Odderøya

Map of the first Odderøe Fortress, located on what later was nicknamed "The lazaretto height" (about 1800)
Drawing: National Library of Norway

There are signs of ancient human activity on Odderøya. At Bendiksbukta, a dagger, an ax, and other tools of flint dating back to the Stone Age (Around the year 1000 BC) have been found.[4][5] On Odderøya, there are many interesting traces of military activity.[2][6] Within this defined geographic area, there are military fortifications stretching from the Great Northern War to the end of the Cold War.[7] Key tracks from the battle of 9 April 1940 (Operation Weserübung) are partially visible.[8][9] There has been military activity on Odderøya from 1667 until 1999, when the fortress was phased out.[5]

The quarantine station or lazaretto at Odderøya[2] was the largest in Northern Europe and was in operation from 1804 to 1914. In 1804, it was a quarantine station for all of Denmark-Norway and Holstein.[10] The quarantine station was for ships where plague (disease) had spread aboard the ship. In connection with quarantine operations, the island also began to need its own cemetery, nicknamed the Cholera Cemetery. It is located at Kjerregårdsbukta. The quarantine station was separated from the rest of the island with a high wall that runs from the height of Lasaretthøyden to Bendiksbukta. It was built in the years 1800 to 1807 and is under restoration.

At times, Odderøya has been closed to the public due to military activity. There are a large number of former gun emplacements around the island from varying periods of time for cannons, machine guns, and mortars. Most recently, the island was closed to the public from 1940 until 23 June 1992, after the Odderøya Fort was closed. Since the municipality took over the island, it has been a popular excursion and hiking area.[3][5]

Post-war

April 9, 1940 Battle Memorial

Today there is a memorial of the fallen soldiers at the abandoned fort on top of the island. In much of the post-war period, the fort on Odderøya served as a base and boot camp for the Norwegian Coastal Artillery.[14] There is now a dedicated conservation plan for the many important objects of culture historical interest on the island.[5][15]

Following the takeover of the municipality of Kristiansand,[5] Odderøya has been used for varying cultural purposes and there has been broad agreement that the eastern and southern part will remain as untouched as possible. The quayside on the island's west side, however is under construction and will become residential area, intersected by new, artificial canals.[3][16]

There are two current museum exhibitions on the island run by volunteers who show the military history of the fortress. Of which the photograph exhibition on the southern tip is open every Sunday.[17]

Bendiksbukta

On the island's east side[2] was an important port and cargo space even before the settlements in the area had been named Kristiansand and was founded as a city. The site was suitable for loading lumber that could be floated on the river Torridalselva (Otra) and then loaded aboard a vessel for further transportation. In this part of Odderøya there are many abandoned cannon positions. A path leads up to the Mellombatteriet where protected cannons from the mid-20th century still are in the original positions.[3] The Quarantine Wall, the wall that had been built to separate the local population from patients who were affected by diseases is still visible and has been restored. On the east side, there are rocks and beaches suitable for swimming spots, including “the cholera beach” and Bendiksbukta.[2]

On the west side, there are a quay harbor, warehouses, a grain and cement silo, and cleaning and tank farms. The port facilities, that in the summer are used mostly as a port for cruise ships, are part of the Kristiansand harbor. Grain Silo on pier 13 is designed by Sverre Aasland and Arne Korsmo for Christiansands Mills and is characterized as an "outstanding, independent and architectural work completed," and was awarded funds Houen diploma in 1939. The new Kilden Performing Arts Centre is built next door and was opened in 2012.[2] Beside the parking garage behind Kilden, a staircase leads further up the island. The overdue grain silo has been decided to be rebuilt after an architectural competition, to contain a large art collection.[18] The quayside is under construction to be transformed into a residential area.[16] There is also a huge indoor climbing park, Xland.[19]

South of the harbor area is the steepest part of Odderøya. There is a strolling route down to the Odderøya Lighthouse from the western battery. The city's sewage treatment plant is located in a tunnel into the rock near the lighthouse. There is also a staircase up and down from the lighthouse to the southern part of Odderøya. Strolling around these stairs is at your own risk, due to danger of rock fall.[2][3]

The former watchman's residence.

