In 1942, the Gestapo set up regional headquarters in the building of the state archive in Kristiansand.
In 2001, the »Stiftelsen Arkivet« educational centre was established in this building. There is an exhibition on the topic of Norwegian resistance and the torture methods of the Gestapo in the basement of the building.

Kristiansand, undated, The building when it was used as state archive, Stiftelsen Arkivet


Kristiansand, undated, The current »Stiftelsen Arkivet« in the renovated building of the state archive, Stiftelsen Arkivet

In the very first days of German occupation in Norway, the Wehrmacht confiscated the building of the state archive in Kristiansand. At the end of January 1942, the Gestapo took over the building and established its Sørlandet regional headquarters there. Cells and a torture chamber were set up in the basement. In the course of the following years, the Gestapo imprisoned a total of about 3,500 people there. A majority of the prisoners were members of the Norwegian resistance movement. The Gestapo and the SS deported many to concentration camps, others were later executed. The building was referred to as the »house of terror« in popular parlance.

Kristiansand, undated, The building when it was used as state archive, Stiftelsen Arkivet


Kristiansand, undated, The current »Stiftelsen Arkivet« in the renovated building of the state archive, Stiftelsen Arkivet

Between 1942 and 1945, a total of about 3,500 people were imprisoned in the building of the state archive. 162 prisoners were either executed or lost their lives in the concentration camps.

Kristiansand, 2005, Scene from the exhibition in the basement rooms, Staatsarkivet Oslo

Between the end of the war and the end of the 1990s, the building was again home to the state archive. After it became known that the Norwegian government was planning to sell the plot of land, a citizens' initiative came about with the aim of saving the building. This later became the foundation »Stiftelsen Arkivet«: its aim is to maintain the building, to inform about the history of Norway under occupation and to conduct peacebuilding efforts.
In 2001, the educational centre was opened. The basement rooms, in which the Gestapo had set up cells and a torture chamber, were restored in their original state. In the exhibition the torture methods of the Gestapo are re-enacted with life-sized dolls.

Kristiansand, undated, The »Stiftelsen Arkivet« in the former building of the state archive, Stiftelsen Arkivet


Kristiansand, 2005, Scene from the exhibition in the basement rooms, Staatsarkivet Oslo

Name

Stiftelsen Arkivet - Senter for Historieformidling og Fredsbygging

Address

Vesterveien 4
4613 Kristiansand

Phone

+47 (0) 381 074 00

Fax

+47 (0) 381 074 67

Web

http://www.stiftelsen-arkivet.no

E-Mail

kontakt@arkivet.no

Open

Visit of the exhibitions upon appointment

Possibilities

Exhibition on the history of the house as the regional Gestapo headquarters; guided tours and workshops; educational seminars for children and adults on humanitarian assistance, democracy, human dignity, dialogue and conflict prevention; research