Defense Museum - Forsvarsmuseet

The Norwegian Armed Forces Museum (Forsvarsmuseet)is located in Akershus Castle in Oslo, Norway. The museum has free admission. It was formerly called Hærmuseet, The Army Museum, so the museum consists mainly of army material. The Armed Forces Museum is the main sorting museum under the superstructure of the Norwegian Armed Forces Museum.

The museum was created in 1946 when two former military museums were merged, the Artillery Museum (founded in 1860) and the Intendente Museum (created in 1928), with the name of Hærmuséet. At first the museum was only open to military personnel, but it was opened to the public in 1978 by King Olav V as the Armed Forces Museum.

The museum is located inside the Piazza del Castello, in one of the old military arsenals from the 1860s. The main purpose of the museum is to show Norwegian military history from the Viking age to the present, and the museum is made up of six departments:

Directional sign pointing to the museum

• Ancient times, military history from the Viking era to 1814.
• 1814-1905, military history from 1814 to 1905.
• 1905-1940, military history from 1905 to 1940.
• 1940, military history from 1940 to 1945, focusing on the land battles of World War II.
• Naval battles, military history from 1940 to 1945, focusing on the naval battles of the Second World War.
• After the war, military history from 1945 to today.

In addition to promoting Norwegian military history (especially for school groups), the museum's mission is to be the premier military museum.

The museum exhibits Norwegian military history from the Viking era to the 1950s, focusing on the era of union with Denmark until 1814, the Union with Sweden in the period 1814-1905, the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940 and naval warfare during World War II.

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Map: Defense Museum - Forsvarsmuseet