I was, like many others working in Greenland, gone up there because of economical problems. I became bankrupt and had to find a way of clearing my debt.

I contacted "ISS" that back then had a service contract with the Danish-Canadian corporation "Greenex", which ran the lead/zinc mine "The Black Angel" in Maarmorilik, in the Qaamarujuk fiord that lie in northwest Greenland, 600 km north of the polar circle.

I was called in for an interview with a Birthe Alsted at the company's head office on Rentemestervej in Copenhagen. We came to an understanding that I was already going the next friday.

It caused several changes in my planning. One thing was that I had to drop out of high school, where I was about to pass my finals, and another thing was that I had to cancel my 30th birthday the saturday after. Things was was going to change radically.

The trip

We handed in our luggage at check-in and went to what back then was called "Hammers Bar" and had ourselves a "Gammel Dansk". Gosch-Andersen explained to me that this was the bar where you'd normally meet up before boarding the plane to Søndre Strømfjord.

Around 11.00 a.m. we were called out to the plane, SAS SK-921 to Sdr. Strømfjord. We got on board and found our seets, and around 11.30 we took off from Kastrup.

It's a little funny that the flight time to Sdr. Strømfjord is about 4 hours, and that Greenland's timezone is about 4 hours behind Denmark, so as we landed in Sdr. Strømfjord around 11.30 a.m. local time, the day was extended to 28 hours.

A different experience:

I still recall the sensation I had in my nose as the cabin door was opened. In a fraction of a second my froze to ice.
It was about -50 degrees celcius outside, and not a long time ago did we leave the misty and mild winter weather in Denmark. It was a strange feeling.

We arrived safe and sound to Sdr. Strømfjord and were told that we wouldn't progress any further that day when the helicopter left. It would have to reach Maarmorilik before dusk.

 

In the winter it was only bright enough for it to be able to land about 1 - 1½ hours around noon, as Maarmorilik is situated some distance north of the polar circle. It is under the polar night, which means that it is dark almost 24 hours a day.
In the summer it is the other way around. A couple of months a year the sun will be up all the time, which means daylight 24 hours a day. It was only by looking at the location of the sun and the date of your watch, that you could tell whether or not it was night or day.
It is what we here at home call the midnight sun.

Sdr. Strømfjord

We were assigned to a room on the ”Arctic Hotel” at the american base, whereafter we had a look around, and around dinner we went to the "NCO-Club", a famous place among Danish that was travelling Greenland back then.

I can't remember the menu, but I do remember that it was the first time I ever had baked potatoes.

Baked potatoes hadn't really broken through yet back home, but it was a pleasant experience. We had our potatoes served with a bowl of ice water and butter slices, a tip I still make use of when I have guests.

Later we went to the cinema, which by it self was quite an event. The movie started with the national anthem of Denmark, accompanied with "Dannebrog" on the screen, and after that the national anthem of America to the "Stars and Stripes".

Everybody would stand up during the national anthems. Later we were told, that had anyone remained seated, they would have been arrested by the American Military Police, as there was no room for any kind of demonstration. If this was true I do not know, and I did not have any remote desire to find out.

Saturday morning we packed up our luggage, ate breakfast and drove to the big hotel in Sdr. Strømfjord on the other side of the landing strip where we waited for our helicopter to arrive. We were greeted by our contact from Greenex, H. C. Skau – or in everyday speech "HC".

Around 10:30 am a helicopter landed, "Sikorsky S58", and rolled up in front of the departure hall. We had the opportunity to say hello to our pilot and his second pilot in command.
 

Now we had 4 hours of flight ahead of us, going up along the west coast of Greenland.
There would be a short landing in Jakobshavn - Ilulissat –  after a a couple of hours.

It was a stirring experience, sitting there and looking out at the fantastic nature from a helicopter.

Sitting in a helicopter is memorable in itself, but being able to see the marvelous landscape of Greenland in addition, - it's something you'll just have to experience yourself to fully understand, it's just magnificent.
I can understand why the Greenlanders call their home "Kaallalit Nunaat" - it means the country of the people.

Even though the nature up there is hostile on the face of it, there's something special about it that fascinates you.
Regarding people that has been on Greenland just once, I believe you can say, that the island will aleays have a huge spot in our hearts for the rest of our lives. This is how I feel anyway.
I will always miss it up there, both the country and all the lovely people I got to know those years, the locals as well as many other nationalities.
 

