Kristiansand kanonmuseum: World War II Cannon museum (English subtitles)

Kristiansand kanonmuseum (cannon museum) Møvik Fortress outside of Kristiansand in southernmost Norway was built by the Germans during World War II. The museum houses the only remaining 380mm Krupp gun in the world and plenty of other material from WWII. In this film, you can learn more about the background to why the Møvik fort was built and about the technical facility. The work operations related to running the cannon, right from starting the diesel generator to running the cannon, are documented in the video. The film was made by Xicado. History: Møvik Fort was erected between 1941 and 1944 by the German Navy as one of the four coastal defence batteries that made up the Kristiansand artillery group. In the autumn of 1941, 744 Norwegians worked at the installations, as well as 231 Danes, 31 Germans and 356 men from the fortress pioneers. Prisoners of war from a prison camp on the field to the east of the fort were also used as labour. German experts were brought in to assemble the guns. The battery was originally called the Kroodden Battery, but was renamed Batterie Vara to commemorate a German general who was killed during construction of fortifications on the occupied islands in the English Channel. Møvik Fort on the Norwegian coast had a sister battery in Hanstholm in Denmark. They were built to block off the Skagerrak strait and the sea route to eastern Norway, Kattegat and the Baltic for the allied naval forces. This construction of heavy artillery was initiated on Hitler’s direct orders. The cannon is one of the largest in the world, with a 380 mm calibre. The gun barrel alone weighs 110 tonnes, and is almost 20 metres long. It has a reach of 55 kilometres. In 2019 the cannon was painted in the same colors that it was in 1943, since the 1980's it was gray. Today, Møvik Fort is a peaceful spot on the hills near Vestergabet in Kristiansand, southernmost Norway.