Outlawed Death: A City In Norway Where It Is Forbidden to Die

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

There are bizarre laws in many cities around the world, but perhaps the most original ones are in a Norwegian town. Longyearbyen. This settlement is called "the northernmost" in the world and is located on the Svalbard archipelago. There are two main prohibitions for local residents - to leave the house without a weapon and … to die in the city. No one dares to violate these laws, because there is a serious reason for this.

The city received the name Longyearbyen in honor of its founder - an American with the same name, who in 1906 began to build a coal mine on these lands. After some time, the entire settlement, together with the mine, was bought by an entrepreneur from Norway. The village grew little by little, but in 1941 all residents (at that time about 800 people) were evacuated to Great Britain. The town was shot by the Germans, literally wiped out both houses and mines from the ground. Longyearbyen was rebuilt after the war, and, after another twenty years, the Norwegian government finally set a course for the development of the infrastructure of the settlement. Despite the fact that the mines were already practically depleted, the city began to be developed as a tourist destination, and scientists began to come here en masse.

Laws that seem absurd to us appeared in the town a long time ago. The death ban was imposed due to fear of the spread of the pandemic. In 1950, scientists working in Longyearbyen found that bodies buried in the city cemetery did not decompose due to persistent low temperatures. This means that any disease-causing organisms continue to live. In particular, they feared the Spanish flu pandemic that had swept the world and that the N1H1 strain could continue to "live" on the island. As you know, the Spaniard killed almost 5% of the world's population, it was impossible to allow the virus to return again.

In the middle of the twentieth century, it was decided not to carry out burials on the archipelago. Until now, the terminally ill are trying to send to die in Oslo or other cities. If death occurs in Longyearbyen, the body is removed as soon as possible. There is not a single cemetery in the settlement.

In addition to the spread of viruses, local residents fear that non-decaying bodies will attract polar bears. Formidable predators and so often come to Longyearbyen, it is with this that another rule is connected - not to leave the house without a gun, so as not to become the prey of a bear. By the way, on the first day of study at the university, each student learns to shoot a gun, and only after that he starts his studies.

Of course, deaths do happen in town. In cases where transporting a body to the "mainland" is problematic, it is cremated, but this is rather an exception to the rule. Another fact is interesting: you cannot die in Longyearbyen, but everyone can live without exception. This village is a territory without a visa regime, so anyone can come and relax or work, regardless of citizenship.

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