If you are trying to marry a foreigner, you probably want to know more about how families live in different countries. Today we will talk about what family traditions exist in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

What kind of family life awaits you in the Scandinavian countries?

Family life in Sweden

Hardworking, positive, calm and very balanced Swedish men make almost ideal husbands for women who are ready to be strong and independent. Swedes have long been accustomed to the fact that men do not have to pay for them, support them and solve their problems. In general, Swedes are very rational and practical; unlike the Danes and Norwegians, Swedish families live quite separately. It is not customary, for example, to maintain relationships with distant relatives.

But the Swedes idolize children literally at the state level. Men are required by law to take 90 days of maternity leave when their baby is born. Therefore, a daddy with a stroller on the street is not uncommon. The goal of the state is thus to equalize the career chances for men and women.

Personal experience

Alina, 28 years old:

My Swedish husband is simply a wonderful person. He may seem a little dry, but I know that he is simply calm, which is very important for me, who is emotional and hot. I am also very pleased that he values ​​my time, my desire to develop and grow, and supports me in every possible way, devoting a lot of time to our child so that I can graduate from university and get an education in Sweden.

Family life in Norway

Friendly Norwegians will surely win your sympathy right away. But, of course, you will have to live according to Norwegian laws. However, just like in any other country in the world. Raising children in Norway is a separate topic. Throughout the pregnancy, the father and all family members look after the expectant mother, and childbirth is always a partnership. Parents and children are very open and sincere - they can discuss any topic. Children are not kept under tight control.

Interestingly, there are much fewer boys than girls in Norway. So the “hunt for brides” literally begins in kindergarten. Women and men share responsibilities around the house and child care equally. Men also go on maternity leave. Norwegian women are very self-reliant and independent, and rarely ask men for help with anything, although men are always happy to help and really appreciate a woman’s ability to ask for help.

Norwegian families are usually very close-knit; relatives often meet during holidays and even special conventions, for which entire hotels and restaurants are rented. But it is not customary to leave grandchildren with their grandparents. In addition, in Norway people retire very late - at 67 years old.

Personal experience

Maria, 35 years old:

I immediately liked Norway: the nature amazed me with its picturesqueness, and the people with their friendliness. My husband's family welcomed me with open arms. He even managed to make friends with his ex-wife, who is raising his daughter. But the relationship with my daughter has not worked out yet - she turned out to be a difficult teenager. At the same time, her husband indulges her in everything, in my opinion. I'm used to being stricter with my son. But, I think, over time I will understand these nuances of upbringing.

Family life in Denmark

The Danes are very attentive to their women, they get married late - after 30, but if they get married, their marriages are strong. Divorce is considered almost a natural disaster. Household and parenting responsibilities are distributed equally among both men and women. Danish men willingly and regularly take care of the house and raising children. By the way, it is also customary to raise children to be free and equal, so Danish children, especially teenagers, may seem spoiled.

Social security in Denmark is at the highest level in Europe. The state provides for single mothers, divorced women with children and other socially vulnerable segments of the population. Foreigners who have received a residence permit are entitled to free language and other courses. By the way, only a man who has a home and a job can bring a foreign wife. At the same time, the state even takes a certain amount of bail from him. By the way, taxes in Denmark are very high, but everyone pays them without complaint, because they understand that it is the taxation system that provides social protection.

Personal experience

Tatyana, 40 years old:

When I moved to Denmark, I immediately realized that the Danes are very open and cheerful people, they love holidays, concerts, festivals, and folk festivals. My husband also doesn’t like to lie on the couch, we constantly go to different towns to have a good time, to attend such colorful holidays as Herring Day or Cherry Day. When it comes to family traditions, the Danes are perhaps the best family men. Men take care of their children even after they reach adulthood and try to maintain friendly relations with their ex-wives. Families have frequent family gatherings and dinners, which are usually attended by numerous relatives. Adult family members help each other with raising children and even with housework. On the one hand, this is good, but, on the other hand, you yourself need to be prepared for the fact that you will have to babysit other people’s children. But there is always someone to rely on.

1. Norway allocates about a billion euros a year to remove children from families. Russians - first of all

The Norwegian State Statistics Committee published information on its official website that the state annually allocates 8.8 billion kroner (44 billion rubles or about 1 billion euros) for the maintenance of punishers from Barnevarn. The money goes primarily to encourage the forced separation of emigrant families and the alienation of parents from their children, the press service of the Russian Mothers International Movement reports.

Statistics on the foreign origin of children who have fallen under the compulsory care of punitive social welfare in Norway are given by the local State Statistics Committee once every five years. Norway publicly published the latest data on the countries of origin of prisoners as of January 1, 2010. On this day, there were 5,176 Russian children in the dungeons of Barnevarn.

Goskomstat notes that “Russian children” represent one of the largest groups in Barnevarn. At the same time, the number of Barnevarn wards who were born in Russia and were “imported” by their parents to Norway is among the top four among all nationalities. But among the selected children born in Norway, “Russian children” are the absolute leaders and occupy the highest position in all tables about children who have become “clients” of the Norwegian children’s police Barnevarn.

People are afraid of everything, afraid to go to bed, afraid to go to work, afraid of losing their children. At any time of the day or night, the Barnevarn children's police can come to you and destroy your family forever and take your children away forever. This practice is widespread on a pan-European scale of hunting children.

In Norway, the so-called socialists are trying to implement the idea that everyone should be the same. All children must go to kindergarten from the age of one year, sleeping in kindergarten is prohibited from the age of 3, and sleeping in the kindergarten before the age of 3 is undesirable. In Norwegian kindergartens, infants and children are fed warm food once a week. Russian mothers are outraged and ask to increase the provision of food to their children in kindergartens to twice a week. Instead of food, Norwegian teachers take children away from Russian mothers who are dissatisfied with the regime. If a child is different from others, stands out from the crowd (even if he is shy or restless), he takes on the work of Barnevern.

Socialists claim that it is easier to shape a small child than a teenager who is already spoiled. Therefore, Barnevarn’s goal is to take the child away from Russian mothers as early as possible, best of all - right on the day of birth or even at the moment of birth. 1/5 of all children in Norway are currently under the jurisdiction of the state - that is, these are Barnevarn clients, juvenile clients. They are separated from their biological parents and live in juvenile facilities. Some call them foster families and orphanages, others call them family-type juvenile prisons.

The Norwegian juvenile police, Barnevarn, pride themselves on seizing 1.5 children per hour from good parents in Norway.

2. The Norwegian guardianship service took the child from Russian citizen Svetlana Tarannikova on the second day after giving birth

The Norwegian guardianship service took the child from Russian citizen Svetlana Tarannikova on the second day after giving birth. As it turned out later, the adoptive mother had been “in line” for the baby for two years and was promised Svetlana’s child. Before this, the Russian woman’s two eldest sons had already been taken away.

Russian mothers become donors for Norwegian families who receive big money for adopting migrant children. This Norwegian adaptation has become a kind of state policy.