I remembered one of my childhood playmates, John Maaløe Nielsen, that unfortunately lost his life up there. He was on a coaster "Hanne S" of Svendborg 16 years earlier, that sank with all on board.

Looking at the pictures below, one can without a doubt  sense how such a monster could easily take down even an enormous ship, as it happened in the beginning of the last century with ”Titannic”, or our own "Hans Hedtoft" that went down at Kap Farvel, on its maiden voyage January 1959.
 

Unfortunately, back in those days one were, as a Dane, not always welcome everywere. So I took care to be back at the hotel in the city before nightfall, which was pretty early in the day compared to Denmark, as it was high up north.

We were treated with an outstanding dinner. I still remember it to be the first time I ever had whale steak. It tasted wonderful, and we had a good red wine with it.

On the hotel I met a guy named Poul, called ”Poul Elektriker/Electrician”. I had met him earlier back home when he visited Henning, who worked at the laundry in Maarmorilik.
Who exactly Henning is will follow in the part about the laundry further down the site.

Poul had an idea that it had to be close to my birthday, and pressing harder on the matter, I could not help but amit, that it was actually my 30th birthday, this exact day.

Man, we had a party. With Poul, his Greenlandic girlfriend Sarah, Gosh-Anderson, together with some nice Greenlanders that Poul and Sarah knew, who joined us.
It was an unforgettable night. I could definitely not have had a better birthday back home. The only thing missing was actually my family.

I was loaded with impressions as I went to rest that night, and with high expectations to the morning and what it might bring.

 Marmorilik  
 

The Laundry
 

The messroom

Then we went to the messroom.

 In principle it would be open all day, so we sat and had a cup of coffee, and I got explained how the fair worked.

There would be breakfast from 6 a.m. featuring rye bread, white loaf, crusty rolls, and every kind of sliced meats and accompaniments. You could get fried eggs with bacon or ham, boiled eggs and even warm meals if you wished so. There was tea, coffee, juice and everything you could imagine.

We also got to accompany a couple of my future colleagues from ISS, among others Martin Michelsen, that today, more than thirty years later, still is one of my close friends.

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the messroom would again open up for all who was working day shift. There would be everything that your heart could desire, both cold and warm on big dishes.
There was big bowls of fresh shrimps, every kind of salad, peas, corn, cucumber-salad, etc.
I once counted the bowls on a daily table, and there was no less than 47 on the long buffet table.
 

From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. it would again be open and serving warm food. You'd pick it up at the counter – "The line" – and the was all kinds of accompaniments once again, for those who were on nightshift.

At 8 p.m. a movie would be played in the messroom, though tuesdays was reserved for bingo, where there would bee nice prizes to win.

It was also in the messroom that the bigger events would take place, such as Christmas- /Easter- and Whitsunevents, and much else.
All provision was totally free ofcause for those who worked in Maarmorilik, and it was the same for the people visiting the place.

Old Rec-Hall  (rec=recreation)

After visiting the messroom the next stop was ”The old Rec-Hall”, opposite of the messroom.

In here, among other things, the Maarmorilik post office were located, managed by Dennis. You could get your mail here when the helicopter had been by.

Our local grocer were also located here, Svend, that offered a splendid selection of daily necessities - like a range of soaps and shampoo's that could be used with the soft water, and ofcause also a proper selection of tobacco, beer and liquor. I still remember that a bottle of whiskey, labeled "Canadian Club", would cost the overwhelming amount of 30 Danish Crowns (US $5.4).

The water in Maarmorilik was processed at our own power station. It was so soft, that if you did not have soap with the correct PH-value, it would be nearly impossible to wash off.
 

A billard table was also available at the old Rec-Hall, which was almost always occupied. It was moslty pool that was being played here.

On the station they broadcast the Danish TV-programmes, that had been pre-recorded on tape back home and later send up to Maarmorilik. They were also capable of producing their own programmes.
You could then choose to watch television in the TV-room of the Rec-Hall, or back at your own room.

The fact that the programmes was a couple of days late didn't bother us at Maarmorilik the least. We ate up all the news.

Some of the big music hits of that time were: Smokie with "Living Next Door To Alice", Baccara with "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie", Abba with "Fernando", Pussycat with "Missisippi", Bonnie Tyler with "I'ts A Heartache", and many others.

