The Coronation was followed by several dinners and celebrations for almost two weeks.
After the coronation festivities in Trondheim, the new Norwegian Royal family traveled south again by steamer, horse carriage and train, continuing their official Coronation Journey. Everywhere they came, they were met with cheers and people dressed in their Sunday Bests, waving with Norwegian flags and welcoming the new Royal family.
Remember Petrine Wiik, the lady photographer in coastal Art Noveau town of Ålesund ?
Well, of course she photographed from the new King and Queen’s Coronation Journey! We do not know if she followed the Royal family on her own account, or if she was hired to travel with them, but it appears she took images from their Coronation Journey in several different locations quite far away from Ålesund:
Although the only image of the King and Queen in Petrine’s collection is from behind, I choose to leave it like this. She could have very well photographed the King and Queen head on, and that/those original glas plates could have been removed from her private collection. Wether she did or not, the images are a unique and beautiful depiction of how the Norwegian people embraced our new Royal family!
I searched the Internet, went through all the books I could find in both our College University library and the virtual National libraries of Norway, I even “interviewed” one of my colleagues in the history department, and have still not been able to find a complete account of their actual traveling route, at least not all of it, but here is what I know, taken from several sources, attempting a timeline and a map for the Coronation Summer of 1906:
TIMELINE – CORONATION SUMMER 1906
- June 13th: Oslo – Lillehammer (by train)
- June 14th: Lillehammer – Otta (by train)
- June 15th: Otta – Dovre (by horse carriage)
- June 16th: Dovre – Mølmen (by horse carriage)
- June 17th: Mølmen – Åndalsnes (by horse carriage)
- June 18th: Åndalsnes – Molde – Kristiansund (by boat, “Heimdal”)
- June 19th: Kristiansund – Trondheim (by boat “Heimdal”)
- June 2oieth: Arrival of Albert Edward and Alexandra, Prince and Princess of Wales (by Royal Yacht “Victoria and Albert”)
- June 2oieth: Arrival of Crown Prince Christian and Crown Princess Louise of Denmark (by Royal Yacht “Dannebrog”)
- June 21st: Arrival of Prince Heinrich of Preussen (by Preussian naval ship)
- June 21st: Arrival of Grand Duke Mikhail of Russia (by Hurtigrute ship “Polarstjernen”)
- June 22nd-July 7th: Coronation Celebrations in Trondheim
- July 8th-9th: First state visit by Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany (by steamer “Hamburg”)
- July 10th-11th: King Haakon VII and Emperor Wilhelm II visit Ålesund (by steamers “Mira” and “Hamburg”)
- July 13th: King Haakon and Queen Maud departs Trondheim (by steamer “Mira”)
- July 13th- August 1st (exact dates not confirmed, I’ll add exact dates if (when) I stumble upon them somewhere):
- Geiranger in Storfjorden, Sunnmøre (by steamer “Mira)
- Øye and Norangdal in Hjørundfjorden, Sunnmøre (by horse carriage and steamer “Mira)
- Loen and Olden in Nordfjord (by steamer “Mira”)
- Balestrand and Guvangen in Sogn (by steamer “Mira”)
- Gudvangen via Stalheim to Odda in Hardanger (by horse carriage)
- Solstraaleøen, Godøysund in Sunnhordaland (by steamer “Mira”)
- Bergen – Haugesund – Stavanger (by steamer “Mira”)
- Stavanger – Flekkefjord (by train)
- Flekkefjord – Kristiansand – Larvik – Tønsberg (by steamer “Mira”)
- August 2nd: Return to Oslo (by steamer “Mira”)
The Coronation Journey lasted 7 weeks during the summer of 1906. During that time King Haakon and Queen Maud conquered Norway, and Norway fell in love with Haakon and Maud.
Maud would ever after refer to the rugged, remote and rural Norway as “the inside of Norway”.
“Norway reappeared from the Middle Ages, and was relaunched on the world map. All in one summer.”
Tor Bomann-Larsen “Vintertronen” (2006:113) (my translation to English)
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: 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.
Click on the Petrine Wiik Collection badge below to download her high quality images from the Coronation Journey:
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 
Hi! Just wanted to say thank you and let you know how much my husband and I have enjoyed this and all related posts. So much time you put in on this! Thanks again and God Bless!!
Thank you Kimberly 🙂 Yes I am putting quite a lot of time into this, but it also gives me great joy, I always love research and learning new things! And when I can even combine all that with my love of vintage imagery, I am one happy bunny! lol Knowing that someone else is also enjoying my Pretty Data makes it even more worth while, so thank you so, so much for leaving this comment! xoxoxo