In 2003, Murmansk resident Svetlana Tarannikova married a Norwegian citizen, moving to this country with her six-year-old son. But very soon it became clear that this marriage had no future. The husband turned out to be an alcoholic who also distilled large quantities of moonshine in the basement of his own house. As Svetlana says, she was afraid of the explosion of this meter device and reported her husband to the police.

But it turns out that in Norway there is an organization that is much more influential than the police - this is the local child protection service, or barnevarn, as it is called in Norwegian. In retaliation, the husband contacted this service, demanding that her son be taken away from Svetlana. As he later admitted, it is a common practice to take revenge on people by reporting them to the barn. Service specialists began regularly visiting the woman, writing reports about her behavior, threatening to take the child away. Frightened by these threats, Svetlana chose to return to her husband.

Unexpectedly, she became pregnant. But the husband was categorically against this child. Realizing that Svetlana was not going to get rid of him, he once again reported her to the barnyard, this time accusing the woman of alcoholism. “The next day, Barnevarn took her eldest son from school and took her to a secret address. They didn’t give me news about my son for about three months - they simply didn’t answer the phone. And they sent me for examination to a special clinic. Tests showed the absence of alcohol.

But the staff also recommended an abortion, because, knowing the barnevarn system, they feared for the health of the mother and child,” says Svetlana. Since the woman refused an abortion, she was placed in a special institution where the barnevarn sends “problem” mothers. There was no way to refuse. no possibility - otherwise the child will be taken away immediately after birth. In addition, Svetlana was promised the return of her eldest son.

“But when I arrived, I realized that I was placed in this institution only to take away the child. Everyone there was looking for real or unreal reasons for this. No matter what I did, everything was used against me,” says Svetlana.

One example explains everything. One day a woman went for a walk with her eldest son and his 12-year-old friend. The next day, the establishment's employees wrote in a report that she was "using her son to attract young fans." What kind of perverted mind does one have to have to write something like that about a 30-year-old woman in the last stages of pregnancy? These kinds of reports were fabricated every day.

It is not surprising that most of the women who ended up in this institution had their children eventually taken away. Well, mothers who lost their nerve after losing a child were sent to a psychiatric clinic for treatment.

The birth was difficult, but a week later Svetlana was ordered to get up and go on a ski trip to the mountains. Her refusal, she was told, would “cause concern.” As Svetlana says, “from their point of view, it turned out that a truly Norwegian mother immediately after giving birth gets on skis and goes to the mountains. If she doesn’t go, then she is not capable of raising a child.”

In the end, the woman had a nervous breakdown and made a fatal mistake - she signed an agreement with Barnevarn that she would hand over the children to them while she regained her health. The agreement was formalized as temporary, but it quickly became clear that no one was going to return her children. Some time later, Svetlana was told that her two sons were being sent to a lesbian family.

One can imagine the reaction of a woman raised in traditional values ​​- she was categorically against it. As it turned out later, this refusal was also used against her: is it possible to entrust children to a woman who has a negative attitude towards homosexuals? What about tolerance and political correctness?

As a result, Svetlana was allowed to meet with the children only four times a year. To protect her maternal rights, she hired a lawyer. And he gave her unexpected advice - to give birth to another child, and then, it seems, there will be a chance to return the older children. But, as it turned out, the fate of the third child had already been decided by the Norwegian guardianship service.

On the second day after giving birth, the newborn girl was taken from her mother - it later turned out that she had already been “booked” by one foster family, which had been waiting in line for two years for the baby.

The existence of such queues is not surprising. Being foster parents in Norway is very profitable: for each child the state pays from 300 to 500 thousand crowns per year (1.5-2.5 million rubles), plus 10 thousand crowns per month for everyday expenses. How much does a child need? It is clear that the bulk of these amounts goes to family income, which, moreover, is not subject to any tax at all. So, thanks to adopted children, such a family becomes much more prosperous and can afford previously unplanned expenses.

But it would seem, what is the point for the state to take children away from their natural parents, who are completely law-abiding citizens and do not lead an asocial lifestyle, and then pay such a lot of money to foster families? There is a meaning - and a very significant one. After all, children are taken away not only from Russian citizens. We have already told about a similar story with a Polish family who even had to hire a detective to kidnap their daughter from a foster family and return her home.

In Norway, there is also an organization of Somali women, which was created several years ago by one of the mothers who was also deprived of her child at the hands of the barnevarn employees. Mothers belonging to this organization fight together for the return of their own children. It seems that the Norwegian state has come up with an original way to “adapt” migrants. It was possible to follow the path of France, Germany, Great Britain and try to “integrate” adults into the existing state system. However, as sociological experience shows, this method has not been particularly successful in the above-mentioned countries - migrants, even in the second and third generations, prefer to live within their communities, according to their cultural traditions.

The Norwegian authorities invented a much more effective method - to take the child away from the biological parents and transfer him to a family of true Norwegians, thus violently eliminating the problem of adaptation and assimilation of foreign children. That is why the local guardianship service Barnevarn makes a decision to remove children without waiting for a court order. This service has been given some incredible powers, and its workers are free to decide who is worthy of being a mother and who is not. Without a government “order,” this would simply be impossible. At the same time, the requirements for adoptive parents are much softer than for relatives.

Irina Bergset, whose dramatic story Pravda.Ru has repeatedly told, recently received her first date with her sons in two months. She was horrified to discover a stitched wound on the forehead of her youngest son, and an injured leg joint on her eldest son. In response to her complaints, she was told that there was nothing to worry about - everything was normal. The main thing has been done - the children have been transferred to a foster family, and there their problems no longer concern anyone.

But one more difficult question remains - the position of the Russian state. After all, most of these children were Russian citizens. And after they are transferred to foster families, the children get a new passport and even change their names. Svetlana Tarannikova’s daughter is now being prepared for this kind of adaptation in order to completely cut off all ties with her birth mother. There can be no talk of any upbringing taking into account the native culture and language.

Does the Russian state really care so much what happens to its young citizens in Norway, where they are forcibly made Norwegians?

3. Norway: children are more often confiscated from Russians

Norway has officially recognized that half of all children removed from families are children of emigrants who came to the country with their parents. Russia occupies fourth place in this sad ranking. But among those who were born already in Norway and were selected by local guardians, most of them turned out to be children whose one of their parents came from Russia.

Last Wednesday, several Russian women came to the Norwegian parliament in Oslo to hold a rally permitted by the authorities. Women stood silently at the walls of parliament with posters: “My children need me, their own mother.” In a story about the picket on local television, official figures were announced for the first time.

More than half of all children removed in Norway come from immigrant families. The first lines of the “top list” are occupied by people from Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Russia. The Minister for Family and Child Protection admitted that these numbers are constantly growing. In 2007, the total number of children removed from their natural parents was 7,709, in 2010 - 8,073, in 2011 - 8,485. But according to local human rights activists, the real numbers could be several times higher.

