Today we visited a hydroelectric plant in Rjukan that was taken over by the Germans when they occupied Norway during World War II. It was here that the Germans did research on “heavy water,” and had they been allowed to continue, would have developed the atomic bomb.

In this plant Norwegians were originally producing an artificial fertilizer and in so doing, produced a by-product called “heavy water,” looking like ordinary water but having hydrogen of an extra heavy weight. At first the Norwegians just disposed of it, but gradually scientists learned it could be used as a “brake fluid” in atomic fission.

This factory was the location of one of the most daring acts of bravery when a small band of Norwegians in the Resistance scaled the steep icy cliffs and sneaked into the basement where the heavy water was stored. They mounted explosives to the enormous tanks and set them off, destroying the heavy water. None of the men were lost — even though they did encounter a guard and overpowered him.

But the factory continued operations and a British sabotage group was dispatched from England. They encountered bad weather and crashed into the mountains. The 34 men were captured by the Germans and executed.

The plant was rebuilt and the Americans decided to bomb the factory on November 16, 1943. The Germans abandoned further plans for heavy water production.

The saboteurs soon received information that the Germans planned to move the heavy water stock by civilian ferry to Germany. The Norwegians protested to their Allied supervisors that innocent lives would be lost in the explosion. In the end 18 people died, 14 of them innocent Norwegians, but the battle for heavy water was over.

How different the world would have been had the Norwegians not been successful in their sabotage attempts!

We next drove to a silversmith’s shop—the night before, the owner had given us an informative lecture about “bunad” jewelry (brooches and buttons), used to decorate Norwegian folk costumes. His presentation was on “Bunad jewelry: the forgotten language.” Apparently there is a lot of Biblical symbolism in this decorative jewelry—they were also used to show off a family’s wealth and status. He is a fourth-generation silversmith, and his 83-year-old father still works in the shop.

Some examples of “bunad” buttons:

On our way to Oslo, we stopped at the Heddal Stave Church, the largest stave church in Norway. It dates from 1130-1230 and is still an active parish today. There are crosses on the exterior, but dragons in the interior which were symbols of warding off evil spirits.

As in the previous stave church we visited, there were separate doors for priests, men and women. One thing the guide told us was that the back door was quite narrow—that was because in those days, women’s concept of beauty was quite different from today. The men liked their women plump and round—a woman was considered beautiful if her body touched both sides of the door as she entered! Consequently, regular services and weddings are held in this church, but not funerals—the door is too narrow for coffins to pass through.

There is a relatively new organ in the church, dating from 1982.

We finally got to the Grand Hotel Oslo, our last hotel of the tour, and we’ll be able to stay here for two nights. It certainly lives up to its name!

There are very many pretty flower beds planted around the hotel.

Jo Ann Condry and I went to the Cafe Skansen and had an absolutely yummy salmon dinner over a bed of fresh asparagus and leeks, with boiled potatoes. The salmon was cooked perfectly, and was light and flaky.

I really splurged and shared a rhubarb sorbet with oat sprinkles and rhubarb compote, but oh it was so refreshing!

We then found the Oslo Cathedral, only a few short blocks away, a magnificent building fit for a king!

In fact, here is the royal box:

 

And of course I took pictures of the TWO organs, the Great Organ which is on the back wall, and a choir organ in the chancel area.

The Great Organ façade dates from 1727 and was built by Lambert Daniel Karsten (d. 1744) who was an apprentice to the great North German organbuilder Arp Schnitger (d. 1719). However, the Karsten organ lasted about 100 years and was replaced by an August Nilson organbuilder who was Norwegian. That organ did not last very long before being replaced by an E. F. Walcker organ from Germany. which only lasted about 30 years before being hopelessly old-fashioned.

The present organ by Jan Ryde (1998) was built for the cathedral’s 300th anniversary, and retained the 1727 facade. The volunteer guide would not allow us to go upstairs to the organ gallery, but showed us a picture of the console in a book about the Cathedral.

There was another smaller organ in the right front of the church, built by Ryde og Berg Orgelbyggeri.