After the island was abandoned as a military area, it has to some extent been a local debate about the use of the island in the future. There has been general agreement that the island's main older cultural heritage must be preserved. However, there has been a vigorous debate about the construction of roads, apartment buildings and commercial buildings, especially on the western side of the island. The city council has debated how many of the buildings from the former fort should be preserved, as well as what can be demolished and replaced with more modern and beneficial buildings.[20] There are plans to refurbish, restore, and reopen the bunker underneath the gun emplacements containing the former command post on top of the island as a museum.[21]

Many of the citizens have become involved in voluntary conservation work. Odderøyas Venner is a voluntary association which organizes volunteer work[22] and operates the cafè at the former watchman's residence on the southern tip of the island, offering refreshments on Sundays all year long from 11 am until 4 pm. In a former gunpowder house next to the cafe, there is a small museum exhibit illustrating the naval battle of Kristiansand on 9 April 1940.[2][3][17][23]

Odderøya is trying to establish itself as a regional cultural center. After the military activities were moved out, artists, galleries and filmmakers were established in the old barracks.[5][24] Graphical printing on Odderøya is produced by renowned contemporary artists. The press in use was imported from Paris, and has been used by, among others, Pablo Picasso and Edvard Munch. In the marina Nodevika, a maritime museum with a museums marina are to be completed in 2015.[25]

Many viewpoints offer a wonderful view over the bay and the entrance to the city.[2] There are roe deer on the island, and a pond named Salamander Pond; there is also other wildlife. Near the island's highest point (92 metres (302 ft) above sea level), there is al also a former bear den (last inhabited by bears in the 1700s). From the top of the island, there are outstanding views of the Kristiansandsfjorden, islands like Dvergsøya and Flekkerøy and the lighthouses Oksøy and Grønningen. Odderøya offers opportunities for recreation, walking in the woods, swimming and fishing from the rocks, despite the proximity to the city. Some roads on the island are also accessible by wheelchair.[3][26]

Indoor concert facilities

See also: Kilden Performing Arts Centre

Haubitz Hall Salongen

Haubitz Hall Salongen is a lounge on the top of Odderøya that is used for smaller club concerts, with mostly local artists. Haubitz Hall Salongen is inspired by American jazz / cabaret clubs of the 1940s, as well as from the house's own history as an officers' booth and later a cinema room for the former boot camp. It is renowned for its current unique atmosphere.[31]

Haubitz Laaven was incorporated into the Haubitz Hall concept in the fall of 2017. It hosts concerts and other events with between 100 and 600 people. The building was built by the Germans in the summer of 1940. It is on the site where the former ammunition warehouse that was destroyed in the air attack on Odderøya was located.[32]

Concert venue

Stage from the Quart Festival at Odderøya

Parts of the Quart festival in 1992–2009 added Odderøya. Later, Odderøya has also been used as locations for live concerts.[33] There have been concerts in Bendiksbukta, on the lawn, Odden, a rebuilt sports ground,[2] and at a club in Odderøyhallen. In 2007, the sports ground was rebuilt with a new concert venue with an outdoor amphitheater, Odderøya Amphi, that has an audience capacity of 22,000.[3]

Views from Odderøya.[3]

• 
  The approach to Gravanekanalen that separates Odderøya from the rest of the town centre of Kristiansand. Kilden Performing Arts Centre is to the right.
• 
  Entrance to the Xland indoor climbing park. (Opened 2019)
• 
  Lasaretthøyden was first built as a fortress, but became later, in 1804, the location for a plague hospital
• 
  Cannon Foundation at Odderøya
• 
  Beach and islets (Bendiksbukta)
• 
  Lonely small beach at Odderøya
• 
  A pond at Odderøya
• 
  Caves at Odderøya
• 
  Steep cliffs and stairs. western Odderøya
• 
  Hillside facing west at Odderøya
• 
  An anchor from MS Seattle

• Odderøya Lighthouse
• History of Norway

• Nature, history, culture and recreation at Odderøya (in Norwegian)
• Odderøyas Venner Well-developed website from the voluntary association (in Norwegian)
• HKH Kronprindsregent Frederiks Laug af 1788 Website from the voluntary association of Odder-Øe Fæstning (1667 – 1797) (in Norwegian)
• The quarantine station at Odderøya DigitaltMuseum VIDEO (in Norwegian)
• The Haubitz Hall website (in Norwegian)
• The German attack on Odderøya Fortress 9 April 1940 DigitaltMuseum VIDEO (in Norwegian)
• Art and culture at Odderøya www.visitnorway.com (in English)
• Odderøya Fortress Agderkultur (in Norwegian/English)
• Geocaching Odderøya Mellombatteriet (in Norwegian/English)