Military Usage
The fortress has successfully survived all sieges, primarily by Swedish forces, also by Charles XII in 1716. In the early 17th century, the fortress was modernized and remodelled 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 ruled Akershus fortress ruled Norway.
The fortress has never been successfully captured by a foreign enemy. 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 (see Operation Weserübung). During World War II, several people were executed here by the German occupiers. 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 was Vidkun Quisling.
Read more about this topic: Akershus Fortress
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