Austrått Fort

A WWII relic and an old medieval manor took us on a short drive and on a ferry across the Trondheim's Fjord

At the mouth of Tronheim's Fjord are some forts and large cannons left behind from the German occupation of Norway during WWII

This, the largest of the cannons, was originally one of three large turrets on a German battlecruiser. From this fort, they had full view of any ships entering into Trondheim.

Bestefar and the three oldest kids took a tour inside this gigantic war weapon.

The turret goes five stories down into the mountain. It housed 3 shifts of soldiers at a time. Each shift consisting of 120 soldiers. Because this fort wasn't finished until near the end of the war, it was never used in battle. The only time these canons ever fired were during testing. This provided the soldiers with enough spare time to carve this totem pole.

Close by was Austrått Manor, originally built around 1150 and added upon until aroun 1660. It was home to some of Norways elite nobles.
We got there right before closing time, so we only got a quick look around, but it made quite an impression!

The tower was originally from a chapel. The stone chapel on the lower floor is still there today. Upstairs is a coffin room which houses 4 coffins of the occupants from the 1600's - beautifully carved coffins.


Here is the arch entryway looking into the castle courtyards.




The history that has been preserved was magnificent. I wish more time could have been spent there and more pictures taken.