For children of immigrants from Russia, the situation is currently known only for the period of January 1, 2010 (the local statistics committee summarizes it every five years). At that time, there were 5,176 Russian children in the guardianship system. The Norwegian State Statistics Committee notes that “Russian children” represent one of the largest groups among those seized from their parents. Among those who came to Norway with their parents, Russians rank fourth in terms of “popularity” with social services. But among those who were already born on Norwegian territory, the children most often taken away are those whose one of the parents (usually the mother) is Russian.

True, the Norwegian Minister for Children's Affairs himself does not see anything special in these statistics. And when asked to comment on the rally of mothers whose children were taken away, he said that this only shows that Norway is a democracy, and immigrant parents are not prohibited from organizing pickets. Yes, the majority of parents who have lost their children, thanks to state kidnapping, really have only one right left - to go to silent pickets with candles and posters.

It is impossible to prove anything in the courts. Simply because the claims that the local child protection service (Barnevarn) makes against foreign mothers do not fit into the head of an ordinary sane person.

Pravda.Ru told the story of Inga Eikevog, who lived with her husband in Norway for a month and a half with her child. Her words are a warning for what you should be prepared for. “My husband forbade me to walk with my child after 8 pm, although it was very light and completely safe. The explanation is that this will attract Barnevarn’s attention. He also ordered me to curtain the windows so that the neighbors from the windows of the house opposite They didn’t see anything “wrong” in the way I fed the child and didn’t report it to Barnevarn. Don’t change the baby’s diaper without closing the curtains, since our baby doesn’t like diapers, screams and dodges and his reluctance is the neighbors opposite or living across "the wall could be regarded as my violence against him. I began to be afraid to be in the apartment without the blinds drawn, to feed the child by the window, and tried to go for a walk with the child as soon as possible so that his impatient cries would not interest the neighbors," Inga recalls.

4. How Norway takes away children from visiting foreigners

1 (232x184, 18Kb)Indian culture, in principle, is not capable of giving a child a happy childhood. Employees of the Norwegian social service for children came to this conclusion, and therefore decided to save two little Indian citizens from the prospect of returning to their homeland with their parents - highly qualified specialists who worked in Norway under a contract.

And the shock of Indian society, the problems of Norwegian business in India, the rivers of children's and parents' tears are an insignificant price for representatives of the state machine launched for the sake of building children's happiness in a single country. When parents drag their sleepy children to kindergartens in the morning, the corridors of these institutions are sure to be filled with roars. As a rule, for every dozen young Russian citizens there is at least one supporter of active methods of protest against early introduction to official discipline.

Russian nannies and educators know: almost every second child begins their integration into society by declaring a hunger strike and a multi-hour sit-in in the corner of the group, with the refusal of any negotiations until the mother is presented. In our kindergartens, staff take this behavior for granted. Perhaps this is precisely where the anarchism of the Russian soul manifests itself.

This is not the case in Norway, where much more attentive people take care of children. In a country where children's rights are protected by special legislation and a powerful bureaucratic machine, no three-year-old toddler should sit sadly on the sidelines of the kindergarten playing group, with his forehead buried in the wall or floor. The child must be happy - and he will be, even if this means separating him from his mom and dad forever. Don’t cry, baby: the state knows better what you need.

This is exactly the kind of story that Indian citizen Abigyan Bhattacharya, two and a half years old, got into last spring, living with his parents and four-month-old baby sister in the Norwegian city of Stavanger. His separation from the team in kindergarten was regarded as a sign of obvious trouble. And the Norwegian social service for children must respond immediately to every signal of this kind.

The family of Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya was placed under legal surveillance. For a week, social workers visited a suspicious Indian family, observing their lives. These were ethnographic observations based on qualitative material.

The surname Bhattacharya indicates belonging to the Brahmin caste (translated as “knowing Vedic rituals”). Sagarika's maiden name, Chakraborty, is no less high-born. But despite their noble origins, Halliburton's senior geologist and his MBA wife failed to live up to the high standards of Norwegian society.

To their horror, social workers discovered that Indian parents took their children to bed, and the son even slept with his father in the same bed (one can imagine what associations arose in the minds of Norwegians lacking an oriental temperament). Sagarik's mother shocked social workers by feeding her eldest son not with a spoon, but simply with her hand. And she put her youngest daughter to the breast not by the clock, but by the first squeak.

It was these issues of guardianship that Sagarika remembered later, trying to explain to journalists what exactly happened during those hours that the social authorities in Norway came to the conclusion that the Bhattacharya family was completely unable to raise their children. True, much later, the head of the Norwegian social service for children, Gunnar Thoresen, denied that it was these habits of family life that became the reason for such a harsh decision. He officially refused to comment on the real motives. Not out of personal impudence, of course, but solely for the sake of compliance with the law, which requires delicate silence from the servants of childhood.

This is one of the main features of the child care system built in Norway. Children's social services and family courts, like the Holy Inquisition once upon a time, are not subject to the profane judgment of the public. This is explained, of course, by protecting the interests of the children themselves. Who knows what nightmarish details can surface and affect the future of children? The public can only take their word for it: if the guardianship has decided that horror took place, then it is so.

In the case of the Bhattacharya family, the confidence of the Stavanger children's defenders in their rightness was one hundred percent.

Overcoming the criminal indifference of the judicial system, they made every effort to save the unfortunate babies. When the family court of first instance overturned the decision to remove the children, social workers still did not return them to their parents, but filed an appeal. And the Stavanger City Family Court accepted their arguments, ruling: to place the children in Norwegian foster families until they reach adulthood. Their parents were allowed to visit them three times a year, with the court allotting no more than one hour for each visit. More children were separated from each other. Apparently, so that the native language does not remind of an unhappy Indian childhood.

Despite the confidentiality, the press still got hold of the guardianship arguments presented to the court. It turned out that the list of unacceptable mistakes of the young family was very extensive. The eldest child not only did not have his own crib, but the clothes he was wearing were not exactly his size, and he played with toys that were not appropriate for his age. However, his parents also gave him little space to play.

Little Aishwarya was also in danger: her mother, holding her in her arms, made “sharp movements.” Although some of the crimes of the irresponsible couple - such as changing diapers on the bed, and not on a special table - were not considered significant by the court of first instance, the children's defenders did not dwell on individual episodes. In their opinion, the whole situation indicated “serious doubts” about the ability of parents to care for their children.

In particular, social workers were concerned about “the mother’s inability to meet the child’s emotional needs.” After all, when she breastfed her daughter, she did not press her to her with her hands, as European women usually do, but held her on her lap. In general, Sagarika seemed to the guardianship staff to be somewhat anxious and tired - clearly prone to depression. After all, why else would she worry if she found herself in the center of the caring attention of social services?

Thus, the court was absolutely right in deciding to take Abigyan and Aishwarya away forever. The court acted in full compliance with the Norwegian Child Welfare Act, the court acted and was guided solely by the interests of little Indians. In the foster family, Abigyan was guaranteed a separate bed, without any suspicious fathers around, as well as a high chair and cutlery, which his parents deprived him of. And Aishwarya - a bottle of milk and a changing table.

