The Russians bought Pyramiden from the Swedes in 1926. Prior to WWII, the only activity was mine development. Starting in 1948, the place was rebuilt. Pyramiden was a family community that at its peak housed over 1000 people. It had a school, a kindergarten, a hotel, a swimming pool, and a cultural centre.
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Barentsburg. Photo: Pål Skaare og Gunnar Halden/Svalbard museum - 2/6
Barentsburg Photo: Anne Lise Klungseth Sandvik/Svalbard museum - 3/6
Cultural centre in Pyramiden. Lilleba Knudsen/Svalbard musem - 4/6
Grumant Photo: Carl A. Wendt/Svalbard museum - 5/6
To the right Governor Odd Birketvedt. In the middle, the soviet consul from Barentsburg. Photo Erling J. Nødtvedt/Svalbard museum - 6/6
Soviet Mil Mi-8 helicopter in Hornsund. Photo: Szymon Barna
Grumant was the site of modest Russian coal mining from 1920 to 1926 and from 1931 to 1941. The town was rebuilt in 1947. The shore below Grumant was ill suited as a harbour, so a railway was constructed to transport coal west to Coles Bay, where coal could be loaded and shipped out. Grumant was abandoned in 1961 and Pyramiden in 1998.
The number of Russian residents in Svalbard grew from 1200 in 1947 to 2500 in 1955. The Russian mining towns were reconstructed with great efficiency and fervour.
Mining operations continue to this day in Barentsburg, where fewer than 600 people now live. The town has a distinctly Russian character, with strictly planned apartment buildings and streets. The buildings at the top of the mine, the coal silos, and the shipping quay are all in the centre of town. Barentsburg has a helicopter base, a centre for sports and culture, barns, greenhouses, a research station, a museum, a souvenir shop, an infirmary, and a kindergarten. Archaeologists, meteorologists, geophysicists, and glaciologists work at the research station during the summer season. A Russian consulate is also located in Barentsburg.