The Royal Court

The King and Queen visit Oslo to mark the 50th anniversary of the Voksenåsen Hotel

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The King and Queen with the King and Queen of Norway at the Voksenåsen Hotel's 50th anniversary celebrations. Photo: Tom Hansen/Stella Pictures.
On Friday 1 October, The King and Queen and the King and Queen of Norway attended the Voksenåsen Hotel's 50th anniversary celebrations in Oslo.
The management of the Voksenåsen Hotel welcomed the Royal Couples. Minister Christina Husmark-Pehrsson, Norwegian Minister Rigmor Aasrud, Sweden's ambassador in Oslo, Norway's ambassador in Stockholm and the deputy mayor of Oslo also attended the celebrations.

After lunch, a performance was held in the Einar Gerhardsen Room. Music was provided by the Barratt Dues Junior Orchestra and the vocal group Queendom.

As part of the performance, Odd Kjus talked about a day at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Grethe Frydenlund spoke about her experiences as a refugee in Sweden, Wanda Heger Hjorth talked about imprisonment — on the outside, Thor Hofsbro spoke about the police homecoming and Finn Erik Vinje explained about what is known as "Swedish soup".

The Swedish and Norwegian Royal Couples also heard presentations about Voksenåsen's Dag Hammarskjöld programme and "Africa Empowered Women — Women for Change" in Zambia.

After the performance, The Queen and Queen Sonja of Norway opened Voksenåsen's anniversary exhibition, "Borderless", at which works by a number of famous Swedish and Norwegian artists are being exhibited.

About Voksenåsen


Voksenåsen in Oslo was Norway's gift to Sweden as thanks for Sweden's assistance during the Second World War and the subsequent rebuilding process. In 1955, the Norwegian Prime Minister at the time, Einar Gerhardsen, presented the property of over 30 hectares to the Swedish Prime Minister, Tage Erlander.

At Voksenkollen, 501 metres above sea level, the idea was that the Norwegian and Swedish flags should fly side by side. The spot was originally called Svenskhemmet Voksenåsen, and would be a place where Swedes could experience Norway. The building was officially opened on 2 October 1960.