17 of May – Norwegian Constitution Day
The Norwegian Flag is seen everywhere in Norway and even Norwegians abroad wave the flag on the 17 of May
Norwegian Constitution Day is the National Day of Norway and is an official national holiday observed on May 17 each year. Among Norwegians, the day is referred to simply as syttende mai (meaning May Seventeenth), Nasjonaldagen (The National Day) or Grunnlovsdagen (The Constitution Day), although the latter is less frequent.
Historical background
17th of May 1893 by Norwegian painter Christian Krohg (1852–1925). Note that the flag does not have the Union badge of Norway and Sweden, the so-called sildesalaten (Herring salad).
The Constitution of Norway was signed at Eidsvoll on May 17 in the year 1814. The constitution declared Norway to be an independent nation.
The celebration of this day began spontaneously among students and others from early on. However, Norway was at that time under Swedish rule (following the Convention of Moss in August 1814) and for some years the King of Sweden and Norway was reluctant to allow the celebrations. For a couple of years in the 1820s, King Karl Johan actually forbade it, as he thought the celebrations a kind of protest and disregard—even revolt—against Swedish sovereignty. The king’s attitude changed slightly after the Battle of the Square in 1829, an incident which resulted in such a commotion that the king had to allow it. It was, however, not until 1833, that anyone ventured to hold a public address on behalf of the day. That year, official celebration was initiated by the monument of the late politician Christian Krohg, known to have stopped the king from gaining too much personal power. The address was held by Henrik Wergeland, thoroughly witnessed and accounted for by a Swedish spy, sent by the king himself.
After 1864 the day became more established when the first children’s parade was launched in Christiania, at first consisting only of boys. This initiative was taken by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, although Wergeland made the first known children’s parade at Eidsvoll around 1820. It was only in 1899 that girls were allowed to join in the parade for the first time.
By historical coincidence, the Second World War ended in Norway nine days before that year’s Constitution Day, on May 8, 1945, when the occupying German forces surrendered. Even if The Liberation Day is an official flag day in Norway, the day is not an official holiday and is not broadly celebrated. Instead a new and broader meaning has been added to the celebration of Norwegian Constitution Day on May 17.
The day focused originally on the Norwegian constitution, but after 1905, the focus has been directed also towards the royal family.
Read more about the 17 of May here: Wikipedia
Preparing for the 17th of May
I’ve met some nice people today. Especially Senior Advisor at Apple in Ireland Samantha and Netflix-supporter Audrey from Denver, Colorado, USA. Such nice people to speak/chat with. They make you feel right at home. Service minded and professionals and really astute at their field of work. It makes me no less than happy to meet people like that, so hello to Samantha and Audrey and a big thank you for all your kind help and great service!
The day today has otherwise stressing. It is the day before our constitution day – May 17. – so, along with a long list with pressing tasks on my to-do-list, we’ve shopped for tomorrow in the absolute frenzy today.
Just popped out to draw some fresh air and shoot a quick shot of the current weather today, but back to the last piece of work that needs wrapping up!
Night-time Sun Rise
The Midnight Sun is almost here in Narvik – a arctic city well above The Arctic Circle. Now the sun barely dips below the horizon now. I shot this photo after a hard night working on the Århus Kræmmermarked® homepage way south, in Denmark, actually. I have to constantly update this page these days, since we are in the middle of the four days of market, working for free and earning a lot of money for our Lions Clubs aid projects. Anyway, time to get to bed. Just wanted to share this photo with you!
Sleepless in Narvik
I suffer from insomnia due to chronic pain. That is most times a disadvantage – but not always. Walking around at night trying to concentrate the pain away mentally sometimes make me grab my camera to find a moment of Photo Zen… A couple of nights ago I captured this photo of Narvik and the newly installed light-show on the new hotel downtown. I posted it in the local Facebook-group Narvik før og nå (Narvik in the past and now, loosely translated). It gained a quite surprising and enormous popularity, so I thought that would be a good cherry picked candidate for my blog. Here it is! Enjoy!
Sleepless in Narvik – The newly installed light show on the new hotel downtown reflects in the harbor basin.
What a fantastic World Championship!
Sunday February 17. was the end of a long, extremely nerve wrecking and – seen with Norwegian eyes – unbelievable week. I can hardly fathom the result after The World Championship in Biathlon in Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic. I asked the International Biathlon Union for permission to use a couple of their photos, but that was harshly and promptly denied. The Norwegian Biathlon Association on the other hand was very kind and gave me special permission to use the photo below. Thank you so very much! That made my day!
The championship exceeded any and all expectation for the Norwegian fans! Tora Berger beat Liv Grete Skjelbreid Poirée’s old record of a total of 7 gold medals in total. Tora has now taken 18 Olympic and World Championship Medals. In this championship alone – she took 4 Gold Medals and 2 Silver Medals… Emil Hegle Svendsen was the strongest Norwegian competitor on the men’s side with 4 Gold Medals and 1 Bronze Medal. Unbelievable…
In all – the Norwegian Team took 8 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze Medal in 11 different races…
The fantastic statistics can be found here in this Wikipedia Article.