The big hit on TV in Maarmorilik was the ABBA TV-show "Made in Sweden", where the two girls, Agneta and Annifried, were dressed up in their "tigerdress".
 

After the look into the Change-House we saw hoisten, and greeted Wildfred and Gerner that were looking after it at that time.
It was a mountain railway up to the mine. There were two small personnel cabins, in which you took the men up in the mine.
Most commonly there would be two rides to get everyone up there. The trip was about 4 – 5 minutes, and was about 1½ km long.

We were told that the rail was sensitive to high ”windspeeds”. When the windspeed would get above 55 km / pr. hour, you couldn't ride the railway, which meant that people wouldn't be able to get down from the mine, and ofcause not up there either, so you'd just have to sit down and wait patiently till the wind would calm down again.

It has happened that people has been stuck in the mine for a couple of days, but a stocked food were available - the so-called emergency rations, which meant canned food, beverages, crackers and chokolate, so you could survive.

When there was windspeed, there was no working in the mine. Then you'd sit and wait in one of the mine's many lunch-rooms.
You couldn't risk that any accidents were to happen, while it would be impossible to get help and bring the casualties down.
They did have a very good ”First-Aid” though – a First aid room was up there, and if an accident did happen, everyone in Maarmorilik had taken a first aid course, so help were present.

Wilfred told that when the personnel were taken up to a shift, a big container with salt-water was placed in one of the cabins instead, and then salt-water were taken to the mine.
The salt-water was mixed in a big tank by the hoist house.

As I remember it, 20-25 sacks of salt were put into each mixture. It was pretty concentrated, but a lot of water was used for cooling in the mine.
When there were perma frost in the mountain all year round, only very strong salt water could be used, so it wouldn't freeze to ice.
The big quantities of salt water storaged in the so called ”swamp” up in the mine, was contained at a certain water level all the time, so there were no risk of running out.
 

To the left of the "Hoist House", a little up the mountain wall, a house was located. You almost imagined yourself to be in Austria or Switzerland, because of the way the house was placed on the rock wall.
It was a cabin that was occupied by one of the people who had build the two railways in Maarmorilik. His name was Noldi, and so the cabin was never named anything but ”Noldi’s house”.
The house can be seen on one of the other pages by clicking the "Greenland" button.
The house was used once in a while. It could be small gatherings and such.

Even higher up the mountain wall you would see some newer red barracks, BH 5 and BH 6 (BH=BunkHouse). I was told that it were "Staff-Houses”.
When I asked what it implied, I was told that you could come to be lucky and live up there, had you been a sufficiently long time in Maarmorilik.
Up there it wasn't just small rooms, but small apartments with private toilet, bath and everything that belongs.

Many years later I myself was one of those who got an apartment, what was then named BH 7, and was build while I was up there. Pictures from it can be seen on the page you can get to by clicking the "Greenland" button.

Now we continued down and looked at our power plant. It was lying right up to the fiord. It was two huge diesel machines that provided the energy- and water supply to the mining town.
I also got to say hello to a couple of the employees, Thor and Åge.
The first thing that struck me, was that it was unbelievably clean everywhere. The floor were painted red and everything was shining from the floor to machines.
 

Bunk House 1

Now it was time to see, where I, myself, would be living in the time to come. I was really anxious about it, as everyting were so new to me.
We started walking uphill to the second of four barracks, that stood on concrete columns on the rock - or the "mutterne" as we said - they were a bit up the road.
We reached the barrack, a grey/white building with iron stairs at the end. We went up the stairs to the first floor.
 

We entered the barrack, coming to a long hallway with doors on both sides. Actually there were 58 rooms on each of the two floors + toilets and bath.
 

Nicknames

A couple of funny episodes
 

In Maarmorilik we would work 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, and furthermore we could choose if we would like to work on sunday too.
The contract was worked out so that you had a four months working period, and then one month of vacation at home. Greenex payed for the trip both ways, including catering.

Besides that, it could happen that a craftsman had been somewhere to repair something. It could be the likes of leaking water pipes, and then there'd be called for someone from ISS. It was what we called "a callout". It made 4 hours of payment, no matter how long it would take, and it was often the easiest money to make.

All in all I had a many workingdays with over 20 hours of work a day. I certainly didn't have any trouble falling asleep, when I got home "on my branch", as we used to call it.

