Noregs Ungdomslag (NU, literally "Norway's youth society") is a Norwegian cultural society formed in 1896. It has around 17,000 members and 450 local chapters.

Activities

Among the society's activities are folk dance,

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and the spreading of knowledge and use of traditional costumes ( no,

bunad ''Bunad'' (, plural: ''bunader''/''bunadar'') is a Norwegian umbrella term encompassing, in its broadest sense, a range of both traditional rural clothes (mostly dating to the 18th and 19th centuries) as well as modern 20th-century folk costume ...

). Several activities are directed towards youth and children. Some local chapters, such as Bondeungdomslaget i Oslo, run their own sports clubs (

IL i BUL Idrottslaget i Bondeungdomslaget i Oslo (also BUL, Oslo) is a sports club in Oslo, Norway, founded on 8 January 1913. It is one of several branches of Bondeungdomslaget i Oslo, a local chapter of Noregs Mållag and Noregs Ungdomslag. IL i BUL h ...

), or also music societies. From 1913 to 1956 the society had a shared secretariat with the

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-N ...

language organization

Noregs Mållag Noregs Mållag (literally "Language Organisation of Norway") is the main organisation for Norwegian Nynorsk (New Norwegian), one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language. In the Norwegian language conflict, it advocates the ...

. The society has been a driving force for the building of assembly houses,

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non- ...

s and lodging houses ( no, bondeheimar),

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;' ...

s and secondary schools. The society works closely with institutions such as the

theatre

Det Norske Teatret Det Norske Teatret ( en, Norwegian Theater)Moe, Jens. 2011. ''My America: The Culture of Giving''. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, p. 133. is a theatre in Oslo. The theatre was founded in 1912, after an initiative from Hulda Garborg and Edvard Drabl ...

and the children's magazine '' Norsk Barneblad''. They organize dance festivals and theatre festivals. After 1900 the societies were also active in supporting defence and the military.

History

The society has its roots in a number of societies for reading and discussion formed in the last part of the 19th century, often related to the

s. In a founding meeting in Trondheim in 1896 delegates from seven of the earlier formed county societies were gathered, and the national umbrella organization Noregs Ungdomslag was formed. A central task from the start was enlightenment of the people, in particular by providing speakers to the local chapters. These activities closed down when radio and other mass media became widespread. The local societies could provide libraries, organize cinema, and work for obtaining assembly houses ( no, ungdomshus), often through collective voluntary work (

dugnad Communal work is a gathering for mutually accomplishing a task or for communal fundraising. Communal work provided manual labour to others, especially for major projects such as barn raising, "bees" of various kinds (see below), log rolling, and ...

Leaders

Among the early leaders of the society were author Sven Moren, who chaired the society for two periods, Klaus Sletten, Nikolaus Gjelsvik, and Olav Midttun. The current leader (chairman of the board) is Kristian Fjellanger, while Eli Ulvestad is Secretary General.

References

{{Reflist Language organisations of Norway Cultural organisations based in Norway Youth organisations based in Norway