Gratangen saw some of the hardest fighting during the Battle of Narvik in April 1940. After the German invasion on April 9, Norwegian forces launched their first counterattack here on April 24. One battalion marched through a snowstorm over Fjordbotteneidet to cut off the German retreat along the coastal road. The soldiers were exhausted and took shelter in the village houses to rest.
The next morning, German forces counterattacked. In what remains one of the most controversial episodes of the Norwegian campaign, the Germans used captured Norwegian soldiers and civilians as human shields during the assault. The Norwegians lost 34 dead, 64 wounded, and 180 were taken prisoner. German losses were just six dead.
At the innermost part of Gratangsbotn, the Nordnorsk Båtmuseum preserves a collection of traditional nordlandsbåter, the clinker-built boats that were used for cod fishing in northern Norway from the Viking Age until motorization in the late 1800s. Between 85 and 90 percent of all cod caught in Norway was once hauled in with boats like these.
The next morning, German forces counterattacked. In what remains one of the most controversial episodes of the Norwegian campaign, the Germans used captured Norwegian soldiers and civilians as human shields during the assault. The Norwegians lost 34 dead, 64 wounded, and 180 were taken prisoner. German losses were just six dead.
At the innermost part of Gratangsbotn, the Nordnorsk Båtmuseum preserves a collection of traditional nordlandsbåter, the clinker-built boats that were used for cod fishing in northern Norway from the Viking Age until motorization in the late 1800s. Between 85 and 90 percent of all cod caught in Norway was once hauled in with boats like these.