The behavior of the Norwegian social workers seems crazy, but in fact they acted in full compliance with the above-mentioned law. Article 3-1, regarding child conditions, clearly states: “Child Protective Services is responsible for identifying neglect and behavioral, social and emotional problems at a sufficiently early stage in order to eliminate these problems and take steps to resolve them. " And Article 4-2 specifies as the primary grounds for removing a child from the family “serious omissions in the daily care received by the child, or serious omissions in terms of personal contact and security at the level that the child needs according to his age and development.” So, according to the law, everything was done correctly.

A SOCIALIST VIEW OF SAVAGES Much to the bewilderment of the Norwegian authorities, India became very interested in this story. After all, we are talking about the forced detention of two Indian citizens for assimilation in Norway. Anurup Bhattacharya was in Norway not a guest worker or an illegal immigrant who was hungry for Scandinavian prosperity, but a highly qualified specialist invited to work under a contract in an international oil corporation in 2007. An Indian couple was considering Norway as a temporary residence and their visas expire in March 2012.

Moreover, literally every detail of this case offended the Indians. Firstly, it was a shock to them to learn that, from the point of view of the Norwegian courts, the entire Indian nation, without exception, was unworthy of raising its children. The Indian opposition recalled in the debate that even the god Ganesha slept in the arms of his mother when his enemies deprived him of his human head (after which he had to get an elephant's). Secondly, the Indian embassy, ​​which began to officially take an interest in the fate of the Bhattacharya children in early December, was first politely sent away by a petty manager from the guardianship, who did not see a direct connection between the Indian minor citizens and the diplomats of this country.

Only Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna and the country's President Pratibha Pratil turned out to be worthy interlocutors for the Norwegian children's social service in the dispute that arose. Now the service has backed down. In accordance with the agreement signed between the two countries, social workers agreed to hand over the children to India to their uncle.

However, the guardianship continues to torment the hapless parents and the Indian public by delaying the handover of the children and forcing the uncle to take courses on the proper care of babies.

However, Indian officials found something to answer. Coincidentally, at the height of the scandal, the continuation of work in India by the Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor was called into question. On February 2, the Supreme Court of India, recalling the corruption scandal four years ago, revoked 122 licenses. But the mobile communications market in India is the second largest in the world, and Telenor invested $1.24 billion in investments just when entering it. However, the Indian Foreign Ministry managed to touch the Norwegians' nerve even before Telenor had any problems.

The Indians used a terrible weapon - they accused Norwegian social workers of intolerance. This forced the head of the service, Gunnar Thoresen, to break his proud silence in January and write a press release saying that cultural differences had absolutely nothing to do with this story, and what the matter was, the law does not order one to admit.

This is not the first time that Norwegian officials have been accused of intolerance towards other cultures and even racism. Back in 2006, African Press International warned that Norwegian guardianship authorities were deliberately breaking up the families of African immigrants. But it’s one thing when unknown journalists write something in Africa. It’s quite another thing when headlines like “It’s becoming dangerous to work in Norway” appear in English-language media around the world. After such PR, Norwegians need not fear that foreign cultural migrants with MBA degrees will take away their jobs. Only those migrants who do not read newspapers in principle will continue to arrive in the country - because they do not know how.

Elena Benshin has been living in Norway for many years. She talked about how families live in this country, what are the traditions of raising children in the northern kingdom.

Childbirth

In Norway, the natural approach is widely preached: it is believed that pregnancy is not a disease, but a natural state of a woman. At the same time, the father’s support throughout the entire nine months is considered necessary: ​​couples go to doctor’s appointments together, and the husband is almost always present at childbirth. In some ways this is a modern trend, because Norway has long been a rather poor fishing country. In simple families, the man was more often at sea than at home. Therefore, the woman coped with household responsibilities, pregnancy, and children herself.

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There are no taboos regarding at what age a child can be shown. Relatives, friends, and colleagues come to see the newborn almost immediately. Likewise, it is not customary to hide pregnancy. Everyone becomes aware that a new addition is expected to the family around the twelfth week. Contrary to traditions in Russia, in Norway you can give gifts in advance. Therefore, the dowry for the child is collected little by little, starting from the first weeks of pregnancy. At the same time, relatives and friends are usually very actively involved in this wonderful process, so by the time the child is born, enough things have been collected.

At the hospital, the medical staff usually congratulates the parents in a downright romantic atmosphere. They bring candles and be sure to place the Norwegian flag on the table.

Traditions of family education in Norway depend on the region and on the environment in which the family lives. In each region of this actually small country, people speak their own dialect, which is often not understood by those who come from another region. What can we say about traditions, even if the language differs so much. Fishermen, farmers and white-collar workers, of course, raise children differently.

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And yet there are points that can be called general. Modern Norwegian parents rarely keep their children strict. Few mothers and fathers will discipline their children, prohibit them, or call them to order. Quite the contrary. It’s getting to the point where kindergarten teachers and school teachers are asking to be stricter with children.

One of the main values ​​is family mutual assistance. Family is a common cause. Therefore, everyone must bring something to it. Parents take care of children, but children are also actively involved in many issues. For example, it is customary for elders to entrust the care of younger brothers and sisters. And this is not just for girls. The brothers also take care of the younger ones, take them for walks and look after them. This is not considered shameful. Parents communicate with children as equals. Adults can talk about different topics, including sensitive issues. It’s easier to explain once than to avoid answering for years. At the same time, there are traditional conversations on the topic of choosing a future life partner. Parents are unlikely to openly impose their will, but they will express their opinion.

Emancipation and the struggle for equal rights left their mark on the upbringing of Norwegian boys and girls. Here they try to avoid any gender division when it comes to children. There are virtually no toys for boys and girls or men's and women's sports. Do whatever you want and play whatever you want if you like it. The same thing happens when choosing a profession. There are no men's or women's work. Can you handle it? Work.

In Norway it is impossible to hear phrases like: “Be a man!”, “You’re a girl, girls don’t do that” or “This activity is not for girls,” as well as “Men don’t cry.”

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Such equality responds differently in adult life. On the one hand, it gives freedom. On the other hand, often from childhood, independent and emancipated Norwegian women shoulder all possible tasks and carry them out with heroic tenacity, without accepting anyone’s help. Not every Norwegian woman will allow a man to open her door or bring her a heavy bag. At the same time, there is no logical answer to the question of why not actually agree to help. Because in the minds of most girls from childhood there is simply no such category as male help. Everything is common, everything is the same. Sometimes it comes to situations on the verge of absurdity. I'll tell you about a situation from my life. New desks arrive at the company, and instead of asking men, of whom there are plenty in the office, to help, women begin to carry the furniture themselves. They break their backs and don’t even think about the fact that men would do it faster, not to mention easier and better. When one of our compatriots decided, just for the sake of experiment, to seek help, the Norwegian men let out a sigh of relief. They helped with great pleasure and continue to help. Although they often simply do not dare to offer help to their ladies.

