The Fløibanen funicular in Bergen

On Saturday, the residents of Halden (called Haldensere) could join Norwegians all over the country in celebrating their constitution, their democracy and their freedom. Those are things not to be taken for granted, especially given the last three years of attacks by Russia on Ukraine and all the other conflicts in the world.Until 1905, though, Halden was among Norwegian cities and towns finding themselves dominated first by their country’s Danish rulers, then by Sweden. Parts of the Halden municipality’s outlying areas are still literally surrounded by Sweden on three sides in the southeastern region of Norway, and Halden’s central areas share a fjord with their neighbour over the border. That earlier dragged Halden (which had been renamed Fredrikshald by one of Denmark’s many kings named Fredrik in 1665) into the hostilities between Denmark and Sweden.And that’s why the fourth verse of Norway’s lengthy national anthem is always sung in Halden on the 17th of May and other occasions: Swedish troops under King Karl XII conquered the town in 1716 but not its Fredriksten fortress, and the residents of then-Fredrikshald set fire to their own homes as part of their hometown’s defense. The Swedes were ultimately overpowered, prompting the writer of the national anthem to suggest that patriotic Norwegians would rather burn their own cities than see them fall, “just remember what happened down in Fredrikshald!”

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur maximus quam malesuada est pellentesque rhoncus. Maecenas et urna purus. Aliquam sagittis diam id semper tristique.