Established in 1917, Longyearbyen’s cemetery replaced an earlier graveyard at Hotelneset. In its inaugural year, it witnessed burials due to illness and Spanish flu. The 26 victims of Mine 1a explosion, including four buried here, also rest in the cemetery. With 34 graves, it houses notable figures like Captain Trond Astrup Vigel, who defended Svalbard during World War II.
During the 1980s, new wooden crosses replaced the old ones, and a fence made from drill bits and chains from coal mines replaced the original stone wall.
Protected as part of Longyearbyen’s coal mining history, the cemetery still allows former Svalbard residents to have their ashes interred with government permission.
