This small village on the Trysilelva river is where Norway's fate was decided in April 1940. Two days after Germany invaded, King Haakon VII, Crown Prince Olav, and the Norwegian cabinet were sheltering here, near the Swedish border. The German ambassador had delivered an ultimatum: accept Quisling as prime minister, or face consequences. King Haakon told his ministers he would abdicate rather than comply. They backed him unanimously.
On 11 April 1940, at 17:00, eleven Luftwaffe bombers appeared over Nybergsund. The king, crown prince, and ministers ran from their hotel into the snow-covered forest. Standing among the birch trees, they watched the village burn. The school, co-op, and telephone exchange were destroyed. Miraculously nobody was killed.
What followed was not a simple escape north. From Nybergsund, the royal party fled up Østerdalen to Tynset and Folldal, then crossed the mountains to Hjerkinn on Dovre, where roads were uncleared and they had to abandon their cars. Disguised, they rode a freight train down to Gudbrandsdalen. After weeks dodging bombers through the valleys, they reached Molde on the west coast on 23 April. Six days later, with Molde burning under German bombardment, they were evacuated aboard the British cruiser HMS Glasgow to Tromsø, where a provisional capital was declared on 1 May. On 7 June, the king and government sailed for exile in London aboard HMS Devonshire. Norway fought on for five years.
After the war, the patch of forest where the royal family had sheltered became Kongeparken (the King's Park). In 1946, King Haakon himself returned to unveil a memorial stone, drawing 8,000 people. In 1990, King Olav V added a bust of his father. In 1996, King Harald V added a bust of his father Olav. Three generations of kings, each honouring the one before, in the forest that saved them all.
The park is freely accessible year-round, next to the village centre.
On 11 April 1940, at 17:00, eleven Luftwaffe bombers appeared over Nybergsund. The king, crown prince, and ministers ran from their hotel into the snow-covered forest. Standing among the birch trees, they watched the village burn. The school, co-op, and telephone exchange were destroyed. Miraculously nobody was killed.
What followed was not a simple escape north. From Nybergsund, the royal party fled up Østerdalen to Tynset and Folldal, then crossed the mountains to Hjerkinn on Dovre, where roads were uncleared and they had to abandon their cars. Disguised, they rode a freight train down to Gudbrandsdalen. After weeks dodging bombers through the valleys, they reached Molde on the west coast on 23 April. Six days later, with Molde burning under German bombardment, they were evacuated aboard the British cruiser HMS Glasgow to Tromsø, where a provisional capital was declared on 1 May. On 7 June, the king and government sailed for exile in London aboard HMS Devonshire. Norway fought on for five years.
After the war, the patch of forest where the royal family had sheltered became Kongeparken (the King's Park). In 1946, King Haakon himself returned to unveil a memorial stone, drawing 8,000 people. In 1990, King Olav V added a bust of his father. In 1996, King Harald V added a bust of his father Olav. Three generations of kings, each honouring the one before, in the forest that saved them all.
The park is freely accessible year-round, next to the village centre.