Ingolf Elster Christensen - Flåm, Norway
N 60° 51.766 E 007° 06.825
32V E 397550 N 6748975
This bust of Fylkesmann Ingolf Elster Christensen, politician and regarded by many as the father of the Flåmsbana railway line, is located in the village of Flåm, Norway, in front of the Flåmsbana Museum.
Waymark Code: WMPB97
Location:
Date Posted: 08/02/2015
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"A monument to "Fylkesmann Christensen", by many seen as the father of the Flåmsbana railway line, has been erected in front of the Flåmsbana museum.
Ingolf Elster Christensen (1872-1943) was fylkesmann, basically a kind of a county president, in Sogn og Fjordane county in the years 1910 to 1930. He was an important champion for the Flåmsbana railway from an early date and just barely lived to see its opening on 1.August 1940."
--Source (
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ABOUT THE STATUE:
The life-size bronze bust of Fylkesmann Christensen rests atop a rectangular stone plinth that looks something like a podium. He is bald headed and has a moustache. He is wearing a dress shirt and tie under a suit coat. The inscription on the plinth reads:
FYLKESMANN CHRISTENSEN
1910-1930
ABOUT THE MAN:
"Ingolf Elster Christensen (28 March 1872, Førde - 3 May 1943, Førde) was a Norwegian jurist, military officer, county governor and politician for the Conservative Party.
Christensen was a lawyer and military officer, and was appointed governor of the County of Northern Bergenhus in 1910 and held the position until 1929 (in 1918 the county was renamed Sogn og Fjordane). He was subsequently county governor of Oslo and Akershus from 1929 to 1941.
He was Minister of Justice in 1926, Minister of Defense 1926-1928, Member of Parliament 1922-1924 and 1925-1927 and was a member of the Executive Board of the Conservative Party.
After the German invasion of Norway in 1940 was he elected Chairman of the new Administrative Council that was put up by the Norwegian Supreme Court and functioned from April to September 1940. The council held negotiations with the Germans and Christensen was regarded by the Germans as a possible leader of a suggested Riksråd that should govern Norway. The negotiations however failed and came to an end in September 1940. He then returned to his office as county governor until 1941 when he was replaced by a member of Nasjonal Samling. After that he withdrew to his family farm and did not play a political role any longer."
--Wikipedia (
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