Kjeld Stub Irgens (23 May 1879 – 26 August 1963) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

politician during the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

Early life

He was born in 1879 to

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

Jens Stub Irgens and his wife Sophie Cathinka, née Altschwager. He had several brothers and sisters. He was a distant relative of eighteenth-century bishop Ole Irgens and politicians Ole and Johannes Irgens.Das Geschlecht der Irgens
by Einar Irgens Loe

Seafaring career

A sea captain by profession, Irgens had received his education in the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy ( no, Sjøforsvaret, , Sea defence) is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of Norway. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 in mobilized state, ...

, which he left with the rank of

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

( no, Premierløytnant) in 1903. From 1913 onwards Irgens worked for the

Norwegian America Line The Norwegian America Line ( no, Den Norske Amerikalinje), was a shipping line, originally an operator of ocean liners and cargo ships. Founded in 1910, the company ran a regular transatlantic service between Norway and the United States, and lat ...

(NAL) shipping company, in 1918 assuming command of the NAL's 12,977 GRT passenger ship SS ''Stavangerfjord''. In 1921 Irgens purchased the island of Ravnøy in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...

on behalf of the crew of ''Stavangerfjord'', as a holiday resort at which to spend time with their families after spending long periods of time at sea. The 270-

decare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

property, located between the island of

Nøtterøy Nøtterøy is an island and a former municipality in the present-day municipality of Færder in Vestfold and Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Borgheim. The parish of ''Nøtterø'' was esta ...

and Stokke on the mainland, was bought at a price of 10,000 Norwegian kroner and later transferred to the Norwegian America Line. The shipping company remained in ownership of the island until 1983 when it was sold on to the Holiday Resort Ravnøy Foundation ( no, Stiftelsen Feriestedet Ravnøy).

World War II

Negotiations during the German invasion

He was not involved with the Norwegian Nazi party,

Nasjonal Samling Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norwegian far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling and a group of supporters such ...

, before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

reached Norway in 1940. However, he was married to a sister of Albert Viljam Hagelin, a leading member of Nasjonal Samling, and one day after the German invasion he was summoned by Hagelin and

Vidkun Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (, ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who nominally list of heads of government of Norway, headed the government of Norway during t ...

to Hagelin's suite at the Hotel Continental in Oslo. Here, he was asked to persuade

King Haakon VII Haakon VII (; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957. Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick VI ...

to abdicate and to name Quisling as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. Together with

Curt Bräuer Curt Bräuer (24 February 1889 – 8 September 1969) was a German career diplomat. Born in Breslau, in what is modern-day Poland, Bräuer entered service in the German foreign ministry in 1920. From 1928 to 1930 he was a member of the German De ...

he traveled to

Elverum is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Elverum. Other settlements in the municipality include Heradsbygd, Sørskog ...

to negotiate, but his efforts proved fruitless. On his way to Elverum Irgens encountered some members of the Storting at

Hamar Station Hamar Station ( no, Hamar stasjon) is a railway station of the Dovre Line and the Røros Line located in downtown Hamar, Norway. Located from Oslo Central Station, it is served by long-distance and regional trains on the Dovre Line, as the term ...

, stating his intention to meet with the King. Irgens arrived at Elverum late in the evening of 10 April, being allowed to sleep in Minister Hjelmtveit's bed for a few hours before seeing the King the next morning. The meeting led nowhere, as the final Norwegian decision to resist the invasion had already been taken the previous day. The Norwegian government refused Quisling's demands and vowed to resist the German invasion as long as possible.

Collaborationist minister

When ''

Reichskommissar (, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in German history, was an official gubernatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and Nazi Germany. Ger ...

Josef Terboven Josef Terboven (23 May 1898 – 8 May 1945) was a Nazi Party official and politician who was the long-serving ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Essen and the ''Reichskommissar'' for Norway during the German occupation. Early life Terboven was born in Es ...

formed a cabinet on 25 September 1940, Irgens accepted the position as provisional Minister of Shipping. The Ministry of Shipping was a government ministry established specifically for Irgens on the insistence of Terboven, as Irgens was considered close to Haakon VII. Because of Irgens' relations with the exiled Norwegian king Terboven strongly wished to include him in his administration. At the same time he enrolled as a party member of Nasjonal Samling. From the beginning of Irgens' work at the Ministry of Shipping he successfully defended the part of the Norwegian merchant fleet left in the occupied country against German attempts at taking the ships as

prizes A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

. As of September 1941 his position was no longer provisional.Ministries 1940 – 1945. Under German occupation in Oslo
— Government.no On 1 February 1942 Quisling was allowed by the occupants to form his own cabinet; Irgens continued as Minister of Shipping. He was removed on 12 June 1944 together with

Eivind Blehr Eivind Stenersen Blehr (20 January 1881, in Lærdal – 27 July 1957) was a Norwegian minister in the NS government of Vidkun Quisling, from 1942 to 1944. In the Norwegian post-war legal purges he was convicted of treason and sentenced to 20 yea ...

for emphasizing Norwegian nationalism rather than

Pan-Germanic Pan-Germanism (german: Pangermanismus or '), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanists originally sought to unify all the German-speaking people – and possibly also Germanic-speaking ...

national socialism. Irgens had also come under criticism for hesitating to accept members of Nasjonal Samling joining his ministry. At the same time the Ministry of Shipping ceased to exist.

Post-World War II

As part of the legal purge in Norway after the war, in 1945, Irgens was sentenced to seven years of forced labour. The case was taken to the Supreme Court in 1946, where the sentence was increased to fifteen years. He died in 1963.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irgens, Kjeld Stub 1879 births 1963 deaths Members of Nasjonal Samling Royal Norwegian Navy personnel Steamship captains Government ministers of Norway People convicted of treason for Nazi Germany against Norway