Situated along the shoreline of Central Norway, the ancient city of Trondheim is a resplendent community deeply immersed in history. The origins of this legendary metropolis harken back to the High Middle Ages when Norwegian King Olav Tryggvason founded a bucolic market town at the mouth of the Nidelva River. Originally calling the settlement “Nidaros,” Tryggvason hoped the settlement would emerge as a major trade center given its proximity to various inland trade routes. However, the local nobility had long used the site to host an assembly known as the “Øretinget,” where they routinely discussed prominent legal issues. Tryggvason thus made the new town his capital, adopting the Øretinget for use as his own royal court. This political patronage caused Trondheim to grow substantially over the following decades, reaching the size of an actual city by the beginning of the 11th century. Many future Norwegian monarchs held their coronation ceremonies on-site in consequence, including the famed Viking lord Harald Fairhair and his equally historic son, Haakon Haraldsson. Religious authorities migrated to Trondheim, too, who established the Archdiocese of Nidaros in the mid-12th century. Religious authorities migrated to Trondheim, who established the Archdiocese of Nidaros in the mid-12th century. Incredibly influential, the priests affiliated with the organization operated from within a gorgeous church called the “Nidaros Cathedral.” (The Nidaros Cathedral was a renowned landmark, constructed upon the grave of King Olav II following the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030.)  

While the Norwegian monarchs eventually relocated to Bergen (and then Oslo), Trondheim retained its preeminent status as one of Norway’s most prominent cities. Trade kept flowing through the area unabated, enabling its residents to develop magnificent buildings across its quaint, pastoral landscape. 10,000 people had come to call Trondheim home toward the beginning of Europe’s Early Modern Period, ranking it among the largest in all Scandinavia. But the city’s enduring prosperity made it a military target for foreign armies, particularly those from neighboring Sweden. The Swedes attacked Trondheim several times throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, with the most notable fights occurring amid the climatic Northern Seven Years War. To prevent further invasions, civic administrators commissioned the creation of the Kristiansten Fortress on the heights just east of the city in the 1680s. Designed to blunt any land-based assaults, the imposing citadel would serve tremendously well during the Great Northern War of the early 18th century. In fact, around 7,000 armed Norwegian soldiers were able to withstand a prolonged winter siege by a larger Swedish army in 1718. Trondheim would remain a thriving metropolis, experiencing widespread industrialization amid the subsequent Victorian era. Massive textile and brick factories soon dominated Trondheim’s skyline, while its nearby docks shipped goods ranging from timber to raw ore.  

Unfortunately for the city though, war would eventually return after Germany invaded Norway in the beginning of World War II. An imposing flotilla of German warships entered Trondheim’s port in early 1940, landing a battalion of specialized mountain troops to help conquer the region. The Allies in turn assigned several infantry regiments the objective of freeing the city, but they encountered stiff resistance and had to evacuate a few weeks later. (Trondheim subsequently functioned as a German submarine base for the rest of the conflict, although a diligent Norwegian resistance movement regularly harried its garrison.) Trondheim recovered swiftly upon Norway’s greater liberation in 1945, gradually resuming its place as one of the country’s leading communities. Now the third largest city in the country, Trondheim has preserved its prestigious reputation well into the present. In addition to possessing a vibrant contemporary economy, Trondheim is home to many illustrious educational institutions, such as the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Geological Survey of Norway. The city has even become a popular tourist destination due to its wealth of fantastic historic sites like the Stiftsgården, the Kristiansten Fortress, and the Nidaros Cathedral. Few places are truly better for exploring Norway’s extensive heritage than the flourishing metropolis of Trondheim.   

When architect Karl Norum designed the historic Britannia Hotel, he looked to Classical Revival architecture for inspiration. Also known as “Neoclassical,” Classical Revival architecture is among the most common architectural forms seen throughout the world today. This wonderful architectural style first became popular in Paris, namely among French architectural students who had studied in Rome during the late 18th century. Upon their return home, the architects began emulating aspects of earlier Baroque aesthetics into their own designs before finally settling on Greco-Roman examples. Over time, the embrace of Greco-Roman architectural themes spread across the globe, reaching destinations like Germany, Spain, and Great Britain. As with the equally popular Revivalist styles of the same period, Classical Revival architecture found an audience for its more formal nature. It specifically relied on stylistic design elements that incorporated components like the symmetrical placement of doors and windows, as well as a front porch crowned with a classical pediment. Architects would also install a rounded front portico that possessed a balustraded flat roof. Pilasters and other sculptured ornamentations proliferated across the façade of the building, too. The most striking feature of buildings designed with Classical Revival-style architecture were massive columns that displayed some combination of Corinthian, Doric, or Ionic capitals. With its Greco-Roman temple-like form, Classical Revival-style architecture was considered most appropriate for municipal buildings like courthouses, libraries, and schools. But the form found its way into more commercial uses, including banks, department stores, and hotels. Examples of the form can still be found throughout many major cities as well, including London, Paris, and New York City.   

