• Grini Museum
In Eiksmarka, outside Oslo, the German occupying forces set up a »police prisoner camp« in 1941 which they named after the town Grini, located further westwards. Political prisoners and resistance fighters were held captive there, but it also served as a transit camp for inmates who were to be deported to Germany.
Today, there is a small museum on the premises maintained by former inmates.
Image: Eiksmarka, 1940s, View of the camp premises, Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum
Eiksmarka, 1940s, View of the camp premises, Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum

Image: Eiksmarka, 2002, The exhibition building, Bjarte Bruland
Eiksmarka, 2002, The exhibition building, Bjarte Bruland
On June 14, 1941, the SS set up the Grini police prisoner camp in a building which had been originally constructed as a women's prison and used as a Wehrmacht prison for prisoners of war from April 1940 on. The camp served both as a prison for political opponents and as a transit camp for prisoners who were to be deported to concentration camps in Germany. Death sentences were also carried out at the Grini camp.
Between 1941 and 1945, a total of 19,788 prisoners were registered at Grini; of those, between 6,000 and 7,000 were women. The camp was in operation until Norway's liberation in May 1945. Among the prisoners were the later Norwegian prime ministers Einar Gerhardsen and Trygve Bratteli.
Image: Eiksmarka, 1940s, View of the camp premises, Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum
Eiksmarka, 1940s, View of the camp premises, Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum

Image: Eiksmarka, 2002, The exhibition building, Bjarte Bruland
Eiksmarka, 2002, The exhibition building, Bjarte Bruland
A total of 19,788 prisoners were registered in Grini between 1941 and 1945; these were mainly political prisoners, but also a small number of Jews. 8 prisoners who had been sentenced to death were executed at Grini. 786 prisoners did not survive captivity.
Image: Eiksmarka, May 9, 1945, Voluntary roll call of prisoners after liberation, Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum
Eiksmarka, May 9, 1945, Voluntary roll call of prisoners after liberation, Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum

After the end of the war, the former camp premises were used as a prison for Norwegian collaborators and National Socialists. Since 1951, there has been a prison on the premises. On September 27, 1990, a memorial on the site designed by Solveyg W. Schafferer was unveiled by crown prince Harald.
In 1997, the »Friends of the Grini Museum«, an association of camp survivors, opened a museum on the history of the Grini police prisoner camp. It is located on the former camp premises. Because of the prison there, there is only restricted access to the museum.
Image: Eiksmarka, 2002, The memorial designed by Solveyg W. Schafferer, Bjarte Bruland
Eiksmarka, 2002, The memorial designed by Solveyg W. Schafferer, Bjarte Bruland

Name
Grini-Museet
Address
Jøssingveien 31
1359 Eiksmarka
Phone
+47 (0)47 471 980
Web
https://mia.no/grinimuseet
E-Mail
grinimuseet@mia.no
Open
During the summer daily from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and by appointment.