Norway 500 Kroner banknote 1944 Norges Bank
Obverse: Portrait of President of the Storting Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie (1st President of the Norwegian Parliament) on the left and value on the right.
Reverse: Akershus Castle, the old Castle and fort in downtown Oslo. Surrounding it: to the left, the head of a viking king, to the right the arms of Norway surrounded by the arms of the 6 bishoprics of Norway.
Banknotes of the Norwegian krone
1901-1945 "Christie" Issue
The second issue was issued from 1901 to 1945, without any major change in design. The issue was withdrawn and demonetized in 1945, after the end of the war. The German occupying power had printed large amounts of notes to finance their activities in Norway.
Akershus Fortress (Norwegian: Akershus Festning) or Akershus Castle (Norwegian: Akershus slott) is a medieval castle that was built to protect Oslo, the capital of Norway. It has also been used as a prison.
The first construction on the castle started around the late 1290s, by King Haakon V, replacing Tønsberg as one of the two most important Norwegian castles of the period (the other being Båhus). It was constructed in response to the Norwegian nobleman, Earl Alv Erlingsson of Sarpsborg’s earlier attack on Oslo.
The fortress has successfully survived all sieges, primarily by Swedish forces, including those by forces led by Charles XII in 1716. In the early 17th century, the fortress was modernized and remodeled under the reign of the active King Christian IV, and got the appearance of a renaissance castle.
The fortress was first used in battle in 1308, when it was besieged by the Swedish duke Eric of Södermanland, whose brother won the Swedish throne in 1309. The immediate proximity of the sea was a key feature, for naval power was a vital military force as the majority of Norwegian commerce in that period was by sea. The fortress was strategically important for the capital, and therefore, Norway as well. Whoever controlled Akershus fortress ruled Norway.
The fortress has never successfully been besieged by a foreign enemy. However it surrendered without combat to Nazi Germany in 1940 when the Norwegian government evacuated the capital in the face of the unprovoked German assault on Denmark and Norway. During World War II, several people were executed here by the German occupiers, including members of the Pelle group. The fortress was liberated on 11 May 1945, when it was handed over to Terje Rollem on behalf of the Norwegian resistance movement. After the war, eight Norwegian traitors who had been tried for war crimes and sentenced to death were also executed at the fortress. Among those executed were Vidkun Quisling and Siegfried Fehmer.