However, this is only one side of the coin. It is sometimes said that Norway is a paradise for women. And this is also true. The fact is that there are fewer women here than men. Therefore, almost any woman can find a companion if she wishes. The same cannot be said about men. This is especially true in rural areas. In a situation where in a village school there are 27 boys and 9 girls in a class of 36 children, finding a friend is not easy. Visionary parents carry out explanatory work with their sons from childhood. They are setting them up for tough competition. Some heartbreakers are such that the fight for them begins in kindergarten. Here is one of the real stories. The children were friends in kindergarten, then the “groom’s” family moved, and he moved to another kindergarten. Despite this, his parents regularly brought him to visit his “beloved.” And they were three years old then... In some ways it’s funny, but it clearly shows how seriously parents can take this issue. And although it is unlikely that it will be possible to “stake out” a girl in kindergarten, it is quite possible to cultivate perseverance in a boy.

The role of parents has now undergone great changes. There is no longer the idea that chopping wood and pounding the table with your fist is the role of the father, and preparing food and being sorry is the role of the mother. The father is so directly involved in pregnancy, childbirth, and maternity leave (which is given to fathers along with mothers) that there is often no difference between parents in terms of raising or caring for children.

Most Norwegian grandparents work until they are 67. Therefore, they do not have many opportunities to take care of their grandchildren. The main policy of parents after children have started their own family is not to interfere. This largely applies to raising children. New parents must rely primarily on themselves. Of course, situations in life are different. If you need help, grandparents will help. But without a request, you shouldn’t expect one of the older relatives to take the initiative.

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Participation in the lives of grandchildren mainly comes down to gifts, usually expensive ones, and family holidays. This does not mean that a child cannot just come and visit his grandparents. It’s just that no one cultivates this as a system of constant supervision of grandchildren. But in grandma’s house, children are usually allowed everything. If you want, run, if you want, play, if you want to climb into grandma’s chest of drawers or into the chicken coop, you are welcome to go there and there.

Now families have become smaller. But the generation of those who are now over 60, as a rule, have large families. Grandmothers may have five, six, or more brothers and sisters. As a rule, everyone maintains relationships and there is a tradition of organizing family gatherings. Sometimes they even have to rent gyms in schools. Because there are 200 or more relatives from all sides. This event is very interesting. For young people it’s an opportunity to learn more about their family and roots, for older people it’s a chance to meet relatives whom they sometimes haven’t seen for years.

It is very difficult to explain to Norwegians why you need to knock on wood, spit over your left shoulder, sit on the road or look in the mirror if you come back for something. For the most part, they do not attach importance to superstitions. This also applies to gifts. Watches, knives and other “forbidden items” are given as gifts in Norway quite calmly. An even number of flowers in a bouquet also does not cause unpleasant associations for anyone. Here, in principle, no one will count the flowers in a vase or bouquet.

Most family traditions today are related to holidays. And in many ways they do not coincide with those familiar to us. New Year, for example, is not particularly celebrated. This is more of a reason to meet friends, go to a party, rather than a family celebration.

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But Christmas is the real main family holiday. Preparation for it begins four weeks in advance, from the first Sunday of Advent (Nativity Fast). The tradition of observing fasts is long gone, but Advent remains. During this period, everything is decorated in lilac-violet tones. Children receive Advent calendars. Four candles are placed in special beautiful wreaths according to the number of Sundays remaining before Christmas.

It's time to wait for the holiday. A new candle is lit every week. At this time, children prepare Christmas gifts, not only at home, but also in schools and kindergartens. Christmas is preceded by a very beautiful feast of St. Lucia. It is celebrated not only in Norway, but throughout Scandinavia. Protestants do not venerate saints. St. Lucia's Day entered Sweden in a roundabout way and then spread to neighboring countries. Nowadays, few people think about the meaning of the holiday itself. Saint Lucia was a Sicilian martyr who was blinded and killed for her faith in Christ. But there is also a legend that Lucia was the wife of a fisherman in Sweden. One night, while the husband was at sea, a storm broke out. The rampant evil spirits extinguished the lighthouse. Then Lucia went out onto the rock with a lantern and showed the fishermen the way to the shore. With this she angered the evil spirits. The devils attacked the girl and cut off her head. But even after this, the ghost of Lucia stood on the rock with a burning lamp, continuing to show those wandering at sea the path to the house. On St. Lucia's Day, girls dress in white clothes, sing songs about Lucia and treat everyone to saffron buns.

A couple of days before Christmas, the decorations in the houses change to red. Children visit churches and perform skits about the birth of Christ together with their teachers. December 24 is a working day, but it ends early. Around 12 noon everyone is already free and rushing home. Gifts are laid out under the tree. The culmination of the holiday is a family dinner. Each region has its own holiday menu. The main dish can be a smoked and then boiled lamb head, steamed lamb ribs, pork ribs, or fish. After dinner, one of the happiest moments of the year comes for children. Gifts are being opened! This solemn event is followed by the serving of dessert and long conversations among the family. During the Christmas holidays, relatives often meet for dinner or lunch.

February traditionally celebrates Mother's Day, which usually falls on the second Sunday of the month. In a sense, this is an analogue of March 8, with the difference that children give gifts to mothers, and not husbands to wives. However, the father usually participates in the selection of the gift and can sponsor it. On this day, the younger ones visit the older ones. Families usually gather at the grandparents' house for a family dinner. There is also a traditional Father's Day.

Spring begins with Easter. This holiday in Norway is not as noisy as Christmas. Once again, decorations are being made in homes and public places. Yellow tones predominate. Bunnies, chickens, eggs are exhibited - everything that, in the Norwegian understanding, is associated with Easter. At the same time, eggs are rarely painted, and Easter cakes are not baked. But the whole family goes to the grill. Often there is still snow outside at this time. But this doesn't bother anyone. People go out en masse to the ski slopes and “grill” en masse. Like, spring will come no matter what.

Perhaps the most important day for Norway is May 17, Constitution Day. For all its statehood, it has become completely national and family-oriented. It was on May 17 that Norway ceased to be part of the Swedish-Norwegian Union and became an independent state. On this day, it is customary to wear national costumes - bunads, which, by the way, cost (on average!) about 5 thousand dollars. However, most families have such costumes. The first bunad is usually worn for confirmation. This is another family tradition. Initially, confirmation (confirmation) is a confirmation of the choice of Christianity and the acceptance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now this is initiation into adulthood. It usually goes away at the age of 15. All relatives are sure to gather. A holiday is being arranged. The main gift for confirmation is money. This is how young people begin to collect their first independent capital. So, the national costume purchased for confirmation is subsequently worn on the May 17th holiday without fail.

Norway is a small European state located in the west of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Most of its area is occupied by mountainous terrain, and from the side of the sea of ​​the same name, narrow, deep fjords cut into the land.

