Entrance ticket to the The Armoury in Trondheim

Explore Trøndelag's military history from the Viking Age to the Second World War at The Armory in Trondheim. The museum is located in the historic Archbishop's Palace, and provides a unique insight into the region's military history and the resistance movement during the war. Did you know that the Vikings developed a sophisticated military organisation called the Leidang, in which every free man living along the coast and navigable rivers had to take part in the construction and manning of longboats? Or that in the 17th and 18th centuries, Norway was one of the world's most militarized socities where a man stood 50-50 chance of being sent to war in his lifetime? And that 80% of public income in the period went to the military? That owning weapons was not only a right, but a duty?

During WWII, number of German forces in Norway peaked at over 400,000 men, as Hitler believed the war would be decided on his Northern flank. This was more than one German per Norwegian citizen, more than in any other occupied country.