Eidsvollsbygningen is where Norway became a nation. In the spring of 1814, 112 men gathered in this building and wrote one of the most radical, democratic constitutions in the world at that time. Six weeks of work. Then on 17 May, they signed it. That date became Norway's national day.
To understand why this happened, you need to know the background. Norway had been ruled from Copenhagen for over 400 years - first in a union with Denmark, then under absolute monarchy from 1660. Norwegians had no say in how their country was governed.
Then came the Napoleonic Wars. Denmark-Norway sided with France - and lost. In January 1814, the Treaty of Kiel forced Denmark to hand Norway over to Sweden as a war prize. The Norwegians refused to accept this. They weren't consulted, and they weren't going to be traded like property.
The Danish prince Christian Frederik, who was stationed in Norway as governor, became the leader of the resistance. On 16 February 1814, he gathered a group of influential men at this very building for a secret meeting. They agreed that the Norwegian people, not the Danish king, had the right to decide Norway's future.
Elections were held across the country. Representatives were chosen from each region - farmers, priests, military officers, merchants. Due to the distances involved, no one from northern Norway made it in time. The 112 who did arrive came to Eidsvoll on Easter Sunday, 10 April 1814.
The building they entered was a private home - the mansion of industrialist Carsten Anker, who owned the Eidsvoll Iron Works. When it was completed around 1770, it was the largest wooden building in Norway. Anker had been modernising and expanding it since he bought the estate in 1794, but parts of the second floor were still unfinished. The great hall that was meant to display his art collection became the Rikssalen - the Assembly Hall where the constitution was debated and signed.
The representatives split into two factions. About 80 supported full independence. Around 30 - the Union Party - thought Norway should negotiate with Sweden rather than risk war. In the end, independence won. They wrote a constitution based on the ideas of the American and French revolutions: separation of powers, popular sovereignty, protection of individual rights.
On 17 May, the constitution was signed and Christian Frederik was elected king. The representatives clasped hands and shouted: "United and loyal until Dovre falls!" - Dovre being a mountain range they considered eternal.
The independence lasted only a few months. Sweden invaded that summer, and by autumn Norway entered a union with Sweden. But they kept their constitution. When Stortinget - the new parliament - renegotiated the terms, they actually gave the Swedish king less power than the original constitution had given Christian Frederik. Norway had internal self-governance from day one of the union, and the constitution laid the foundation for full independence when it finally came in 1905.
Carsten Anker went bankrupt in 1822 and lost the estate. The poet Henrik Wergeland led a fundraising campaign to save the building, and in 1851 it was given to the Norwegian state as a national monument.
The building has been restored for each major anniversary - 1864, 1914, 1964, and 2014. But the earlier restorations did more harm than good. The 1964 work was particularly damaging - restorers removed all old wallpaper and paint without documenting what was there, then decorated the rooms to look "nice" rather than historically accurate. By the time the 2014 restoration began, the building was in poor condition and much of Carsten Anker's original interior had been lost.
The 2014 restoration cost 384 million kroner and took a very different approach. Researchers used microscopes to find tiny traces of original paint and wallpaper fragments. What they discovered surprised everyone: the famous painting of the signing - which hangs in the Storting today - is completely wrong. The Rikssalen wasn't nearly as grand as the artist portrayed it 70 years later. The walls were simple planks with visible gaps, no decorative trim around the doors. The 2014 restoration didn't restore the room to something grander - they restored it to something simpler. They "restored it down."
The basement has also been reconstructed. For the first time, you can now see the kitchens where the cook prepared meals for 112 hungry delegates, and the servants' quarters. The contrast between the elegant rooms upstairs and the cramped spaces below tells its own story about class in 1814.
You can only visit the building on a guided tour. Be aware that this is first and foremost a site for Norwegians - most tours are in Norwegian. English tours are limited to about one per day, so check the schedule and book well in advance if you need English. The guides are excellent and bring the story to life, but you'll get more from the experience if you understand the language.
Next door, Wergelands Hus contains a democracy centre with portraits of the men who signed the constitution.
The museum is open year-round.