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– A day of celebration for the Viking heritage

The government announced today that the long-awaited start grant for construction of the new Viking Ship Museum will be in the National budget for next year.

The news comes on the University's 208th anniversary.

– It is a joyous day for the Viking ships and the Viking heritage we manage for future generations. Building a new Viking Ship Museum is necessary to secure them for the future, says Rector Svein Stølen and Director of the Museum of Cultural History Håkon Glørstad at the press conference at the Viking Ship Museum.

Minister of Culture and Equality Trine Skei Grande and Research Minister Iselin Nybø presented the plans at the Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy today, together with Camilla Wilhelmsen (Oslo Frp), Espen Andreas Hasle (Oslo KrF), Saida Begum (Oslo Right) and Marit Vea (Oslo Left).

– This is an important day for Norway as a history nation, and I as an old history teacher think this is fantastic. Now I can say "GO," said an enthusiastic Grande.

– The Viking collection is a truly unique world heritage. It is our responsibility to preserve this collection in a good and proper manner. This building we are currently in is designed for 40,000 visitors, but receives over 500,000 a year. These ships cannot withstand the dust, temperature, vibration of all these visitors. It is therefore my pleasure on behalf of the government to grant NOK 35 million for the construction of the new museum, says Nybø.

In 2014, the Solberg government commissioned an investigation into a new museum building for the Viking ships at Bygdøy. In 2018, planning was completed and the government was handed over a quality-assured project for new buildings in the extension of the old one.

– For more than a hundred years, various governments have pushed the responsibility for the Viking ships ahead of them. With the Granavolden Declaration, the Solberg government finally took an important and necessary step to secure the Viking ships as Norway's unique contribution to world heritage. Today we can celebrate that we have taken a big step further. We will now pull up our sleeves and do everything we can to secure the ships and objects until the new Viking Ship Museum is completed. A big thank you to everyone who has helped us celebrate today; not least all of our hard-working colleagues at the Museum of Cultural History and the Viking Ship Museum, says Stølen.

– This is a celebration. Congratulations Norway. Thanks for letting me experience this day. A big thank you to Iselin Nybø, Trine Skei Grande and the entire government of Solberg, says Glørstad.

Published Sep. 2, 2019 1:09 PM - Last modified June 3, 2022 12:56 PM