King Haakon VII and Queen Maud are crowned King and Queen of Norway on June 22 1906. They both receive new Royal Scepters as coronation gifts by the Norwegian people:
In the weeks leading up to this date, they have slowly made their way from Kristiania (Oslo) to Trondheim. They are crowned at the church Nidarosdomen, Nidaros Cathedral, built from 1070 to 1300. The church has been called “the symbol of a nation” due to it’s significance since the Viking era. It has always been regarded the church of Kings.
![Trondheim (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈtrɔnhɛjm]), historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 179,123, it is the third most populous municipality in Norway, although the fourth largest urban area. It's also the third largest city in the country, with a population of 170,242 inhabitants within the city borders.[5] The city functions as the administrative centre of Sør-Trøndelag county. Trondheim lies on the south shore of the Trondheimsfjord at the mouth of the river Nidelva. The city is dominated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), SINTEF, St. Olavs University Hospital and other technology-oriented institutions. The settlement was founded in 997 as a trading post, and was the capital of Norway during the Viking Age until 1217. From 1152 to 1537, the city was the seat of the Archdiocese of Nidaros; since it has remained the seat of the Diocese of Nidaros and the Nidaros Cathedral. It was incorporated in 1838. The current municipality dates from 1964, when Trondheim merged with Byneset, Leinstrand, Strinda and Tiller.](https://wingsofwhimsy.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/9473703872_124ee9b57b_o.jpg?w=982)
Already upon accepting the Norwegian throne in 1905, King Haakon chose his motto “Alt for Norge”:
The royal motto is not easily translated into English: the literal meaning is “All for Norway” but this conveys a sense of “Everything for Norway” as opposed “Everybody for Norway” (since “alt” is in neuter gender, and would rarely refer to people). As such, it conveys a meaning of “Give all for Norway”, which is interpreted as the readiness (of the sovereign, but maybe also his subjects) to give up or sacrifice everything for Norway. – Wikipedia
King Haakon’s motto is willingly embraced by the Norwegian people, and during his first years of reign numerous postcards are created with the King, the King and Queen and the Royal Family. I have assembled a few into printable collage sheets:
Although Queen Victoria and Prince Albert came up with a plan of marrying their children into the other European Royal families, Maud was a granddaughter whom no one anticipated would become Queen, not even Maud herself with how she positioned herself through marriage. King Haakon was also not destined to rule, yet he became King over a year before his father, King Frederick VIII of Denmark (1906) and almost 7 years before his older brother, King Christian X of Denmark (1912).
This post is part of a series of several posts about the Norwegian Royal Family as follows:
- Part I: King Haakon VII
- Part II: Queen Maud
- Part III: The Coronation
- Part IV: The Coronation Journey
- Part V: The Reign
- Part VI: Crown Prince Olav
- Part VII: King Olav V
- Part: VIII: King Harald V
- Part IX: Crown Prince Haakon
- Part X: Princess Ingrid Alexandra
- Part XI: Genealogy
Click on King Haakon VII’s family badge below to download high quality images from this post.
I wish to extend a big THANK YOU to Hild-Tove Aslaksen, who has helped find many vintage images of the Norwegian Royal family. She has already contributed immensely to the Pretty Data project, and I’m very happy to be working with her.
If you are curious about my Pretty Data project, and interested in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, please get in touch, as I’m still hoping to sign up more helpers with my project! Warning: you’d have to be pretty crazy about imagery, somewhat interested in history, and have a (more or less secret) crush on royalty!…lol I have divided the project into the various European countries, so please let me know which country you would be interested in working with. If you are interested in SWEDEN or the UNITED KINGDOM, don’t even think twice, these are the countries I’ll be focusing on next, after Norway 😉
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Wings of Whimsy 
Excellent information about beautiful, historic Norway! “Mange Takk!”