Norwegian Armed Forces Museum

Inside Akershus Fortress in Oslo, surrounded by buildings that have witnessed more than seven centuries of Norwegian military history, stands the Norwegian Armed Forces Museum – Forsvarsmuseet. It is the main museum devoted to the history of Norway's armed forces, tracing how warfare, weapons, military organisation and political alliances have changed from the late Middle Ages to the present day. The setting could hardly be more appropriate: Akershus itself began as a medieval castle around the year 1300 and later developed into one of Norway's most important fortresses.

The museum occupies the old Main Arsenal, a large brick complex constructed between 1859 and 1866 and designed by architects Heinrich Ernst Schirmer and Wilhelm von Hanno. Military collecting at Akershus began almost immediately. In 1860, a model chamber was established inside the arsenal to display scale models of artillery equipment. What began as a relatively specialised military collection gradually expanded to include weapons, uniforms, banners, musical instruments and other objects connected with the Norwegian Army.

The collection became known as the Artillery Museum in 1878, while a separate Intendant Museum was established in 1928 to preserve uniforms, equipment and other military material. These collections were eventually brought together as the Army Museum, or Hærmuseet. A larger reorganisation of Norway's military museums followed in 1976, creating what became Forsvarsmuseet. The present museum was formally opened to the public by King Olav V on 22 August 1978. Its roots, however, stretch all the way back to that small military model collection established more than a century earlier.

The exhibitions follow Norwegian military history across several distinct periods. The earliest section covers the years from 1300 to 1814, when Norway passed through the late medieval period, centuries of union with Denmark and repeated wars with Sweden. Weapons, uniforms, models and military equipment show how warfare gradually changed from armies built around swords, pikes and fortifications to forces increasingly dominated by firearms and artillery. The development of Akershus Fortress itself naturally forms part of this story.

The events of 1814 mark an important dividing line. Following the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark was forced to surrender Norway to Sweden, Norway adopted its own constitution at Eidsvoll, and a short war with Sweden ended with the country entering a union under the Swedish king. A permanent exhibition follows the military and political developments of the union period from 1814 until Norwegian independence in 1905. This was largely a century of peace for Norway, but also one in which the country's armed forces, national institutions and ideas about independence continued to develop.

Unsurprisingly, the Second World War occupies a substantial part of the museum. Germany invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, beginning a five-year occupation that profoundly shaped the country's modern military history. The exhibitions cover the fighting in 1940, the occupation years and Norway's military contribution to the Allied war effort. A separate permanent exhibition is devoted to the war at sea between 1939 and 1945, reflecting the enormous importance of Norway's merchant fleet and naval forces during the conflict.

Among the objects associated with this period is an Enigma cipher machine, the type of equipment used by German forces to encrypt military communications. Displays also deal with individual soldiers and decorations, including the Krigskorset med sverd, or War Cross with Sword, Norway's highest military decoration. The award was instituted in 1941 and has been given for extraordinary bravery or leadership during wartime operations.

The end of the Second World War did not mean the end of Norway's military concerns. Norway abandoned its previous policy of neutrality and became one of the twelve founding members of NATO in 1949. Its long border with the Soviet Union suddenly placed the country on one of the northern edges of the Cold War. New weapons, aircraft, communications systems and defence strategies reflected a world now shaped by nuclear weapons and the possibility of conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

The story continues beyond the Cold War through the museum's exhibition on international operations. Since 1947, Norwegian military personnel have served in a long list of missions abroad, ranging from United Nations peacekeeping operations to NATO-led deployments and wars in places including the Balkans, Afghanistan and the Middle East. This part of the museum brings the story much closer to the present, where military history is no longer something safely confined to old uniforms and cannons.

That broad timeline is one of Forsvarsmuseet's strengths. Walking through the building means moving from armour, muskets and fortress warfare to machine guns, encrypted communications and modern international operations. Changes in technology are obvious, but the exhibitions also show how Norway's political position has changed – from a country governed from Copenhagen, through union with Sweden and neutrality, to membership in a large international military alliance.

There is also something slightly unusual about seeing all of this inside Akershus Fortress. Many of the objects describe wars, sieges and military preparations connected with places only a few metres away from the museum itself. Akershus has survived repeated attacks and sieges since the Middle Ages and remains an active military area today. The museum is therefore not simply a collection placed inside an old historic building; it sits in the middle of the very military landscape whose history it is trying to explain.