Picturesque landscapes alternate with deserted corners of wild nature. In this country, many of our compatriots celebrate their weddings solely for the sake of beautiful views with local flavor in the photographs. In winter, the climate is harsh only at night; the Gulf Stream does not allow it to be equated with the Siberian climate.

However, for other Europeans, Norway is a northern state with difficult living conditions. Perhaps it is for this reason that the population density and the number of residents relative to the size of the country are small.

In view of this, Norway is a very attractive country for moving to permanent residence, and marriage is considered one of the best ways to simplify this task. Let's take a closer look at the peculiarities of concluding marriages and the traditions associated with them.

Conditions and procedure for official marriage in Norway

In Norway, cohabitation has been welcomed for centuries. Young people can live together for years and only after checking the strength of their relationship can they enter into a marriage.

The puritanical neighbors of the Scandinavians were outraged by such immoral behavior, but they had no leverage to put pressure on the descendants of the Vikings. The average age of marriage is about 25 years for women and 28 years for men.

In comparison with the domestic practice of concluding unions before adulthood, this is a very “overexposed” option. The mentality dictates that Norwegians first taste the delights of life, get on their feet, and only then start a family.

The following persons can marry:

• over 18 years old;
• from 16 to 18 years old with parental consent or by special order of the governor;
• unmarried at the time of filing documents;
• who are not close relatives;
• by voluntary consent. If violence or pressure is used, the union will be annulled and the offender will be punished according to the law.

Contrary to the opinion about free Norwegian morals, consanguineous unions remained in the Middle Ages, and the so-called “Swedish families” have nothing to do with Sweden or its neighbors.

Civil marriage procedure

Marriage is registered in court or in church. Both types of procedure are legally binding. As for the date of the celebration, it is agreed upon in advance.

No one sets strict time limits for future spouses. They decide the wedding date themselves. If everything is scheduled for the selected day, you will have to plan for another date.

Saturdays are in demand, so it’s quite difficult to “squeeze” your wedding into this day of the week. Few guests are invited, only the closest ones.

The ceremony takes place in an official business setting, and the festivities are postponed until later.

Required documents

You need to contact the Folkregister (population register). On the spot, future spouses fill out forms and provide their passports, divorce certificates or certificates stating that they were not previously married.

Here they are given official permission, with which they can apply to the court or church.

Citizens of other countries must provide a document confirming their legal stay in the country.

There are no registry offices as such in Norway.

Organizing a wedding in a church

A wedding in a church takes place in the form of a service. To set a date for the ceremony, permission from the Folkregister must be provided.

Not long ago, Norwegian deputies submitted for consideration a bill banning wedding ceremonies without first concluding a union in court.

However, there were more opponents of the innovation, and both procedures still remain equivalent. There are Orthodox and Catholic churches in the country, but Lutheranism is recognized as the main religion - one of the branches of Protestantism.

The Lutheran wedding ceremony is simple but beautiful. The groom and the pastor wait at the altar for the bride, who is led by her father's arm. Then the future spouses and guests are seated. After singing psalms, the pastor reads a sermon, asks the couple to stand, and asks them standard questions.

After mutual consent, the couple exchanges rings, they are blessed and given a wedding certificate. They leave the church along with the guests while singing. Children often walk in front of the newlyweds, scattering flower petals.

Norwegian marriage traditions

There are cases when the bride and groom, in the most literal sense of the word, have known each other since childhood: the same kindergarten, parallel classes, houses next door, playing together, parties and visiting each other.

If in Russia the frequency of marriages between “acquaintances” does not go beyond 5%, then for Norway this is the norm. Perhaps the reason for this is the small population, where everyone knows each other not even through fifth hands (as the theory of five handshakes says), but through second hands.

This Scandinavian country has strict customs that are observed from generation to generation. Traditions are carefully preserved in every family, where they teach their children to honor the “memory of their ancestors”. They may not change for centuries, which is typical for harsh and uncompromising northern peoples with Nordic character traits.

Sentimentality is not one of the traits of the average Norwegian, which is why you won’t find particularly touching or expressive rituals at a Norwegian wedding. In this country, brides are in great demand, since there is an “imbalance” between men and women, in contrast to our “statistically, there are nine guys for every ten girls.”

Many families try to find future wives for their sons at an early age. Engagements between minors are not uncommon in Norway, and breaking such an agreement will be extremely difficult.

The wedding is celebrated relatively modestly without midnight chants and drunken guests. When planning a budget, young people can only rely on themselves.

In this case, Norwegians are of the opinion that since they are ready to start a family, they will be able to celebrate the wedding on their own. The whole community goes to matchmaking in long boats topped with bells. Matchmakers and the retinue accompanying them dress in national costumes.

Previously, the bride's head was decorated with a heavy silver crown. It was quite difficult to sit through the entire ceremony with such decoration. This stage became a kind of test for the girl. As a tribute to custom, many brides order lightweight imitations of headdresses.

After the conclusion of the union, the newlyweds come to their husband’s house, where they are met by his family: with a path in front of the threshold and handfuls of grains with which they are showered “for good luck.”

And after the meeting ritual, the young people go to milk the cows. Guests place their gifts in special deep dishes.

Cutting a head of cheese and then distributing pieces to guests serves as a signal that the feast is over.

How to register a marriage with a foreigner?

Before starting to organize a wedding, a foreigner must submit an application to obtain permission to stay in the country for six months.

This period is given for the preparation and conclusion of a marriage. The application is submitted to the Norwegian consulate in the country of permanent registration.

Make sure that all documents are translated into English and marked with .

You can get married in your home country and then start collecting documents for family reunification, but Norwegian officials are sometimes very suspicious of people from other countries, so verification will take a lot of time.

Is same-sex marriage allowed?

Norway, like its immediate neighbors, has moved far away from conservatism when it comes to same-sex unions. At the end of the last century, a bill was passed here legalizing the so-called “partnerships”.

It was a loyal alternative to official marriage. The partner parties were endowed with all the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a marriage union. Until 2002, same-sex families could not adopt and raise children.

Norway became the second country to take such a serious step, more like testing the moral boundaries of what is permitted in society. The last change was accepted tolerantly, which served as an impetus for the official recognition of same-sex marriage in 2008.

Norway has become the sixth country to give homosexuals a place in its family code.

Fictitious marriage to obtain a residence permit and citizenship

Cases of fictitious marriages are quite common. A Norwegian man or woman agrees to commit himself to such a union for a certain fee. Prices vary greatly depending on the “price list” of intermediaries.

In this case, a foreign citizen can count on family reunification, permanent residence and citizenship subsequently. Not long ago, a bill was passed that stipulates penalties for such actions, including imprisonment.

It is worth considering that in the questionnaire for the Folkregister, future spouses sign and agree to be held liable for providing false information or marrying for selfish purposes. At best, you'll get away with a fine.

Divorce in Norway

in Norway you will have to wait quite a long time. If we, in the absence of children and joint property, can count on three months, then here the wait will drag on for 2 years.

This is how long spouses must live separately before they are divorced. A more accelerated procedure is separation, that is, official separation.

