During World War II, Kirkenes held the dubious distinction of being one of the most frequently bombed towns in Europe after the Germans turned it into an air base. The Grenselandmuseet, or Border Museum, focuses on this difficult period, with a Soviet attack aircraft on display and exhibits devoted to the hardships endured by the town’s residents. Other parts of the museum explore everyday life in the Norwegian–Russian borderlands in more peaceful times. The mines in which locals sought refuge can be visited, and a sister museum on Sami culture features works by the influential Sami artist John Savio, whose woodcuts from the 1920s and ’30s captured the landscapes and people of northern Norway.
