Permanent exhibition in Stiftelsen Arkivet

Published on 9 June 2015

A joint workshop of the project implementers was scheduled to be held in the premises of the partner institution Stiftelsen Arkivet in Kristiansand, Norway, in May 2015. The first day of the workshop was concluded with a guided tour of a permanent exhibition located on the ground storey of a former Gestapo building. The emotionally powerful exhibition is situated in an interrogation room and prison cells reconstructed as they were in 1942-1945.

History of the building

The building was opened in 1935 as a state archive. The Nazis started using it on 9 April 1940, shortly after occupying the country. Two years later they established the Gestapo headquarters for the southern coast there. The majestic design of the building and its location on an elevated site not far from a cargo port, offering a good view of vessels entering Kristiansand, suited them well.

The building presents a complex story, beginning with a modern state archive, through the dark period of World War II to the present day, when it houses a foundation for historical research, reflection on the past, and the supporting of democratic attitudes. The exhibition is visited by schools as well as employees of various non-profit organisations in order to explain to the public the global issue of oppression and torture.

Atmosphere of fear

The aim of the exhibition is to present the oppressive atmosphere of that time with the help of reconstructed scenes with life-sized masked figures. Besides these dioramas, the stories are told through photographs, authentic objects, video and audio recordings, and the commentary of guides, including numerous particular stories. In 1942-1945, the building was known as the “House of horror” and “Tower of torture”, because people from across the region were interrogated and imprisoned in its basement. The dark period of the archive ended on 8 May 1945, when the building was taken over by members of the Norwegian resistance movement.

Exhibition

In 2001 the basement of the building was reconstructed to be as it was during World War II. The exhibition is divided into five parts. The tour starts at a staircase where armed guards used to stand and which every visitor had to climb, regardless of whether they were going to be interrogated or just visiting someone else. The second part of the tour describes the Gestapo organisation. The third part is emotionally the most powerful, focusing on torture, its methods, and the fate of particular individuals who were subjected to it. The chronologically arranged tour then focuses on the anti-Nazi resistance and the history of the building after 1945.

Details of the permanent exhibition

Temporary exhibitions

Besides the permanent exhibition, the Archive personnel also prepare temporary exhibitions. During our stay in Kristiansand we had an opportunity to see an exhibition called, “We shall survive!”, introducing the fate of five women involved in the anti-Nazi movement during World War II. All of the women were interrogated in the building and then transported to the concentration camp in Ravensbrück, Germany.