Nemetsky Peninsula

Nemetsky Peninsula (Russian: Немецкий, "German") lies on the Murmansk coast of the Varangerfjord, part of the Barents Sea, in the Pechenga Municipal District of Murmansk Oblast, next to the village of Liinakhamari. A narrow isthmus only 230 meters wide separates it from the mainland. The peninsula is about 1.7 km long and up to 700 m wide, with a rocky relief; its highest point rises 42.8 m above sea level. It has two capes, Ristiniemi and Kyaskyuniemi, and a small cave in its central part. Its older name was Nurmensatti. Together with the neighboring Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas it forms the group of Murmansk peninsulas and is considered the youngest of the three in origin.

History

During the Second World War the peninsula held a German 150 mm artillery battery. It covered the sea approach to Liinakhamari, the Finnish port through which supplies reached German forces in the Arctic. The battery included several permanently mounted naval guns taken from the decommissioned battleship Gneisenau. Barracks and underground structures cut into the rock were built alongside it. After the war a Soviet gun position was set up on the same site; it was partly dismantled in the 1990s.

What to see

Remains of the wartime fortifications survive today: underground passages and chambers, gun pits on the summit, fragments of a cannon, and the position of a 210 mm battery. The peninsula is a popular destination for divers and military history enthusiasts, and a diver base with a guest house operates there. Traces of an old mine working — an abandoned shaft — have been found nearby.

Legends

Among those who have visited the peninsula, the German name of the old road that led from Liinakhamari to the bay has survived — Pfalzweg (German: Pfalz weg). According to the legend, German soldiers themselves called it that during the war.

Getting there

The fastest and most convenient way to reach Nemetsky Peninsula is by water from the village of Liinakhamari. The second option is to walk along the old Finnish-German road that has survived since the war.