Fridge magnets from Longyearbyen

Fridge magnets are the ultimate souvenir and extremely popular with visitors in Longyearbyen. But they don’t have to be plastic waste from the Far East: they can also be handmade from wood right here in Svalbard! The fridge magnets from Alt i 3 in Longyearbyen are hugely popular locally and are now available outside Svalbard for the first time.

Dimensions: 8 x 6 centimetres. The triangular ‘Polar Bear Warning Sign’ version has a side length of 8 centimetres.

The fridge magnets are available in eight different designs; see photos. When ordering, you can select your preferred design at the top of the page under.

Several designs are partly made from exciting locally sourced materials:

The “Svalbard Mountains” are made from driftwood found on Svalbard’s beaches. The walrus is made from oak previously used in the former coal mine number 7 near Longyearbyen, and the “Longyearbyen Houses” feature wood that was once part of houses in Longyearbyen that have since been demolished. In these fridge magnets, they are given a new lease of life for people who appreciate such things. To be precise, the material comes from the iconic “Spisshusene” (pointed roof houses), that famous row of colourful houses with pointed roofs on the slope of Sukkertoppen mountain. Some of these houses were destroyed in the avalanche of December 2015. Of course, no material from houses in which people were killed was used in the fridge magnets (two people lost their lives in the avalanche shortly before Christmas 2015).

The labour-intensive production, materials and logistics account for the price, which is certainly higher than what one would normally pay for a simple plastic fridge magnet.