Meridian Column, Hammerfest
Obelisk on the Fuglenes headland in Hammerfest marking the northern end of the Struve Geodetic Arc (UNESCO World Heritage).
At a glance
| Source | Author | Role | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither Here Nor There | Bill Bryson | journey waypoint | Bryson “windsurfs” to it in a polar gale, cracks his head on the ice, can’t read the inscription, and never comes back. |
Neither Here Nor There — Bill Bryson (1991)
Source: Readwise highlight
The Meridianstøtten was an obelisk on a small elevation in the middle of a graveyard of warehouses.
- Role: journey waypoint
- In the book: On his first full day in Hammerfest, Bryson walks out into a storm toward the headland, follows a sign to “the Meridianstøtten,” and is blown along the lane on the soles of his boots (“Irish windsurfing”) until he falls and cracks his head on the ice. He reaches the obelisk, but the snow is too thick to read the inscription. He later learns it marks the first scientific measurement of the earth’s circumference, completed on the spot.
- Why it matters: It’s a minor stop, but a typical Bryson set piece: a monument to a great scientific achievement, reached through slapstick and not actually seen. “I returned to town thinking I would come back again another day. I never did.”
- Real vs. fictional: Real. Bryson dates the measurement’s completion to 1840. The regional tourist board says the column itself went up in 1854 and gives its latitude as 70° 40′ 11.3″ (Arctic Norway).