The history of Nermo: April 1940 – when the war came to Nermo

The down-to-earth style mirrored everyday life at Nermo. The day before, he had chopped wood and collected 85 guests at the station. Such was life on the farm: practical work and hospitality.

Then came the war.

Photo: Nermo Hotell

The General Staff in Room 26

For just over a week in April 1940, the whole of Norway was in fact ruled from Øyer, but the villagers did not know that. The representatives of the Norwegian authorities were careful to act incognito, because there were people who sympathized with the occupiers everywhere. General Otto Ruge spent the night in room 26, and it was from Nermo Hotel that he ordered resistance to the invading forces wherever possible.

Ole Blikås noted down what he saw.

• April 12: "The Norwegian General Staff came here last night. A number of planes have flown over Øyer here today. Nice weather."

• April 17: "Delivered 4 pairs of skis to the military. Painted over the Nermo name on the truck, when it was used as a fire truck."

Then things got worse. On 20 April, Hunder station was bombed. The fighting raged at Tretten. From Nermo, they could see that Svingvoll in Gausdal was on fire. Red Cross cars drove the wounded south in droves.

Photo: Nermo Hotell

The family that lost a father

At the time, no one knew that the war would last five years and have such a high cost, including for the Nermo family.

Torolv Bjørnsgaard was married to Marie, sister of Nermo hostess Gudrun. He volunteered for service, and travelled north to come to the aid of his own forces. At Hillingen farm in Kvam, he and two other soldiers were caught by a German ski patrol. They entrenched themselves in a barn and fired to the last round. When the hail of bullets subsided, all three Norwegians lay dead.

Marie heard nothing from her husband. It was not until 16 May, over a month later, that a minister knocked on the door and told her what had happened.

She was left a widow with three small children. Johannes Nermo, her brother-in-law, took responsibility. Marie and the children moved to Nermo and stayed there throughout the war. For the family at Nermo, hosting is about taking care of people, even when it comes at a cost.

The history of Nermo Hotel

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Batteries in the dark of night

For the first few months, everyday life continued at Nermo. Guests came and went, the cows were milked, and Ole Blikås noted the weather in his diary. But then the Labour Service requisitioned the hotel. German soldiers moved in, and the hosts lost control of their own property.

However, they still had the barn. And something secret happened there every single night.

Resistance organisation Milorg's leadership in Øyer was located in a primitive cabin in the forest above Øverlid. From there, it maintained radio contact with the rest of the resistance movement. But the radios needed power, and the easiest way to charge the batteries was to do so down at Nermo.

Every single night, Milorg members came sneaking down from the forest. They carried empty batteries, set them to charge in the barn, and brought back fully charged batteries. All in the black of night, often in deep snow, up the steep hillside to the cabin. While German soldiers slept in the hotel nearby.

The family at Nermo knew very well what was going on, but fortunately the Germans never caught wind.

From resistance struggle to conference hall

The barn stands there to this day. Today, it houses overnight guests and conference participants. But the timber is the same, and the history is in the walls.

There is something special about having meetings in a room where people once risked their lives for something they believed in. Maybe it provides perspective on what really matters. Perhaps it reminds us that buildings carry more than square metres and ceiling height.

At Nermo, the walls have a lot to tell. About a general staff and farm workers. About women who gave birth while bombs were falling. About lads who crept through the dark of the night with heavy batteries on their backs.

And about a family that welcomed people, no matter who they were and what they needed. That tradition lives on.

Meetings & conferences

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