| Finschhafen District | |
| Pushpin Map: | Papua New Guinea |
| Coordinates: | -6.6°N 198°W |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within Papua New Guinea |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Papua New Guinea |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Morobe Province |
| Parts Type: | LLGs |
| Parts Style: | list |
| P1: | Hube Rural LLG |
| P2: | Kotte Rural LLG |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Finschhafen |
| Area Total Km2: | 2642 |
| Population Total: | 54672 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 census |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Main languages |
| Leader Title: | MP |
| Leader Name: | Rainbo Paita |
| Timezone1: | AEST |
| Utc Offset1: | +10 |
Finschhafen is a district on the north-east coast of the Morobe province of Papua New Guinea. It is named after the port town of the same name, Finschhafen.
The port was discovered (for Europeans) in 1884 by the German researcher Otto Finsch. In 1885 the German colony of German New Guinea created a town on the site and named it after the discoverer (-hafen = -harbor). Evangelical Lutheran missionaries, organized by Johann Flierl, settled near the town, establishing a Mission station at Simbang, and later at Sattelberg, approximately 5km (03miles) away. Malaria was the bane of the town from the start. An epidemic in 1891 caused the colonists to briefly leave and only to return and then leave again ten years later in 1901. Other New Guinea towns were favoured instead, especially Rabaul.
During the Second World War Finschhafen was fought over by Japan and Australia, along with the United States. The Japanese first occupied the town on 10 March 1942. Australian forces, as part of US Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey's task force, landed nearby and seized the town in October 1943. (See New Guinea campaigns.)
Many of the original houses were destroyed during the war, and the city was re-developed somewhat further away, in the proximity of the military airport built by the Japanese. The airport was established as an important base for the US Army. Today this airport is used for civilian use (designation FIN).
The district is commonly spelled "Finschaffen" in PNG media. The US World War II base is usually written as "Finschafen" and occasionally "Finschaven" is also used.