Kjelvik was Magerøya's largest settlement outside of Honningsvåg until it was burned down by the occupation forces in 1944.
It is located on the island of Magerøya, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northeast of the town of Honningsvåg and about 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) northeast of the village of Nordvågen. It sits near the mouth of the Porsangerfjorden. The village no longer has any permanent residents, but the homes are still used as vacation homes in the summer.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Kjelvik had approximately 80 inhabitants, most of them were Finnish immigrants. In 1930 there were 236 inhabitants on the site, after the Second World War there were no permanent residents. There was no German presence in Kjelvik during occupation from 1940. Exposed location meant that the site was only partially rebuilt after it was burnt down in 1944, and eventually was completely abandoned.
When motorboats took over around 1900, the harbor in Kjelvik was no longer suitable and the place eventually lost its importance. The place is marked as Kelwyck on Mercator's map "Atlas Minor" from 1613.
Kjelvik church from 1851 was octagonal (similar to the Dverberg church designed by Grosch) and back then was the only church on Magerøya. It was completely destroyed by a hurricane in 1882. Remains of the church were recovered several hundred meters up the mountain. Kjelvik is weather-resistant, especially with onshore winds.
I recomend you visit Kjelvikhytta, which is on the way and take a moment to get warm and spend a minutte in this lovely hut.
