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The exhibitions are related to the Norwegian

criminal justice system and the history of law

and order from the 17th century until today.

This building was built in 1833 to imprisonment

those sentenced to prison with hard labour. In

1895, the building was put in order and altered

to serve as a national asylum for mentally

deranged criminals. It became known as “the

Criminal Asylum”. It was shut down in 1961,

and became museum in 1997.

Visiting

Free admission, open Tuesday-Friday 10-15,

and first Sunday of the month 11-15.

Phone: +47 73 50 03 05

E-mail: post@rettsmuseet.no

Address: Kongens gate 95, 7012 Trondheim

Web: www.rettsmuseet.no

The Norwegian National Museum of Justice - a Unique Experience

ENGLISH

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Ground Floor

1. Motorcycle accident during the escort of Prince

Felipe of Spain in 1997.

2. Prison exhibition. Toilets.

3 a-c. New exhibition in 2014.

4. Stairs leading to exhibitions at the first floor.

5. Emergency exit.

First Floor

6. Weapons used during robbery and assault in former times can

differ from present ones, but the motives for committing violent

robbery are still pretty much the same.

7. Counterfeiting is not a new type of crime, but modern methods are

more advanced and often harder to detect than they were in the days

of yore. Counterfeiting could result in death penalty for the accused.

8. Money bills drawn by hand in the 1950`s. They were drawn part by memory, part by creative imagina-

tion.

9. Equipment used to perform illegal abortions. Until the present law of free abortion was established in

1978, the methods of illegal abortion often led to tragic results. Many women died, or suffered extensive in-

juries.

10. The civil death penalty was abolished in 1902. The last execution by decapitation took place in 1876.

The executions were public events and could attract thousands of spectators. The decapitated head was put

on a pole to discourage criminal acts. One could also be sentenced to additional punishments, like branding

or amputations. Less serious crimes could be punished by pillory or Schandmantel (a barrel worn like a

cloak).

11. Model of Vollan prison. During the 2nd world war, several members of Norwegian resistance groups

were imprisoned here. After the war, the roles switched, and Germans and Nazi-sympathizers were placed

at Vollan. The prison was located next to Studentersamfundet, but was demolished in the 1970`s.

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12. Authentic prison cell from the asylum period.

14. Baron Otto von Rosen was a Swedish spy working for the Germans during World War 1. When

he was captured in 1917, he was in possession of various sabotage equipment, as well as 40 piec-

es of lump sugar. In 1997, the sugar was sent to analysis. It turned out that it contained anthrax

bacterium’s, still highly active and potentially deadly even 80 years after von Rosen`s arrest.

15. Early forensic science. The tool could be placed at the scene of the crime by matching its unique

texture to the pattern of the marks left at the scene.

16. When alcohol was prohibited in 1916, the incidence of smuggling and illegal distillation of spir-

its rapidly increased. The interdiction was repealed in 1927, but it is still illegal to distillate spirits at

home.

17. Emergency stairs. Strategic points in Trondheim during the 2nd World War. The great fire in

Trondheim December 2002.

18. Photos and items related to the 2nd World War. A part of the exhibition introduces the Norwe-

gian informant Henry Rinnan and his group Sonderabteilung Lola. They were responsible for the

arrest and torture of hundreds of people connected to the Norwegian resistance movements, and

more than 80 murders. After an extensive trial, Henry Rinnan and some members of his group were

executed by shooting February 1st 1947.

Here is also a reconstruction of the infamous torture light cell, previously used in the Gestapo

headquarters located in what is now known as Hotel Augustin. The cell was equipped with a 2000

W light bulb, and the intense heat and dazzling light generated from the bulb were intended to

break down the prisoner. Opponents of the Gestapo were placed here in between interrogations,

which often consisted of torture.

The Enigma is an electro-mechanical rotor machine used by German military forces to encrypt

and decrypt secret messages.

19. The development of various police and military uniforms.

20. This displays how a lensmann’s office could look like in the 1930’s. Lensmann is best translated

as a country police sergeant, a civil servant who carries out police work and work in a municipality.

The institution dates back to the 13th century.