A trip to Oscarsborg Fortress

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My department had a 3 days seminar at Oscarsborg Fortress. I am not gonna go in to details on what we discussed there, but rather share some of the fortress’history and some of the pictures that I took.

Oscarsborg Fortress (Norwegian: Oscarsborg festning) is a coastal fortress in the Oslofjord, close to the small town of Drøbak (More precisely a five-minute ferry trip away). The fortress is situated on two small islands (Kaholmene), and on the mainland to the west and east, in the fjord and was military territory until 2003 when it was made a publicly available resort island. Today the main island is a popular attraction for vistors. The history and natural surroundings of the fortress create a unique setting for courses, conferences and other events. The islands have an hotel with a spa resort and in the fortress a restaurant, and you can visit the fortress museum, where guided tours are available.

Work on the original Oscarborg Fortress began in the 1840s, and it was named “Oscarsborg” by royal resolution on the occasion of the visit by King Oscar I on Kaholmen on 23 August 1855. When the installations were completed, Oscarsborg was considered one of the most modern fortresses in Northern Europe, but this recognition was not to last for very long.

As early as in 1864 Oscarsborg Fortress was seen to be obsolete due to the rapid development of artillery technology. The original fortifications at Kaholmane were built as a protection against attacks from the sea. However, the fortress was easily circumnavigated, and could be taken from the land side. Consequently, Oscarsborg went through a second round of construction work in the 1890s. Three new Krupp 280mm guns were added to the fort’s armament, as were numerous smaller calibre guns – mainly 150mm and 57mm.

As mentioned the guns were made by German Krupp in 1892 and installed in the 1890′es when the fortress were upgraded with new artillery. The main guns of the fortress are nicknamed Joshua, Moses and Aron.

A torpedo battery was completed in 1901.

The attack on Oslo was a key component of the German invasion of Norway of 9 April 1940, and saw the only real setback suffered by the Germans on that day. The Germans had planned a two-pronged assault on Oslo. A naval force would attack up Oslo Fjord, carrying two battalions from the 163rd Division. At the same time paratroops would land at Fornebu airfield. They would then be reinforced by an airlift of troops. The main aim of the attack was to capture the Norwegian government and King Haakon VII, to prevent them organising any resistance to the German invasion.

Neither attack went according to plan. The naval force included the pocket battleship Lützow, the new heavy cruiser Blücher and the light cruiser Emden, under the command of Vice-Admiral Kummetz. They left Kiel on the morning of 8 April, reaching the entrance to Oslo Fjord at midnight. The outer defences of the fjord were quickly neutralised, and the fleet moved on towards the most dangerous part of the fjord. This was the Dröbek narrows, guarded by the fortress at Oscarborg fortress. The fort was commanded by Colonel Birger Erikson, then aged 65.

Erikson had not been ordered to go onto a war footing, and his standing orders were to fire warning shots before opening fire, but he decided that any warship that had reached this far had already received warning shots, and so at 4.20am opened fire with two 11in guns, firing one shell from each gun. The Blücher was hit and badly damaged by the two shells. She then passed in front of the Norwegian shore based torpedoes, and was hit twice. Two hours later she capsized and sank with the loss of around one third of the 2,000 men onboard at the time.

The rest of the German naval force turned back soon after the Blücher was first hit. The remaining troops were landed ten miles further down the fjord, and began to advance towards Oscarborg. The Blücher had been carrying the troops that had been given the task of seizing the Norwegian government at Oslo. Their absence from the city on 9 April allowed the King, Parliament and Government to flee and later organise the resistance from abroad, and with them the Norwegian gold reserves.

Oscarsborg’s Commander-in-Chief, Colonel Birger Eriksen. He were very much critisized for his defense against the Germans in a long time and not fully recognized for his importance until after his death. The fortress were understaffed 9. April 1940 so only gun 1 and 2 were manned and fired at Blücher.

More pictures are available on my Flickr account.