SPECTRALWhat happened here
King Haakon V began the castle around 1300. It withstood several sieges, and in the early 1600s King Christian IV rebuilt it as a Renaissance palace and moved the city — which he renamed Christiania — to sit beneath its walls.
For centuries part of the fortress served as a prison whose convicts were used as forced labour. During the German occupation of Norway in the Second World War it was held by the occupiers, and members of the Norwegian resistance were executed there. After the war, in 1945, the collaborator Vidkun Quisling was executed at the fortress.
The legends
The most famous ghost is Malcanisen, a vicious dog said to have been buried alive at the castle gate; legend holds that anyone who meets it will die within a year. Another spirit, known as Mantelgeisten — the cloak ghost — is described as a faceless figure in a long cloak.
Guards have told of footsteps and voices in the old corridors, and of a woman whose face is never seen, walking the grounds at night.
Fact or legend?
The fortress's history, including the wartime executions, is real and is remembered there today. The ghost dog and the cloaked figure are traditional legends with no known origin in the records.
Visiting
The fortress grounds are free and open daily. The castle, with its royal mausoleum, and Norway's Resistance Museum inside the walls have their own opening hours and tickets.
