A Walking Tour of Møvik Fort and Battery Vara

See history as it was made during World War Two here in Møvik Fort and Battery Vara.

Møvik Fort and Battery Vara were built by the Germans during the early years of World War Two. Battery Vara, with its three huge cannons, was intended to halt the movement of Allied warships through the Skagerak Channel which lies between Kristiansand, Norway and Hanstholm, Denmark.

Four 38cm cannons were intended to be installed here in Norway, and four were installed on the Danish side of the Skagerak. These guns were the sisters to the guns on the battleships Tirpitz and Bismark.

After the German capitulation in May, 1945, the Norwegian Military renamed Battery Vara, "Møvik Fort". Møvik Fort was in active use until the end of the the Cold War in 1992. In 1995, a group of volunteers renovated the bunker under Cannon II to serve as the Kristiansand Kanonmuseum.

This tour will lead you past the 4 cannon emplacements, the remaining buildings and bunkers, and the ruins of what was once one of the largest land based, naval weapon systems ever built.