New exhibition celebrates town's Norwegian links

The Norwegian exhibition at Dumfries Museum runs until February next year

A new exhibition has opened celebrating the long-standing links between Norway and a south of Scotland town.

It is called "Alt for Norge" - which translates as "All for Norway" - a saying which dates back to World War II, when Dumfries became known as the "unofficial Norwegian capital".

Over recent years, the balcony of Dumfries Museum has been completely revamped with a focus on military history.

People with links to both countries attended the recent launch of the new archive material on display celebrating the Scandinavian connection.

A telegram thanking the people of Dumfries is part of the exhibition

In 1940 Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany, which meant many people fled and ended up in Dumfries.

Many were based in Troqueer and Rosefield Mills, where they built a thriving community.

This included setting up a Norwegian Society, where they hosted events from Burns suppers, to language classes.

There were also 200 weddings between Norwegians and people from Dumfries, which is why some tourists from Norway continue to travel to Dumfries, so they can see where their parents got married.

A launch of the exhibition celebrating the Norwegian links was held at Dumfries Museum

Judith Hewitt, curator of the exhibition, said one special item in the exhibition was a telegram sent from Buckingham Palace in 1945.

"It's from the King of Norway, King Haakon VII, and it's to the provost of Dumfries on the liberation of Norway," she explained.

"It's giving thanks to the people of Dumfries for all they did to liberate his country.

"For a time in World War II, Dumfries was known as the capital city of Norway because so many Norwegians were here - 3,000 of them."

Judith said the skis were her favourite part of the exhibition

She said another special item was also worth highlighting.

"There's a famous campaign that the Norwegian army were involved in during World War II and it was to stop the Nazis getting the atom bomb," she said.

"I was told a long time ago that we had a set of skis in the museum collection that was used in the campaign to blow up the heavy water plant (a place where atom bombs could be manufactured) before the Nazis reached it."

Judith said that the skis used came from Dumfries, which meant that the Norwegian army was carrying this small link to the town through their mode of transport.

The display includes two uniforms worn by Norwegian soldiers

"They're with a big display about The Heroes of Telemark film, which is based on the book Skis Against the Atom, and it's quite probable that these skis saved the world," she said.

Other items included are two uniforms of Norwegian soldiers with the photos and diplomas of the men who wore them along with an explanation of their Dumfries connection.

The exhibition will run until 1 February next year.

The exhibition contains a selection of letters, telegrams and military documents.