Aulestads besværlige arv: «Godviljens høvdingsete» og «nazireir»

Abstract

Aulestad, the home of Nobel laureate Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832-1910), was purchased and turned into a national property financed by a nationwide campaign in Aftenposten and other daily newspapers. The campaign was headed by politicians, artists and businessmen, and supported by organizations from all walks of life, arguing that the Norwegian people owed it to Bjørnson and to themselves to secure his unique home for future generations. Situated in Gausdal, Aulestad opened to the public in 1935 as one of Norway's oldest and most authentic house museums. Until the Second World War, Aulestad was associated with its larger than life owner, an author who used his position to fight for all good causes home and abroad, and went by epithets such as «chieftain», «uncrowned king» and «the nation's greatest man». What is virtually unknown now is that Aulestad was turned into a propaganda centre for the Nazis during the German occupation 1940-45. Erling Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne's youngest son, inherited the farm Aulestad, and lived next to the museum. He was an ardent adherent of Germany and der Führer, letting his ideology be known at public meetings, in broadcasts and newspapers, and claiming that his father would have agreed with him. In January 1946 he was sentenced as a traitor to ten years in prison. Other close family members were likewise sentenced for treason, all of them having Aulestad as their residential address. The aim of this article is to discuss Aulestad's troublesome heritage and how it has been handled by the museum managers. On the basis of (1) an analysis of the newspaper campaign to acquire Aulestad and arguments provided to engage the public, and (2) the treason cases against the Bjørnsons and the rhetoric they employed to defend themselves, I investigate Aulestad's image over time.

Hamsun i sør og Hamsun i nord. Kunsten å argumentere for et diktersenter

“…Da avisen Aftenposten på 1920-tallet gikk i bresjen for en innsamlingsaksjon for å kjøpe Bjørnsons hjem på Aulestad og åpne det for offentligheten, argumenterte man med Bjørnsons nasjonale betydning: Nasjonen, folket og dikteren var ett. Bjørnson hadde status som ubestridt profet og folkefører, og Aulestad representerte alle gode verdier som tenkes kunne (Egeland 2018a(Egeland , 2018b. Siden den gang har ikke bare dikternes posisjon som profeter og nasjonsbyggere blitt betraktelig svekket, men også nasjonallitteraturens stilling -enten vi tar for oss laereplaner i skolen, salg i bokhandel eller utlån gjennom bibliotek.…”