{"id":774,"date":"2019-09-25T10:31:57","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T10:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nordnorge.com\/?post_type=artikler&p=1422"},"modified":"2025-09-01T11:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T11:22:10","slug":"the-witch-monument-in-vardo-is-in-memory-of-the-91-witch-trial-victims","status":"publish","type":"artikler","link":"https:\/\/nordnorge.com\/en\/artikkel\/the-witch-monument-in-vardo-is-in-memory-of-the-91-witch-trial-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"The witch monument in Vard\u00f8 is in memory of the 91 witch trial victims"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tThe Witches’ Memorial in Vard\u00f8 takes us back to a gruesome period in European history and into the darkest recesses of the human mind. The Steilneset Memorial was erected in memory of 91 victims of the witch trials held in Finnmark during the 17th century. \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n

The Steilneset Memorial, often called the “The Witches’ Memorial”, is a monument to 91 people who were burned as witches during the period of 1600 to 1692 in Vard\u00f8. The memorial consists of a building, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, and the “Flammehuset” artwork featuring a sculpture by the Franco\u2013American artist Louise Bourgeois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The witch trials were a European wide phenomenon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The witch trials were a pan-European phenomenon and, from the 15th century through to around 1750, up to 100,000 people were prosecuted or suspected of being witches, and maybe 40-50% of them were found guilty and burded as witches. Most of them were burned in Germany and Scotland. However, relative to the population, a large number were burned in Finnmark, perhaps more than anywhere else in the whole of Europe. The reasons for this are complex and not entirely clear. Perhaps the idea that some people were secretly working with the devil resonated more in remote fishing villages that experienced storms and bad weather. The witches came from both the Norwegian fishing villages and the Sami settlements. They were taken to Vard\u00f8 for a summary trial. If there was any doubt as to the question of guilt, the suspect was thrown into the sea. If she floated, she was a witch. The water test was used in around a third of the trials held in Finnmark. <\/p>\n\n\n\t

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