Hammerfest is a small town on the coast of Finnmark in Arctic Norway, one of the northernmost towns in the world. Chartered in 1789, it grew as a base for fishing and Arctic hunting, with expeditions to Svalbard launching from its harbor as early as 1794. The town has been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times — bombarded by the British in 1809, leveled by fire in 1891, and burned by retreating German forces in 1944 during the forced evacuation of Finnmark. Each time, the residents returned and rebuilt.

Today Hammerfest is known for the Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society, a museum documenting the town's Arctic hunting heritage, and as a center of Sami culture. The midnight sun shines here from mid-May through July, while polar night descends from late November into January. The town also has ties to polar exploration — Adolf Lindstrøm, a local hunter, served on Roald Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole.