In the middle of the 1890s the otherwise good partnership between Norway and Sweden in its union begins to show cracks. Norway initiated a tremendous rearmament of its military which was to become among the most modern in Europe. Fredriksten fortress became a part of this process and in the years 1902-04 it was again an important border fortress – with its modern long range artillery, machine gun emplacements, barb-wire fences and concrete bunkers. In this sequence we see the artillery panzer dome, machine guns and observation balloons for the artillery.
Norway withdrew unilaterally from the union on June 7th 1905, but the conditions for the dissolution of the union had to be negotiated. During this time, in September, the country was fully mobilized and there was great fear that a new war would break out. Again Halden was at the “front lines”.
Luckily a peaceful solution resulted, and we can see cheering soldiers to the tune of the national anthem. But one condition was that Fredriksten was to be stripped of all its modern armaments. And as such these were removed during 1906. Since then the fortress has been a military memorial, a national treasure we wish to keep well maintained and proudly display.
