Global True Lithuania Encyclopedia of Lithuanian heritage worldwide

Norway

Norway has been one of the most popular foreign lands for Lithuanians to emigrate to since ~2004 with some 50000 Lithuanians now living there. Lithuanians are attracted by high salaries and standards of living.

However, this situation is entirely new. During the previous waves of Lithuanian emigration (pre-WW1 and post-WW2), Norway was a poor country and it was Norwegians who emigrated from it. In fact, in 1990, only 8 Lithuanians lived in Norway, and even by 2000 this only risen to 278.

As such, for a long time, there were no Lithuanian buildings or monuments in Norway. This changed in 2022, when the cozy Rogaland Lithuanian Home was opened near Stavanger (Hommersandbakken 11, 4311, Hommersåk), becoming the hub of ethnic Lithuanian activities there. The two-floored building has an event hall on the ground floor and a Lithuanian library on the second floor. On the exterior, there are columns of Gediminas motifs in the courtyard and on the sign that says „Lithuanian Home“.

Rogaland Lithuanian Home sign

Rogaland Lithuanian Home

Rogaland Lithuanian Home became not only the first such building in Norway but also the first Lithuanian Home to be created by the post-1990 wave of Lithuanian emigrants. While only some 5% of current Lithuanian emigrants participate in Lithuanian activities, in the Stavanger area, even such a percentage was enough as there are more than 5000 Lithuanians in what is a region of 480 000 (~1-2% of the total population).

Lithuania-themed artwork at the Lithuanian Home

Columns of Gediminas land art in the yard of Rogaland Lithuanian Home

What is now the Lithuanian Home, used to be a derelict historic house in the municipality of Hommersåk. While the municipality sought to preserve the building as a community hub, there were few opportunities to do so, and the building was damaged by vandals. Lithuanians came in, offering to renovate the building as a Lithuanian Home in return for getting to use it for 25 years. An agreement was signed, and the local Lithuanians labored to restore the building. Other Lithuanians and people of the town would donate construction materials.

Historic images exhibited at the Lithuanian Home show the building in the past when it was derelict

Rogaland Lithuanian Community had been established in 2012.

The environs of Rogaland Lithuanian Home

While mass immigration of Lithuanians to Norway is only a 21st century phenomenon, there are is Lithuanian heritage left from the yesteryear as well. During the World War 2, both Lithuania and Norway were occupied by the Nazi Germany. As such, Nazi Germany forcibly recruited hundreds of Lithuanians to build infrastructure in Norway. Lithuanians who worked in constructing the Haslemoen airport built a small memorial with a Lithuanian Columns of Gediminas symbol.