Pupletts in Sweden: Whirlwind Trip of Oslo (29-Feb) - Part 7 - Day 2

After finishing at City Hall we headed up to Akershus Castle. The castle was built as a fortified castle in the 1300s. It was rebuilt in the 17th century under King Christian IV.

Looking over the walls on top of the hill

Building in the courtyard

The first gates to the castle

Looking out over the harbour from the castle

The castle walls

Inside the inner walls

We headed into the castle and walked through the West Wing (which was originally the royal kitchen):

Period costumes in the West Wing

and then down into the dungeons:

Going down

"The Witch's Pit"

After passing through the dungeon we came to the Royal Mausoleum where King Haakon (1872-1957), Queen Maud (1869-1938) were buried in the white sarcophagus and King Olav (1903-1991) and crown Princess Märtha (1901-1954) were buried in the green:

Royal Mausoleum

After leaving the mausoleum we went upstairs to the Castle Church, which has been in use since the early 16th century. The altar piece, baptismal font and pulpit date from around the 1750s. The rest of the church was restored in the 20th century. It is still in use as a royal burial church and the head church of the Norwegian Military:

The altar

Next stop was the Daredevil, which contains the original remains of the medieval castle (the grey stone) - it was pretty dark and flash photography was banned due to the tapestries:

Suit of armour in the Daredevil

The East Wing was closed for renovations, so we headed up to the Hall of Christian IV which was originally divided into smaller rooms in the 1600s, and used as private apartments for the Danish-Norwegian royals. The three tapestries date from the 17th century and were woven in Brussels and depict the Spanish Riding School in Vienna:

Hall of Christian IV

Next came the Prince's Chamber and the Green Room, which were originally part of the royal apartments. They serve as the Government representative rooms and hence haven't been recreated to match the historic interior:

Prince's Chamber

Next came the Romerike Hall which was named after peasants of the Romerike area that repaired the wing after it was damaged in a fire in 1527. It currently serves as an official dining hall:

Romerike Hall

Fireplace

You'd need to shout if you wanted someone to pass (throw) you the salt

After leaving the Romerike Hall, we came to the Margrethe Hall which is one of the oldest parts of the castle and then onward to the final room - the Hall of Olav V which was presumed to be the site of the original medieval castle's great hall:

Hall of Olav V

Stained Glass Window

There was also the Norwegian Resistance Museum within the walls of the castle. It cataloged Norway's resistance to the German occupation in World War II.

A brief time-line was presented:

9th April 1940 - The German Wehrmacht attacked by surprise and the head of the Swedish Nazi party, Vidkun Quisling seized power in a treasonous coup d'etat. The Norwegian King and government left the country to exile in London.

Germany took over civil administration of Norway and the German police forces were given unlimited powers, and all political parties except the Nazi Party were banned.

The Norwegians undertook civil resistance - publishing underground newpapers and pamphlets and protests. Over 45,000 Norwegians were imprisoned and a fourth of them were sent to concentration camps.

The Norwegians then began a military resistance and were supported by the exiled government and the British. The undertook acts of sabotage and espionage, including assisting the British to sink the German ship Tirpitz in harbour.

In 1944 the Norwegian resistance numbered around 40,000 men. At the end of the war (8th May 1945), the Germans surrendered and ended the occupation of Norway. The Royals and government returned and reopened the Democratic parliament in December 1945.