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The witch hunt in Norway reached its terrible climax in the years 1662–1663, especially in the town of Vardø, where 77 women and 14 men were found guilty and burned at the stake. Sometimes it was enough to claim that the accused person could walk on water. A 120 meter long wooden and canvas construction, reminiscent of the Norwegian fish drying racks, was built as a memorial in 2011 according to plans by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. When you enter the construction, a long, dark corridor leads past illuminated text panels that show the court records of the 91 people who were executed here at the time. The path through this corridor is depressing, but you don't leave it at the other end with a sigh of relief, because you are now standing in front of the small square pavilion with walls made of steel and glass, which the French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois created as a symbolic pyre. When you enter the pavilion, your eye is drawn to a truncated cone made of concrete, which is surrounded by seven oval mirrors, like judges surrounding their victim. We move between the concrete stump and the mirror and see the blazing in the fire directly or in mirror image. The whole thing creates a ghostly scene that impresses us greatly. We did not expect such an impressive memorial at the northeasternmost point of Norway.
