Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society

The Isbjørnklubben ( German Polar Bear Club, English also known as The Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society) is a club in the city of Hammerfest, Norway, which describes itself as a northern city in the world. The company was founded in 1963 by two business men to make history Hammerfest known as a hunting and trading center. Purpose of the club is to finance a small town museum in the town hall.

For a one time donation to become a member for life and receive - in addition to a certificate, sticker, pin badge, the statutes in several languages ​​and a membership card - also lifetime free admission to the museum. Membership is targeting mainly to tourists from ( the membership of many prominent is documented in the club rooms, like Stephanie of Monaco and of course, the last Norwegian king Olav and Harald ). Every year on the third Sunday of January, the annual meeting of the " Polar Bear Club" takes place to the more than 230,000 members are automatically loaded from a site where not only due to the season, understandably, only the least find the way to Hammerfest. An essential prerequisite for admission to the club is the personal presence in the club rooms, a condition on the Elvis Presley failed because it was the membership but not important enough to appear here.

The museum consists of two areas, in which several objects from the history of Hammerfest are issued. This includes stuffed animals such as polar bears, seals, lynxes and wolves, hunting and outdoor equipment from the early history of the region as well as numerous photographs, paintings and writings that document the history of the city. Region 1 is available for everybody, Division 2 only to members of the polar bear club.