Møllergata 19
| Møllergata 19 | |
|---|---|
 Møllergata 19 from Youngstorvet | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Romanesque Revival |
| Town or city | Oslo |
| Country | Norway |
| Coordinates | 59°54′55″N10°44′52″E/ 59.915171°N 10.747708°E |
| Construction started | 1862 |
| Completed | 1866 |
| Demolished | 1978 (partially) |
| Client | Municipality of Oslo |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Jacob Wilhelm Nordan |
Møllergata 19is an address inOslo,Norway,where the city's main police station and jail was located. The address gained notoriety during theGerman occupationfrom 1940 to 1945, when the Nazi security police kept its headquarters here. This is also whereVidkun Quislingin 1945 surrendered to the legitimate Norwegian government and was imprisoned.
History
[edit]Although the site was owned by the city government since the 17th century, it was not until 1857 that the city ofKristianiadecided to put the site to use as a center for law enforcement. Based on the drawings byJacob Wilhelm Nordan,construction for the complex started in 1862 and was finished in 1866.[1]
FacingYoungstorget(which then was calledNytorvet), was the police station and courtrooms; behind these was the jail. A floor was added in the late 1870s. Though some of the capacity was moved to a new prison inÅkebergveien(known as "Bayern" ), the structure continued to serve as a prison and central police station until the new police building atGrønlandsleiretwas finished. The prison was demolished and replaced with a new office building, and the police station was taken over by the government.[2]
World War II
[edit]Immediately upon arriving in Norway, the German army commandeered Møllergata 19 for its own purposes, and the first prisoners were British subjects suspected of being clandestine agents, arrested on 10 April. The following day, a Norwegian was also detained for showing contempt for the German forces. By August, the prison was solely used for prisoners arrested by the Nazi authorities. The official capacity was 145 prisoners, but the Germans kept up to 550 at a time. Prisoners held here were often subject to interrogation and torture atVictoria Terrasse.[3]
References
[edit]- ^Steigan, Geir Tandberg."Youngstorvet og nr. 19".Arc!(in Norwegian).Retrieved2008-02-11.
- ^Thingsrud, Leif (April 1999)."Justispalasset i Møllergata – Nordans kunstneriske byggetegninger".Tobias(in Norwegian). Oslo: Oslo kommune Byarkivet.
- ^Nøkleby, Berit."Møllergata 19".Norgeslexi(in Norwegian). Archived fromthe originalon 2010-01-02.Retrieved2008-02-10.