In the mine, the power station, the hoist and a couple of other places, they had double-teamed shifts. The working time were also over 10 hours here. You had a month ”on nighttime” and a month ”on daytime”. Then there'd be one whole day off between the two shifts.

In Maarmorilik there were several different nationalities:

Some of us were Danes, most of us men, but we did have some girls working in both administration and the service section.
 
There were Swedes, Norwegians and Finnish. They already had some experience with working in a mine, as all three countries has mining, and thereby the expertise that Greenex needed.
Some of the names I remember right now are Mario (Swedish, but an descendant of Italy), Bosse Johansson, Ernst Pettersson, Maestro Kangas and Stig Spetz - last-mentioned being the head of the mine.
Besides that we had a lot of Canadian. They came from a company called "Redpad", who among other things had specialized in the drilling of mineshafts.

For a time we also had a wonderful chap from what used to be Czechoslovakia. His name was Pjotr Link (I'm not a 100% sure about his last name). 

We had a single guy from South Africa, Brian Eyres.

A single Aussie was also employed. I don't know if it was his name, but we called him "Kiwi".
A funny little story about him: He always wore shorts, summer as well as winter.
It must have been cold, walking around in -30 to -40 degrees Celcius, wearing shorts and mountain boots, but that was just the way it was. He only stayed for less than a year too.

On top of that we had a German by the name Bernie, who had his own little workshop up in the mine: "Bernies Shop".

The last group of people were ofcause Greenlanders. We had a lot working in Maarmorilik, and I have in my life never worked together with anyone, who could get as much work done when needed. And unbelievably good at their jobs they were too. In many ways it was certainly me who was the "rookie" at the workmanship.

I think of many of them with great affection, Markus Sebulonsen, his pal Andreas, "Nallergakken", a short older guy with excellent spirits, Ole "Greenlander" Nielsen and his brother Jonas Nielsen, Cecilie, Hans, and many many more.

In the beginning the native part of the employees had a looser rein than us Danes. As an example, it didn't have much consequence in the beginning, if a Greenlander was to stay away from the job for some reason, and reasons there were:
Once there was payment, many of those who came from the trading stations from around, didn't understand why they should show up on a cold and enclosed place, as a mine is.

Once they had money, it would make do for all of the necessities, food, drink, clothes, and so on.
From the beginning of time, these things have been the fundamental needs in Greenland, and it's undoubtably a healthier way of life than the one we others has brought up. Constantly chasing all the new materialistic stuff that are being made.

The same thing happened in Fall, when the musk ox hunt began. Well, then they'd just travel south to hunt musk oxes. Why would you want to be trapped in a mine city like ours, when you had the option to fill up the food depots for the winter.

It changed, I think it was in 1976 or 77, when the Greenlandic workers came under the same restrictions as the Dane - but it also gave them the same salary and agreement.

It meant a bit of turnover in the beginning, but ofcause it all gradually fell into a natural rythm, so our Greenlandic colleagues were just as stable as the rest of us.
 

As an employee of Greenex you had several perks. You could, as an example,  get your closest relatives up to  to visit Maarmorilik once in a while.
Greenex would also pay for the trip, but the relatives would have to pay for any extra expences on the way themselves, which was very reasonable, as it was expensive to travel to Greenland – also back then.
In the summer 1978, Henning and I had my parents up to visit, and later that year, more specific Christmas, where I had my fiancée for a visit.

NB! You can see a bigger version of the  pictures by clicking on each of them.
 

Not always cold
 

Free time was divided with necessary consideration for the two shifts.

Every night at 8 p.m. the TV was turned in, and it repeated itself in the morning at 8 a.m.

At 11 both a.m. and p.m. there had to be quiet in regards to the the shift that was currently sleeping.

A fireguard would regularly walk through the living quarters, and if you were too loud or the TV was turned too much up, you'd be asked to turn it down and be quiet.
It usually helped, and if it didn't, you'd get a warning. If that didn't help either you were history, and put on the next helicopter home.
The same happened if you were cought smoking in bed. Then there'd be no pardon, you'd be out right away.

Also if you got into a fist fight. The one who hit would go home instantly, and if you were hit  - and punched back, then you'd also get send home. There was no discussion.

