Skaugum is an estate, manor house and the official residence of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit. The estate is located in

Asker Asker ( no, Asker), properly called Askerbygda in Norwegian, is a district and former municipality in Akershus, Norway. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker, Viken (also known as Greater Asker) in Viken county, ...

municipality, southwest of

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

, by the foot of the mountain Skaugumsåsen. The estate consists of of agricultural lands and of woodlands.

History

The estate was originally Church property during the Middle Ages, and passed through several owners until 1909, when Fritz Wedel Jarlsberg bought it. When Crown Prince Olav and

Crown Princess Märtha ''Crown Princess Märtha'' is a bronze statue of Crown Princess Märtha of Norway, by Kirsten Kokkin. It is located at the Norwegian residence at Massachusetts Avenue and 34th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. It was unveiled 18 September 2005. ...

were married in 1929, Wedel-Jarlsberg sold it to the couple. In 1937, Prince Harald was born on the estate. Wedel-Jarlsberg's Swiss chalet style-residence, designed by Herman Backer and completed in 1891, burned to the ground in 1930. The Norwegian architect Arnstein Arneberg was commissioned to design a new structure, entirely on the foundations of the old building. The new building was also built of stone to avoid future fires.

Second World War

During the

Nazi 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 ...

, SS-General Wilhelm Rediess resided at Skaugum for a short period while

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 ...

later would make the estate his official residence in June 1940. Shortly after Hitler's death, Terboven was dismissed from his position by Karl Dönitz and committed suicide in the manor bunker on 8 May 1945 by blowing himself up with fifty kilograms of dynamite.

Residence of the heir apparent

In 1968, King Olav V gave the estate as a wedding gift to his son Crown Prince Harald (later

King Harald V Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the lin ...

) and his wife Crown Princess Sonja, while the King himself relocated to the Royal Palace in

. King Harald would repeat this gesture, giving the estate as a wedding gift to his son,

Crown Prince Haakon Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway (; Haakon Magnus; born 20 July 1973) is the heir apparent to the Norwegian throne. He is the only son of King Harald V and Queen Sonja. Haakon represents the fourth generation of the sitting Norwegian royal fa ...

, and his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit when the couple married in 2001. Unlike the Royal Palace and

Oscarshall Oscarshall Palace is a ''maison de plaisance'' located in the small fjord Frognerkilen on Bygdøy in Oslo, Norway. History The palace was built from 1847 to 1852 by the Danish architect Johan Henrik Nebelong on commission from King Oscar ...

, Skaugum is owned privately by the royal family and is therefore not open to the public. Like all royal residences in Norway, the estate is protected by the Royal Guards.

Gallery

File:Skaugum 1921.jpg, The original Skaugum building prior to the fire in 1930 File:1385. Kronprinsparets bolig. Skougum, Norge. Flyvefoto - no-nb digifoto 20150629 00002 bldsa PK21842.jpg, Aerial view of Skaugum File:Kongefamilien på Skaugum 1974 (5476890347).jpg, The royal family at Skaugum during a 1974 visit from

Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. He ascended the throne on the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, on 15 September 1973. He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, D ...

File:Skaugum.jpg, Skaugum seen from the estate garden File:Skaugum gard.jpg, Skaugum seen from the west

References

External links