Hanko 1941-1944

A webpage  about the ongoing multidisciplinary  Conflict- and Battlefield Archaeology research project ”Hanko 1941-1944”. 

The project surveys, documents and excavates remains  from the Second World War in Hanko S. Finland .

All photos copyright Hanko 1941-1944 .

WW2 Battlefield Archaeology of the Hanko front for schools again in 2024!

Excavations of the Frontlines and the german transition Camp ”deutsches Lager Hanko” 
  • May 13th to 16th 2024 we will excavate the front lines of the battles in 1941 in the surroundings of the Hanko Front Museum. May 20th to May 24th and May 27th to 31th we will excavate the large German Second World War transition camp ”Deutsches Lager Hanko”.
  • Please send us a letter of interest to [email protected] if you think your school would be interested in spending a day as a conflict archaeologist!
  • The scientific work ”on site” in 2024 will be led by MA Jan Fast and  Hanko 1941 team members MA Fanny Fagerholm and BA Elisa Melasniemi. Swedish speaking schoolchildren can participate for free thanks to a grant from Thure Galléns stiftelse.

Academic works

The authors are responsible for the contents in their respective works and the texts do not necessary represent the views or general research results of the ”Hanko 1941” project. Please feel free to contact the authors directly if you have ay questions or disagree with issues that are presented in the papers. Your input is valuable for the students and helps them to advance on their scientific journey.

Finding the fallen of the Hanko Front 2017-2030.

"Tvärminnen vuoden 1941 venäläiset sotavainajat - Arkeologin etiikka hautakaivauksilla"

BA thesis about ethics and the conflict archaeology of war graves.

Elisa Melasniemi

Turku Open University 20.4.2020 (in Finnish)

BA thesis Elisa Melasniemi
The "Hamsterbo" shelter during excavations in 2021.

Three Soldiers in a Shelter – The Conflict Archaeology of a Burnt Down Second World War Underground Structure on the Hanko Front

Fresh article by Jan Fast and Teemu Väisänen coming up soon!

Deutsches Lager Hanko 1942-1944 PhD research 2014-2024. Wehrmacht porcelain bowl fragments. The bowl was made in Kolmar in occupied Poland in 1940.

"Bakom främsta linjen - Militärläger i Hangö från II:a världskriget som konfliktarkeologiska objekt"

BA thesis about the materiality of a DRK dumpsite inside the German WW2 transition camp on Cape Tulliniemi, Hanko S. Finland.

​Fanny Fagerholm

Umeå Universitet 24.9.2019 (in Swedish)

BA thesis Fanny Fagerholm
Hanko 1941 project 2018-2025. A Swedish volunteer photographed outside the "Ragnarök" shelter in 1941.

Fantastic new webpage about ”Svenska Frivilligbatajonen” on the Hanko front

Scroll through over 900 pictures and other interesting archive material about the Swedish volunteer troops on the Hanko front! 

Our team member Mr. Fredrik Creutz has started work on an extremely interesting new website with a massive amount of archive material about the battles on the Hanko front in 1941.

At this stage the focus is to try to identify the people in the pictures. The webpage will gradually include wartime diaries by Swedish soldiers as well as other interesting stuff!

Photo: Riksarkivet, Nils Östbergs arkiv, 4a Fotografier, Volym 1

Click here to get to the Svenska Frivilligbataljonen webpage
Deutsches Lager Hanko 1942-1944 PhD research 2014-2024.