from the direction we are going, but it is worth it.
This house was built by pharmacist Harald Dahl in 1894 in the Swiss style of architecture. The pharmacy operated here for 56 years. The Swiss architecture is some of the most beautiful in Harstad.
Strandgata 12
Strandgata 12 opened as a bookstore in 1902 by a woman called Mathilde Bakke, and since then it has been a car workshop and a children’s clothing store, amongst other things.
Strandgata 10
This is one of the older houses in Harstad; built in 1896. It was owned by a woman called Hilda Oldenborg, who ran a business in embroideries, yarn and a colonial that sold coffee. ‘Colonial’ was the name of a grocery store with imports from overseas (i.e. the ‘colonies’).
Strandgata 8
Number 8 is another early 20th century wooden building. It was owned by Elias Hoel, a pioneer in the town who came to own many of Harstad’s buildings. The locals recognise it as the Harstad Bookshop, which operated from 1925 until 2001 in the building.
Strandgata 6
This house was built by the merchant Peder Thorbergsen, who received a deed to the plot of land in 1894. The building used to have a dock out the back.
Strandgata 4
Strandgata 4 was built in 1891, though it was damaged by fire in 1913. When it was brick, the art nouveau style was used instead. The house operated as a smokehouse and warehouse.
Strandgata 2
The other brick building is number 2. It was for Gunder Erikens, a watchmaker who came to Harstad in 1902 and built a wooden house. The house had a wharf out the back; the house practically stood on the edge of the beach. On the street level was the goldware, watch and optics shop, and there was an apartment on the upper level.
The property was damaged by fire because some boys anted to make their own New Years Fireworks, which led to an explosion.
Rikard Kaarbø's Plass
Rikard Kaarbø is the man who is considered to be the founder of Harstad. He was the initiator and contributor to a number of businesses in Harstad that contibuted to Harstad getting city status in 1904. Amongst other things, he established the first newspaper in Harstad. Rikard Kaarbø also worked with many of the steamship companies.
Rikard Kaarbø's Plass 2
This is the most striking building in Harstad. It is beautiful detailing in Art Nouveau and Neo-Gothic. It’s funny to think that the building was built for the Harstad Beer and Wine Association in 1906, but the bank took it over in 1917!
In 2010, this building was voted ‘most beautiful’ by the Harstad locals.
Rikard Kaarbø's Plass 4
Number four is where businessman Elias Hoel lived from 1903.
The square gained prominence in the 1920s and 1930s but not for good reasons. With high unemployment and poverty grappling Harstad, it was where the men who had nothing else to do gathered.
Rikard Kaarbøs Gate
This street has some well-preserved wooden buildings. Businessman Elias Hoel was the one who regulated the street and he owned most of the plots on the street. This was also Harstad’s first car-free street.
The street passes through the square, so some of the buildings are close to number 2 (the beautiful brick building)
Rikard Kaarbø's Gate 14
This building is located across the street from the beautiful brick building. It’s worth checking out because it is Harstad’s oldest wooden building; built in 1870.
Rikard Kaarbø's Gate 10
Number 10 was built by master baker John Sumstad in 1913 and it was a bakery for around 20 years before being converted into a hotel called Hotel Royal.
Rikard Kaarbø's Gate 8
This building is from the 1880s and was used by Rikard Kaarbø as a post office.
Rikard Kaarbøs Gate 6
Number 6 was built by Elias Hotel in the 1890s and was operated as a hotel and restaurant called Britannia.
Torvet
Torvet is likely the oldest square in Harstad. Sadly most of the original buildings are gone but you can see them in photos.
You can view photos of Torvet at LokalHistorieWiki (click here).
Torvet 7
This is the most interesting building on Torvet. It was built around 1900 and was known as Holmgården. The wooden building still stands, but a shopping mall has been built around it.
Norway's Coastal Ferry
Kirkenes is a port of call of Norway’s coastal ferry. Find my guide for the coastal ferry by clicking the link below.
End of the walk!
We end our walk down by Torvet 7. This is by the water and also very close to where the Hurtigruten docks in the morning.
I hope you enjoyed this heritage walk through Harstad. The goal was to show there’s more to Harstad than meets the eye, and that the historic buildings can still be found in the city.
Travelling to Harstad on Hurtigruten?
You probably have enough time to make it to Rikard Kaarbøs plass and back, now that you know the historic centre of Harstad is just a stones throw away.
