Norwegian War Graves Service

By the end of the Second World War, a large number of foreign nationals had been buried in Norway, some under inadequate and undignified conditions. There was also an unknown number of Norwegian nationals who had died as a result of acts of war who were buried in cemeteries outside Norway.

At the end of 1945, the Norwegian War Graves Commission was appointed to search for deceased Norwegians in different European countries and to repatriate the remains. The commission was active from 1946 to 1950.

In a memorandum from the Ministry of Defence of 20 November 1946, a central office for war graves was established under the Army High Command.

District offices led by army chaplains were also established under each district command and worked to register and move foreign war graves within Norway.

The War Graves Commission was discontinued in 1950 and the district offices were closed in 1955. The various activities were consolidated under the Norwegian War Graves Service, which was transferred to the Office of the Quartermaster General in 1963.

The search for fallen Norwegian soldiers abroad and the consolidation of the foreign war graves in Norway were concluded in 1966. The Norwegian War Graves Service was then transferred to the Department of Church Affairs under the then Ministry of Church and Education. 

When the Department of Church Affairs was discontinued as a separate department on 31 December 2015, the Norwegian War Graves Service was transferred to the Department of Cultural Heritage and Religious and Life Stance Affairs under the Ministry of Culture. On 1 May 2019 Religious and Life Stance Affairs were transferred to the Ministry of Children and Families. The Norwegian War Graves Service was transferred to the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture and Equality, of which it is an integrated part.

The Norwegian War Graves Service maintains and provides for all foreign war graves in Norway, and is the government authority for Norwegian war graves abroad.

The Norwegian War Graves Service’s historical archives are stored National Archives of Norway. The Falstad Centre maintains the Register of Foreign War Graves in Norway and carries out research and documentation activities relating to war graves.