Minnehallen: The Hall of Remembrance

Inaugurated by King Haakon VII on August 1, 1926, the Hall of Remembrance is Norway’s national monument to fallen seamen.

Memory Hall was originally built in memory of the Norwegian sailors who lost their lives during the First World War, but after 1945 it has also been dedicated to the memory of those who died during the Second World War. The hall of remembrance is shaped like a pyramid, with the idea that it should become both a beacon and a cairn - a mound of rocks that serves as a burial site.

The hall was designed by Andreas H. Bjercke and Georg Eliassen and built by V. Thorenfeldt Contractors Company. The names of 7,562 fallen seamen are inset on 32 copper plates in the Crypt, as well as collected in books kept by the hall.

The sculptor Nic Schiøll is responsible for the artistic redesign of the hall’s interior, featuring a 32-meter-long frieze portraying the lives of sailors as well as the sculpture “Towards the Depth” found in front of a sarcophagus covered in the Norwegian flag. Herman Wildenwey’s poem to sailors can be found on the main altar in the Hall.