Summer barbeque

Saturday June 13th, - Fjell festning, Fjell

About 30 members and friends met up for a guided tour of Fjell festning, the wartime German fortress in Fjell kommune, west of Bergen.

The tour took us through the depths of the former gun emplacement and bunker complex. The whole complex is quite a feast of engineering and built in a little under a year, but at a cost of great suffering to the Russian prisoners who were forced to construct it.

The fortress is well preserved, and a series of models and informative displays illustrated how the fortress was built and organised, as well as containing artefacts from the German soldiers, Russian prisoners and local people.

The work to restore the fortress is still on-going, but the tour included a walk through the operational and accommodation areas of the underground complex.

After exploring the dark recesses of the fortress, and the fortifications provided a welcome wind break to enjoy a barbeque in the sunshine that the islands west of Bergen are renowned for.

Fortunately the weather lived up to expectations, and a very pleasant afternoon was spent enjoy the food, sun, company and beautiful views from Fjell festning.

The Society wishes all members and friends a good summer!