Fridtjof Nansen, explorer and Noble Peace Prize laureate who pioneered exploratory travel to Antarctica and the Artic.   

Queen Sonja of Norway (1991 – present) 

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (1952 – 2022)  

Chulalongkorn, King of Siam (1868 – 1910) 

King Oscar II of Norway (1872 – 1905); King of Sweden (1872 – 1907) 

King Haakon VII of Norway (1905 – 1957)  

King Olav V of Norway (1957 – 1991)  

King Harald V of Norway (1991 – present) 

Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany (1888 – 1918)  

Fram Expedition (1893 – 1896): For much of the Victorian era, seafarers had long yearned to reach the north pole. Several mariners had even attempted the feat, only to encounter disaster upon reaching the region’s frozen ocean waters. Among the ill-fated expeditions was the journey undertaken by the USS Jeannette, which sunk near the remote New Siberian Islands in 1881. However, the remains of the stricken vessel were imbedded within the Arctic ice, and surprisingly resurfaced on the Greenland shoreline months later. The discovery ignited widespread intrigue throughout the world’s intellectual communities, leading to the creation of a scientific theory that a strong oceanic current was present in the Arctic. Believed to flow in a clockwise motion, this hypothetical current would in turn disprove the notion that an unknown continental landmass lay hidden in the area. The concept further inflamed the imaginations of many aspiring adventurers, including a young Norwegian museum curator named Fridtjof Nansen. Nansen soon began preparing his own ambitious voyage, hoping he would become the first to find the physical location of the north pole. The plan envisioned floating along with the potential current, intending for the pack ice to carry his boat toward its destination. To that end, Nansen started collaborating with naval architect Colin Archer, who was then considered to be Norway’s foremost shipwright.  

The two men proceeded to design an impressive one-of-a-kind schooner called the “Fram,” which featured distinctive innovations like a steeply rounded hull that was nearly 30 inches thick. After weeks of much deliberation, Nansen departed abord the Fram in the summer of 1893. Joining him was an experienced crew of a dozen sailors, including the experienced captain Otto Sverdrup and first-mate Theodore Jacobsen. Setting sail from Oslo, Nansen and his team traversed the Norwegian Sea to cross over into the Arctic Circle in early July. The group went on to trace the Russian coast until turning north just east of the New Siberian Islands. Not long thereafter, the Fram found the permanent Arctic iceshelf and drove straight toward it—Nansen would finally see if his strategies were correct. For the next four months, the Fram drifted among the slow-moving ice, barely covering more than a mile per day. Boredom began to take its toll on the men, who struggled to find meaningful tasks during the sluggish climb north. Among the most affected was Nansen himself, often lamenting in his journal that the trek had strained his patience. By early 1895, the Fram had hit a dead-end when it ran into a very dense patch of ice upon entering the 84th parallel north. Frustrated, Nansen decided to complete the expedition on foot, specifically relying upon a couple of dogsleds that the Fram had acquired while passing Russia.   

Taking only one other person with him—accomplished dogsledder Hjalmar Johansen—Nansen instructed the rest of the crew to follow the ice back home by way of the Franz Josef Land archipelago. (Nansen planned to fashion a raft out of the dogsleds once he was ready to return south.) Nansen and Johansen departed, spending another seven weeks traversing the rugged frozen icecaps. Unfortunately for the two men, the weather conditions worsened to the point where Nansen chose to turn back, their furthest latitude registering 86 degrees north. The distance had been the farthest any person had ever traveled into the Arctic, setting a world-record that made Nansen an international celebrity upon his safe arrival to Norway some two years later. Numerous fans gathered at the Britannia Hotel to hear about his discoveries which inspired a generation of sailors to explore the region. Although Nansen had failed to find the exact location of the north pole, his expedition gave monumental proof that the Earth’s crest was covered by a single body of water now known as the “Arctic Ocean.” Nansen ranks today as one of the most significant explorers in global history, having helped establish the foundation for all future scientific research about the expansive Arctic region.