During the reign of King Eystein I in the early 1100s, mountain stations were established along the pilgrim route to St. Olav's shrine in Trondheim. Kongsvoll was one of them: a place where travellers crossing the Dovre mountain passes could find food and shelter. A landslide damaged the original inn in 1701, and the rebuilt lodge was then burned during the Great Northern War. The oldest buildings standing today date from 1720. At 890 metres above sea level, it still operates as a mountain lodge, one of the most atmospheric in Norway.
In 1924, botanist Thekla Resvoll, the first woman in Norway to earn a PhD in botany, created an alpine garden at the nearby railway station. The idea was that stagecoach passengers could step out during their 20-minute break and walk among mountain plants. The current Kongsvoll Alpine Garden was replanted in 1992 and contains about 300 vascular plant species native to Dovrefjell. It is Scandinavia's only alpine botanical garden, run by NTNU University Museum.
In 1924, botanist Thekla Resvoll, the first woman in Norway to earn a PhD in botany, created an alpine garden at the nearby railway station. The idea was that stagecoach passengers could step out during their 20-minute break and walk among mountain plants. The current Kongsvoll Alpine Garden was replanted in 1992 and contains about 300 vascular plant species native to Dovrefjell. It is Scandinavia's only alpine botanical garden, run by NTNU University Museum.