Batterie Vara is named Møvig fort today The fort was constructed between 1941 and 1944 by the German navy. Together with four other coastal batteries, it formed a part of the Kristiansand Artillery Group. Together with its sister battery at Hanstholm in Denmark, Møvik Fort was built to obstruct Allied naval forces by blocking the Skagerrak strait and the seaways to Eastern Norway, the Kattegatt Bay, the Baltic Sea and the Baltic region for the allied naval forces.[1] Only a field, ten nautical miles wide, in the Skagerrak could not be covered by the guns of these facilities. This field was therefore mined.[2] Adolf Hitler worked personally for the barrier strategy and the decision about the fortress in Hanstholm was made in May 1940. In May 1941, two of the guns in Hanstholm were in place and on the Norwegian side preparatory work started.