Kongeparken near Nybergsund is a beautiful memorial park where we tell the story of the dramatic April days in 1940.

Culture

On the evening of 10 April 1940, a minister was appointed to a small boarding house by the Trysil river in Nybergsund. The King of Norway, the Crown Prince and the Norwegian government were to make one of the most important decisions in Norwegian history. The atmosphere was very tense and emotional. King Haakon had met the German envoy Curt Bräuer in Elverum. There he had been presented with a demand to accept the German rule with Vidkun Quisling as Norwegian prime minister. The king of Norway could not live with that demand:

I do not want it to be decisive for the Government, I do not want it to influence or be invoked as a basis for the Government's decision. But I have carefully tested myself and considered my position, and I cannot appoint Quisling, who I know has no confidence either in our people as a whole, or in its representation, the Storting, as Prime Minister. If, therefore, the Government should decide to agree to the German demands – and I fully understand the reasons that speak for it in view of the imminent danger it is, and because so many young Norwegians will have to give their lives in the war – then there is no other way out for me than to abdicate – from the throne of Norway for me and my house.

King Haakon in Kongeparken
King Haakon spoke at the opening of Kongeparken on 16 June 1946. You can hear the speech through the "sound cone" at the monument, and the king ended the speech by saying: "It is better to die with honor than to live in shame."

 

The king had spoken. He said no to the German demands. King Haakon, who had been monarch of Norway for 35 years, had made the most important and difficult choice. The government rallied behind the king and signed the historic document. The king's no was a fact, and Norway was at war with Germany.

At "Krysset" in Nybergsund on the morning of 11 April 1940. A bus is filled with mobilized people who are going to meet in Elverum. Three of them are killed in the bomb attack on Elverum. On the way, we can see some of those who fled here on 9 and 10 April.
At "Krysset" in Nybergsund on the morning of 11 April 1940. A bus is filled with mobilized people who are going to meet in Elverum. Three of them are killed in the bomb attack on Elverum. On the way, we can see some of those who fled here on 9 and 10 April.

The very next day, the German occupying forces responded. On the afternoon of 11 April, 11 bombers attacked the small place that for a few days was Norway's "capital".

On the night of 10 April, Crown Princess Märtha and her children Harald, Astrid and Ragnhild passed Nybergsund on their way to the mountain hotel in Sälen, and a few hours later, King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav stopped at Trysil Turistheim. Eventually, most of the government and the Norwegian state apparatus came here – along with a number of journalists from Norway and Sweden.

Vebjørn Sand's beautiful painting of King Haakon fleeing when German bombers attacked the small town of Nybergsund on the afternoon of 11 April.
Vebjørn Sand's beautiful painting of King Haakon fleeing when German bombers attacked the small town of Nybergsund on the afternoon of 11 April.

In Kongeparken you can relive these dramatic days where it happened. You can walk in the park on your own, but it is also possible to take a guided tour of the place where the king said NO!

Sist oppdatert 23.01.2025