Ringerikes Museum is located in the old Norderhov rectory, a large timber building from 1635. Next to it stands Norderhov Church, a medieval stone church from around 1170. The church was built on the site of a pagan temple - the name Norderhov comes from Old Norse "Njardarhof," meaning Temple of Njord, the Norse god of the sea.
But the real story here is about a vicar's wife who outsmarted an entire Swedish army.
In March 1716, during the Great Northern War, Swedish King Charles XII sent 600 cavalry under Colonel Axel Löwen to flank the Norwegian defences around Oslo. They arrived at the rectory late on the evening of 28 March, on their way to raid the silver mines at Kongsberg. The officers joked they wanted silver horseshoes for their horses.
Anna Colbjørnsdatter, wife of the vicar, welcomed them warmly. She built a bonfire in the yard, served a great dinner, and kept the drinks flowing generously. Meanwhile, she smuggled her daughter out into the night with a message hidden in her stocking, addressed to her son-in-law, the local sheriff.
He arrived with 200 Norwegian soldiers and ambushed the drunk Swedes in the early hours. Colonel Löwen was captured along with 130 of his men. Around 40 were killed. The rest fled back to Oslo.
You can still see bullet holes in the rectory walls. And in the crypt of the church next door, Anna's embalmed body remains to this day, alongside her husband Pastor Jonas Ramus. She died a wealthy widow in 1736, twenty years after becoming a national heroine.
The museum has another claim to fame. This is where the fairytale collectors Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe first met in 1827, as teenagers at a local prep school. They became close friends and later travelled across Norway collecting folktales. Their collection "Norske Folkeeventyr," published from 1841, gave the world stories like "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" and established the image of Norway as a land of trolls. They are often called Norway's Brothers Grimm.
The museum has exhibits about both men.
The museum has exhibits about both men.
The museum also holds a collection of icons from the Baltics, Greece and Russia, some dating back to the 1400s, as well as several runestones and a small resistance museum from the Second World War.