Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie (9 January 1885 – 1 December 1956) was a Norwegian jurist and Nazi collaborator. He is best known as director of the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

for some time during the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany 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 ...

. Already in the 1930s he was the leader (''

Fører Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (; ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Nazi collaborator who Quisling regime, headed the government of N ...

'') of the Norwegian Fascist party

Nasjonal Samling The Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norway, Norwegian far-right politics, 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 a ...

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

. He spent his professional life as a jurist in

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

, where he co-founded the local branch of Nasjonal Samling in March 1933 together with Albert Wiesener and

Einar Grill Fasting Einar Grill Fasting (25 October 1883 – 21 April 1958) was a Norwegian businessperson and Nazi politician. In 1933 he co-founded the local branch of the Norwegian Fascist party Nasjonal Samling in Hamar. He became the city leader (Führer), w ...

, among others. The party was relatively successful in the city, winning two

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

seats in its first election outing. Christie was also a high-ranking

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. On 9 April 1940 Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany.

Vidkun Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (; ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Nazi collaborator who Quisling regime, headed the government of N ...

usurped the radio broadcaster in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, the

(NRK), and performed a coup d'etat via radio. Christie travelled to Oslo on 10 April and worked for a few days as the secretary of Quisling's cabinet, although this cabinet soon became defunct. In September 1940, Christie was named by Gulbrand Lunde as commissary president of the

. He held his inaugural speech in the radio on 29 September. This was written by someone else and given to Christie minutes before airing—Christie had no experience with NRK whatsoever. Christie was the boss of four sub-directors, and answered to Gulbrand Lunde who in turn answered to

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

. However, the director position of the Broadcasting Corporation, which before the war had belonged to

Olav Midttun Olav Midttun (8 April 1883 – 5 January 1972) was a Norwegian philologist, biographer, magazine editor, and media executive. He edited the cultural magazine '' Syn og Segn'' for more than fifty years, and was the first national program di ...

, was now shared between two of Christie's subordinates: Eyvind Mehle and

Edvard Sylou-Creutz Edvard Sylou-Creutz (7 May 1881 – 11 May 1945) was a Norwegian classical pianist, composer and radio personality, who was especially active in Nazi-controlled radio in Germany and occupied Norway between March 1940 and the autumn of 1942. ...

. Christie's task was mostly to deal with the foreign occupants, represented by the broadcasting department () of the

Reichskommissariat Norwegen The Norwegen was the Reichskommissariat, occupation regime set up by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, German-occupied Norway during World War II. Its full title in German was the ("Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Norweg ...

, which was also led by Terboven. Intrigues and disagreements soon arose, most importantly between Christie and Mehle. Christie was totally inexperienced with radio, whereas Mehle showed signs of paranoia and general mental instability. In addition, another subordinate, the director of administration Carl Bødtker was self-willed, considering himself the "real director". Christie managed to have him fired in June 1941. In December 1941 the towering intrigues led to Christie himself being fired. He instead became

stipendiary magistrate Stipendiary magistrates were magistrates that were paid for their work (they received a stipend). They existed in the judiciaries of the United Kingdom and those of several former British territories, where they sat in the lowest-level criminal ...

of Oslo, a post that became vacant when stipendiary magistrate

Harald Gram Harald Gram (18 September 1887 – 7 June 1961) was a Norwegian jurist, politician and genealogist. He was secretary general for the Conservative Party of Norway for 22 years, deputy mayor of Aker, member of Parliament from 1928 to 1936, and st ...

fled to Sweden—he was involved in resistance to the Nazi rule. After the war, Christie lost his position, and was sentenced for treason as a part of the legal purge. He was released from custody on health grounds on 22 November 1946, and died in 1956 and was buried at

Vestre gravlund Vestre Gravlund is a cemetery in the Frogner borough of Oslo, Norway. It is located next to the Borgen (station), Borgen metro station. At , it is the largest cemetery in Norway. It was inaugurated in September 1902 and also contains a cremator ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Wilhelm Frimann Koren 1885 births 1956 deaths People from Hamar 20th-century Norwegian lawyers Politicians from Hamar Members of Nasjonal Samling NRK people People convicted of treason for Nazi Germany against Norway Norwegian Freemasons Burials at Vestre gravlund