A BIG THANK YOU to Norsk Skiskytterforbund (Norwegian Biathlon Association) for granting me permission to use this photo that represents the biggest I have ever witnessed in the World of Sports – ever. Please visit the Norwegian Biathlon Association here for som great photos and news (Norwegian)
And special thanks to Tora Berger, Tiril Eckhoff , Hilde Fenne, Ann Kristin Aafedt Flatland, Fanny Welle-Strand Horn, Synnøve Solemdal, Lars Helge Birkeland, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Erlend Øvereng Bjøntegaard, Tarjei Bø Gull, Emil Hegle Svendsen and Henrik L’Abée-Lund AND last but not least – The Norwegian Support Team, trainers, ski-preppers, association representatives and fans who all made this a FANTASTIC event for a guy totally hooked on what must be the most thrilling sport in The Entire World!
Photo Credit: Norges Skiskytterforbund (by special permission): -Norwegian World Championship Gold Medalists: (back from the left) Tarjei Boe (Bø), Emil Hegle Svendsen, Henrik L’Abée-Lund and the “King of Biathlon” Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (Bjørndalen)
(Front from left to right) Ann Kristin Aafedt Flatland, Hilde Fenne, Synnoeve (Synnøve) Solemdal and the “Queen of Biathlon” Tora Berger.
Sun Day (official)
Today – February 7. – is the official Sun Day in Narvik. That is the day, the sun is no longer obscured by the mountains and it shines down on the town square. The dark season of 2013 is over officially, although a lot of valleys and villages in the municipality has to wait for days, even weeks for the sun to get high enough in the sky to shine down on them. Time flies – and soon the midnight sun will shine in through windows from the oposite side of the Ofoten Fjord.
The official sun day is celebrated with taking half the day off and of course eating sun buns.
The sun is shining downtown today. To the left is the town hall (square building) and the newly built Rica Hotell. Further up the mountain slope Narvik University College is partly lit by the sun beaming down the mountain side.
Happy New Year!
Well over an hour into the new year 2013, I wish everybody a very prosperous and
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from Narvik!
Spooky!
Not much tricking or treating here tonight, but we got a visit from these spooky charachters, and found it wisest to treat them with something sweet. It worked! “Knask eller knep” is the equivalent to the English “Trick or Treat”, only that the words have been switched around. Knask=Treat and Knep=Trick…
Halloween visit on Ankenes, Norway
25,000 visitors to my blog!!!
25,000 Visitors to my page!
Thank you all!
-That’s what blogging is all about!
25,000 visitors to my blog
Jeg har plassert min blogg i Narvik på norske bloggkart!
Tonight, tonight, maybe tonight…
The conditions are good! Clear skies and moderate particle stream from the sun, so my camera is set, my wool clothes are all ready. Tripod? Check! Extra battery? Check! Flash light? Check! All systems nominal. Go, no-go for northern lights! WE HAVE A GO FOR AURORA BOREALIS!
In the news today we saw that 45. million readers have seen the Facebook page for Visit Northern Norway – and yet again my friend Øystein Lunde Ingvaldsen lundeimages. com made the frontpage with one of his stunning photos, the very photo I got his permission to show here to the right! It is an absolute beauty of a northern lights shot! The photo is taken in Bø in Vesterålen (Boe in Vesteraalen) – the beautiful group of islands between Lofoten and the main land.
Visit Northern Norway Facebook page – click here
45 million visits to Visit Northern Norway (Norwegian)
Northern lights? -straight up, please!
I’ve rounded 100,000 visitors to my blog!!!
I don’t know what has happened – but in one and a half years – I’ve rounded 100,000 visitors!!! Just take a look at my counter here on the right… It’s UNBELIEVABLE!!! Thank you all for making this blog such a HUGE success!!!
Update March 18. 1200 zulu time – My Heart goes out
On a weather worn flagpost the State and War flag of Norway is flying at half mast.
His Majesty the King of Norway, fellow officers and the chaplain has just finished the memorial service at the Evenes Air Force Base, commemorating the loss of five fellow officers.
My heart goes out to the families of the loved and lost crew. I also send my thoughts to all the personnel that have risked, and still are risking their lives in order to bring home the lost crew from an altitude of 2 kilometers. They have defied hurricane winds, snow, visibility of – sometimes just a few meters – dodging the avalanches that has come down the mountains, as they battled for days to rescue the lost crew.
Now – unfortunately – all hope is lost…
The Norwegian flag flying on half mast at Evenes Airstation, in connection with the memorial service for the norwegian Hercules crew that crashed in Kebnekaise (photo: Norwegian Armed Forces)
Five Stars Fell
Remembering Hercules C-130J "Siv" and the crew of five
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