One year is enough and the couple will be divorced. Both men and women can file for separation or divorce. There are no restrictions in this case. Such time frames are provided for spouses to carefully consider the situation, seek its resolution and reunite.

Relations between the sexes in Norway are much freer than in many other bourgeois countries, and the position of women is more equal. Guys and girls meet at work together, during Sunday visits to the pickaxe, at dances, at the cinema, on sports grounds. An adult girl has the right to receive guests at home, including young people. The custom of boys visiting girls in towns on Saturdays is still preserved in rural areas. These Saturday visits lead to love affairs, which often end in official marriage.

The average age of marriage in Norway is 25 years for men and 22-23 years for women. However, in rural areas girls get married earlier, at 19-20 years old.

Some rural, fishing and working-class youth postpone marriage until “circumstances improve.” It often happens that a young couple separates before getting married. Pregnancy usually speeds up a wedding, and this is explained not only by ethical reasons, but also by the peculiarities of the law. Abortion is prohibited. For each child born to the mother, a state benefit is given. Regardless of this, a woman who becomes pregnant out of wedlock is required to make a statement to a local judge about the father of the unborn child six weeks before giving birth. If the person named as the father does not protest this statement, the judge obliges him to pay the costs of childbirth and subsequently pay alimony. If he protests, the court establishes paternity after the birth of the child by interviewing witnesses and examining the blood of the newborn. In poor families, they prefer to take a young female worker into the house rather than pay alimony. But in rich families, if the groom’s parents consider the girl not a match for their son, a lawsuit often starts. Many everyday tragedies play out on the basis of such litigation.

In rural areas, if the meeting of young people tends towards marriage and the parents agree to their son’s wedding, matchmakers are sent to the girl’s house. The wedding is always preceded by an engagement ceremony, which takes place in the bride's house. Relatives bring gifts to the betrothed. In the most prominent place on the festive table, a wedding cake in the form of a cone-shaped turret is placed. Even where there is electricity, candles are lit in candlesticks or candelabra.

After the engagement, the newlyweds are officially considered the bride and groom. The wedding takes place later, when the groom considers himself economically prepared to support his family.

In most rural areas of Norway, the wedding takes place in the house where the newlyweds will live. But in Telemark the celebration begins in the bride’s house, from where she is taken to the kirk, and then to the newlyweds’ house. A trip to the pickaxe is accompanied by drumming and shots fired into the air. A violinist rides and plays next to the bride and groom. Upon returning from the pickaxe to the newlyweds' house, the newlywed is treated to beer, and she throws the empty cup over her head. The wedding feast is led by the Kjoekemester (kjokemester) - usually a close relative of the bride or groom chosen for this traditional position. He treats and amuses the guests.

Wedding songs are sung at the table. In the evening, before the wedding night, there is a comic scene of the groom buying the bride's bed. It used to be customary to hang out the wedding sheet the next morning. In the morning, parents and guests give gifts to the newlyweds, and they surround them with beer and vodka. Often a wedding lasts several days. However, the entire wedding ritual is now observed only in rich families, while among the poor, everything is done simpler and more modestly. In working-class families, a wedding comes down to the fact that after registering the marriage and getting married in the kirk, the guests invited to the wedding have dinner with the newlyweds at the festive table and then sing songs and dance.

The birth of a child does not cause such big ceremonies as a wedding. A few days after birth, the child is baptized in a kirk. In rural areas, the pastor and close relatives are then invited to a festive dinner. Norwegians have a custom of giving children the names of grandparents and beloved relatives. In order not to offend anyone, the child is sometimes given two or three names. Large families are found only in rural areas. Most often, even there the number of children does not exceed three, and in cities - one or two.

Norwegians rarely use physical punishment on children. Raising a child in a group of children is highly valued. True, there are few nurseries in the country: there are none at all in enterprises, and public ones are not enough to accommodate the majority of urban children. But, as in past centuries, there is a widespread custom of inviting children from familiar families to your home for the summer and Christmas holidays.

Among peasants, children work in the household from the age of 12-13; among fishermen, from the same age they go to sea with their fathers. At approximately the same age, children of workers and the urban poor begin to earn money by serving in a hotel or store, selling newspapers, etc. Parents do not demand the money they earn. Children usually spend their crowns themselves: on cigarettes, on movies, or learn to save them early.

Modern Norwegian law does not recognize the priority rights of any of the children to inherit real estate. But folk traditions do not put up with this, and the peasants, in one form or another, retain the preemptive right of the eldest son to inherit land and buildings. To avoid conflict with the law, the transfer of real estate occurs, if possible, during the lifetime of the head of the family, immediately after the marriage of the son. True, the heir must obtain his father’s consent to the marriage. If the father is able to manage the household himself and does not want to transfer it to the heir, he has the opportunity to delay this moment for any time or even prohibit the marriage, and if the heir marries against his will, not to transfer the household to him.

Younger sons are preliminarily allocated their share of property in the form of money or livestock, and unmarried daughters are given a dowry. As a rule, real estate is not divided during inheritance, but the heir undertakes to support the brothers and sisters until they reach adulthood. The conditions of this maintenance, agreed upon by precise agreement at the family council, are called kor (kag). Often the transfer of the farm to the eldest son occurs during the wedding itself, after toasts have been drunk to the newlyweds and gifts and congratulations have been accepted. The guests - the owners of neighboring farms - raise the groom in their arms above their heads and say: “We are raising you to the level of the owner.” After this ritual, the old owner transfers the place of honor at the end of the table to his heir, emphasizing with this transfer that from now on both the court and the dignity of the owner will pass to his now married son.

A town usually has several residential buildings. One of them is ceded under the terms of the house to the father and mother, who from now on start their own household there. If there is only one residential building, then a special room is allocated for the old couple. Parents are excluded from managing the household of the city, although they can take some part in general household work.

The death of a person is celebrated in family life much more solemnly than the birth of children, and is associated with many rituals and beliefs. The famous Norwegian ethnographer Christopher Visted ironically noted that peasants prepare for their funerals from a young age. Back in the 19th century. Among the bride's dowry were woven blankets that were used during burial, and the groom's wedding shirt, embroidered by the hands of the bride, was immediately put into a chest after the wedding to be put on this person only at the funeral. Men in their prime prepared coffins for themselves ahead of time, and old people kept malt ready to brew beer for their funerals.

Now many customs are disappearing, but traces of them remain here and there in the mountain valleys, especially in western and southern Norway. Old people still remember funerals games: while the deceased lay in the gorde, the relatives stayed awake at night, and the neighboring youth gathered in the evening at the deceased’s estate and danced here until the morning, with short breaks to sing funeral prayers. When taking the coffin with the deceased to the cemetery, it is carried around the house three times. In the past, the coffin was carried around the hearth. Until the end of the 19th century. the funeral cortege in many rural areas was associated with only two means of transportation: a boat and a sleigh. The coffin was placed on a sleigh even in the summer, and the deceased was not brought into the cemetery through the gate, but dragged through a fence or part of the fence was dismantled.

