Crown Prince Haakon takes the “Refugee Route”: Day 1

Crown Prince Haakon is currently walking parts of the Norwegian Refugee Route to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Norway following the German occupation. His Royal Highness will walk parts of the Refugee Route from Oslo to the Swedish border from 26 to 28 August. The trip aims to shed light on the history of the liberation.

The tour started this Wednesday close to the capital of Oslo at the forest-lodge “Skullerudstua” where His Royal Highness and the tour group was received by the County Governor of Viken Valgerd Svarstad Haugland and the Mayor of Oslo Marianne Borgen. The Crown Prince and the tour party was then briefed on the Refugee Route by historian Hanna Geiran and Helge Johansen from the Refugee Route Association.

Then the walk started. During the first part of the tour ,Crown Prince Haakon visited several sites used by the Norwegian resistance movement, including the Milorg-cave which was a hiding place the Nazis never found, and also a place used for air drops by the Norwegian resistance movement. At this place  the famous Norwegian resistance fighter Max Manus dropped in via parachute.

The Crown Prince then walked to the lake of Vangen, where his Royal Highness met volunteers from Oslo Tourist Association who work to maintain the marked trails in the forest around Oslo. At Vangen ski lodge, the Crown Prince was received by the general secretary of the Norwegian Ski Association Erik Eide, the mayor of Enebakk, Hans Kristian Solberg and the mayor of Lørenskog, Ragnhild Bergheim.

After a conversation here, the walk continued. The final part at the day saw the Crown Prince visit the cabin Øvresaga. At the cabin, Crown Prince Haakon met with three people who have come to Norway in recent years as war refugees from Syria.

The Refugee Route is a route about ten miles long and was used by by many during World War Two to get to freedom in Sweden. The route starts in Oslo and goes through the great forests of eastern Norway to the Norwegian Border-crossing Museum, only a few kilometres from the border to Sweden. A detour also goes to Skillingmark in Värmland, where there was a refugee reception centre during the war.