The only people who were allowed to actually use force were us bartenders, but because many of us were undersized compared to the big Swedish and Canadian miners, that option never really presented itself as far as I recall.

It was also departure if you turned up drunk at work.

You could get away with oversleeping once, that would get you a warning, but if it occurred again you'd be looking for a new job.
It was tough conditions some might think, but personally I found that it was ok. In this way you avoided that it would turn into real anarchy, where the strongest and moat ruthless set the agenda.

It was before the time of mobile phones. All communication went through either radiom, telegrams or mail.

If you had an urgent need to talk to somebody at home, you had to get down to the tele-office and reserve a call.
It was a pretty expensive affair, as it cost a little over 100 danish crowns (about $20) a minute, and there was a minimum charge of three minutes. So this was something that could be felt in the wallet. On the other hand did I always remember to write all down that had to be said, so I didn't forget anything when I got through to Denmark.

Actually we got married and had 22 wonderful years together, until we got seperated in 2003. But we are still good friends, and I still care for her a lot.

When December 1976 came near, ISS lost the concession again.
It certainly didn't surprise me. I must admit I have rarely been employed at a place, where the management of everything was so poor.
Our boss made a list, where people who'd like to seek employment at the main firm Greenex, could write themselves on. Then he'd talk to the staff office about it.

I didn't sign up on the list, but went to Greenex myself and applied.

When I was asked why I wasn't on the list from ISS, I answered, honestly enough, that if I would only be considered through ISS, then I couldn't be bothered, I new what I stood for.
The curious result was, as far as I remember, that I was the only one of the "cygnets" that got to stay.
I'd been up there since the beginning of Janurary, being only interrupted the four days in April where I was home to get seperated. Then I got a short vacation from the 1st of December, was back again and started as a miner December 15th.
After I came back I had to participate in different courses besides my job in the mine.

Electricity was everywhere ofcause. Air was blown around the mine my giant air fans, sent in at the bottom of the mine through big yellow plastic tubes. They were hanging everywhere, measuring about two feet in diameter. So there's always be a an icecold draught going out towards the mine's entrance, no matter where were at.
That's why we were warmly dressed with big mine safety boots. Helly-Hansen thermo-clothes and durable boiler suits. Us on the 600-metre also often used thick parcacoats to keep us warm.

 We also came around to learn a few Greenlandic words as time passed by. The first four I personally learned was probably: Suu = yes  *  namik = no  *  imera = maybe  *  ajungilak = good or allright * along with a couble that aren't entirely fitting, like usuk  = no translation here! I don't know about the spelling, it's purely what it sounded like.

In our coffee braks we read "The Greenlandic Post" = "Sermitsiaq" or as we in daily speech called it, a little disrespectfully: "The sealskin boot post". It would be lying around the lunch rooms among other places in the mine. Then we'd be a little updated about what happened other places in Greenland, than just us in Maarmorilik, which certainly wasn't known as beeing the ordinay lifestyle of Greenland.
 

I worked in the mine a couple of years. After that I got to work in the hoist, that being the aerial ropeway.

We also had a nice team, where we spend many good hours. Right now I remember Wilfred, Gerner, Hans, Otto, George and Nils.

The main work was ofcause to transport people to and fro the mine, but there were also a lot of other funny tasks, delivering different materials to the mine. Everything had to go from the ground through us.

In the seventeen years the mine was active (from 1973 to 1990), there was mined in all 11.3 million tons of ore.
In the ore pr. ton:

Maarmorilik was between the years 1936 to 1940 an active marble mine. In the yard there was a whole little town, and Hans Jacobi who was business manager those years, has a clear memory of how it was, back then, to be there.

 In 1966 they undertook test mining again, and Hans Jacobi's story about this return to Maarmorilik, can hopefully soon be read by clicking below. The story is put on the internet by "The Greenlandic Society". I've requested permission to post it here on the site, and if I get it, it can be read here:

Hans Jacobi: "Gensyn med Marmorilik" (Maarmorilik Revisited)

I often think back in melancholy on those years in Maarmorilik, and I would love to see the place again, but it looks now as if it's only a thought that will never be realized - alone because of my echonomy. It is not possible with early-release scheme to be sure, but maybe one will win the lottery one day.

It has none the less been the most fantastic event of my life, and I think in happiness of all the great people I came to know. In my mind I'm quietly thanking for the many experiences I had back then.