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 walk started on Wednesday when Crown Prince Haakon walked the western part of the rout close to the capital of Oslo. On Thursday, the walk continued on the central part of the route where the Crown Prince talked to two contemporary witnesses from World War II. On Friday, the trip was concluded when Crown Prince Haakon reached the border to Sweden.
Following many hours walking on Friday, Crown Prince Haakon finally reached border-marker number 53 between Norway and Sweden. Due to corona-virus restrictions the Crown Prince did not crossed to border, but could see the border mark from the 1700s.
After a stop here, the tour group followed the border northwards and reached the Border Museum where the Crown Prince was received by the County Governor, Knut Storberget, and the mayor of Eidskog, Kamilla Thue. The Crown Prince and his entourage met Vidar and Berit Hansen, descendants of border-couriers and owners of the Border Museum.
The Norwegian Border Museum is the former farm and customs station called “Skjålabråtan”. The farm and area played an important role in the transport of refugees during the war. It was the home of Wiggo Ljøner, father and father-in-law, of the host who receives the Crown Prince. Wiggo Ljøner was a border-courier, commando soldier and double agent, and many refugees were helped to get further into Sweden from here. This concluded the Crown Prince`s three-day-long journey.
The Refugee Route is a route about ten miles long and was used by Jews, couriers and refugees 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.
