Norway Banknotes 100 Kroner banknote 1974 Henrik Wergeland
Central Bank of Norway - Norges Bank
Obverse: Portrait of Henrik Wergeland (1808 – 1845) was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist. He is often described as a leading pioneer in the development of a distinctly Norwegian literary heritage and of modern Norwegian culture.
Reverse: Oscar Wergeland's painting Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in May 1814.
Norwegian Banknotes - Norway Paper Money
1962-1987 Issue
10 Kroner 50 Kroner 100 Kroner 500 Kroner 1000 Kroner
Henrik Wergeland
Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland (born June 17, 1808, Kristiansand, Norway — died July 12, 1845, Christiania [now Oslo]), Norway’s great national poet, symbol of Norway’s independence, whose humanitarian activity, revolutionary ideas, and love of freedom made him a legendary figure. The clash between his faction (the “patriots”) and the pro-Danish “intelligentsia” led by Johan Welhaven marked the beginning of an ideological conflict that persisted throughout the century.
Of Wergeland’s enormous and varied output, his poetry has stood the test of time. Some of the best known titles are Skabelsen, mennesket og messias (1830; “Creation, Humanity, and Messiah”), Digte, første ring (1829; “Poems, First Cycle,” selections from this and later cycles translated in Poems, 1929), Spaniolen (1833; “The Spaniard”), For arbeidsklassen (“For the Working Class”), and Jøden (1842; “The Jew”). His narrative poems, Jan van Huysums blomsterstykke (1840; “Jan van Huysum’s Flowerpiece”) and Den Engelske lods (1844; “The English Pilot”) are often cited as his finest works.
Wergeland had an undaunted belief in the new Norway, its people, and the constitution of 1814, but it did not blind him. His criticism was very outspoken, and he had to fight against a constant strong opposition. The tremendous optimism of his verse was, in his case, not the product of a sheltered existence. His battle for the abolition of the paragraph in the constitution that excluded Jews from the country was typical of his practical political undertakings. He did not live quite long enough to see his success in this case.
Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in May 1814
Following the defeat of Napoleon's troops at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813 and the Treaty of Kiel of January 1814, the Crown Prince of Denmark-Norway, Christian Frederik, the resident vice-roy in Norway, founded a Norwegian independence movement. The most likely goal of the young Crown Prince was to ultimate re-unification with Denmark. His initiative was successful, and a national assembly at Eidsvoll was called. The assembled representatives were elected by the congregations of the state church throughout Norway, and by military units. They convened at the Eidsvoll manor on 10 April. During five weeks of the spring of 1814, the constitution was written. The constitution was ratified by the assembly on 16 May, and signed the following day, the latter date now celebrated as the Norwegian Constitution Day.