Some old funeral rites remain, but change their form. In the cities, close relatives of the deceased wear mourning - they dress all in black; men, in addition, sew a black crepe bandage onto their sleeve. In rural areas, women, on the contrary, wear festive dresses, but throw a white veil over the top, covering the head and part of the body, or cover themselves with a white cape, descending from the head to the shoulders.

After the burial, the closest relatives of the deceased are invited to the funeral service. Rich people throw sumptuous funeral dinners, poorer people limit themselves to modest appetizers.

On the seventh day after death, a wake is held, called “grav-el” (gravel), What does "funeral beer" mean?

Political parties and trade unions

Political parties arose quite early in Norway. In 1882, a party of the petty and middle bourgeoisie and bureaucrats emerged - “Venstre” (Left). Two years later, in 1884, representatives of banking circles and the big bourgeoisie formed the Heire (Right) party. The names of the parties reflected the political positions of these groups: the first was a liberal party, the second was consistently reactionary, one occupied the left, the other the right positions of the common front of bourgeois political parties.

In 1887, the Social Democratic Party of Norway arose. Since 1918, under the influence of the October Revolution in Russia, the left movement in this party has strengthened. In 1919 it was admitted to the Communist International. In 1921, right-wing socialists split the party and formed the Workers' Party of Norway (RPN), which left the Communist International. In 1923, the left wing of the Social Democratic Party formed the Communist Party of Norway (KPN).

From 1935 to the present day, except for the years of occupation of the country by the Nazis, the RPN has been constantly in power. In 1951, the opposition so-called Independent Group was formed within the RPN, which ten years later became the Socialist People's Party, fighting under the slogan: “Against the country's atomic weapons, for an active peace policy outside NATO and socialist Norway.” The last part of the slogan of this party is understood as the path to socialism through reforms, through the gradual improvement of the economic situation of the people under capitalism.

Until 1920, the rural bourgeoisie undividedly supported the Heyre party and gave it votes in state elections. In 1920, the rural bourgeoisie founded the Agrarian Party, which united broad sections of the peasantry. In 1933 this party split into two. The most reactionary part of the party - the kulak elements - formed a party of fascist bias called "National Rally" led by Quisling. After the departure of the fascist elements, the Agrarian Party began to adhere to a more leftist orientation. It began to be called the Peasant Party. During the Second World War and the occupation of the country by the Nazis, the Quisling National Rally party was the support of the occupiers.

Even earlier than parties, trade unions emerged in Norway from the 1870s. In 1899, the Norwegian Trade Union Association (NTU) was founded. In 1945, the OPSN joined the World Federation of Trade Unions, but after reaction drew Norway into the aggressive NATO bloc in April 1949, right-wing trade union leaders achieved the transition of the OPSN to the pro-bourgeois International Trade Union Confederation. Currently, more than half a million people are members of Norwegian trade unions. This is the largest association of the country's amateur population.

The leading position in the OPSN is held by the Workers' Party of Norway. It also controls the activities of the Cooperative Association in Agriculture and industry trade union organizations.

Community traditions

Throughout its history, Norway has been a peasant country. She did not know serfdom, and elements of pre-feudal relations show extreme vitality right up to the present day.

Back in the 19th century. everywhere, two types of community existed in parallel: farm community, or courtyard community (gdrdssamfunri), and neighbor's (grannesamfunri). The farm community included all the people who are related or economically related to the owner of the farm - the town. These are his wife, his parents (if the owner inherited the farm during their lifetime), children, brothers and sisters, as well as farm laborers, domestic servants, tenants and the homeless poor or disabled, who, according to the definition of the parish, live as dependents at the peasant's court. The main factor cementing the farm community into one whole was the economic dependence of the members of the farm community on the owner. Norwegian researchers point to the deep patriarchal roots of this government. It was taken for granted that the owner himself makes all decisions and is free to assemble or not to assemble a family council at his own discretion. By the nature of economic relations between people, the farm community was very similar to a large family and can be considered as its surviving form.

The relationship between the nearest household communities and the common rights of these communities to the lands surrounding them - forests, pastures, reservoirs, and often meadows - gave rise to a collective of economically connected neighbors - a neighboring community. In some areas of Norway, even part of the arable land until the 19th century, and in some places even until the beginning of the 20th century. still remained in the neighboring communal property. Even today, communal ownership of some forest areas, fishing rights, and pasture areas in the mountains has been preserved.

Traditions of community mutual assistance have still been preserved in some places, and until the beginning of our century, they existed everywhere. The closest circle of community neighbors - within a settlement or several nearby farmsteads - formed a permanent team, which was bound by the obligation to help organize christenings, weddings or funerals for each family. Such a collective for mutual assistance between closest neighbors has a special name grannelag ( grannelag - association of neighbors).

The same types of assistance were also provided to the family by distant neighbors from other countries, if the help of one was not enough and the family in need of help asked for it. Such an association of distant community members is called belag ( belag - bringing people together by request).

One of the most important community traditions that continues to this day is mutual assistance in labor, or dugnad ( dugnad). Dyugnad can be organized by any community member when he needs more labor than is available on his farm - for spring plowing, sowing, harvesting, etc. It is accepted for help with work, as well as for help in organizing christenings, weddings or participation in funerals then give a treat.

Holidays

The most revered celebrations are Christmas and Easter Until the end of the last century, each time the Christmas holidays were preceded by the feast of St. Lucia (December 13). That morning, the most beautiful girl in a rich house, at the first crow of the rooster, entered the servants' room, dressed in a white dress with a red scarf around her waist and with a metal crown, on which nine candles were burning, on her head. She sang as she served coffee and blessed bread. The holiday marked the introduction of light by Saint Lucia into the dark season - for the Christmas holidays. The name of the saint itself comes from “ lux», « lys», What does "light" mean?

By the beginning of our century, this custom gradually disappeared. But since 1953 it was revived in Oslo on the initiative of the bourgeois newspaper Morgenposten. On December 13, the girl chosen the day before to play the role of Lucia, accompanied by six friends in white dresses, walks through the streets of the city. Saint Lucia's crown has electric lights burning in frosted lanterns shaped like candles. The girls visit orphanages and hospitals in the capital and present Christmas gifts. Then Lucia goes to Stockholm, where Lucias from other Scandinavian countries also come.

The Christmas holiday is called "Yul" (jul). They prepare for Yule several days in advance, sometimes immediately after the feast of St. Lucia - they bake festive bread, prepare gifts for children, prepare a Christmas tree with decorations, slaughter pigs and stuff sausages.

On the eve of the holiday, children place sheaves of unthreshed bread on high poles in the yard so that the sparrows and tits will be well-fed on July Day.

From five o'clock in the evening on December 24, business life ceases throughout the country, shops, theaters, cinemas are closed, and work in factories ceases. In families, when everyone at home has gathered, they sit down to dinner. The festive table is served with fried pork, goose, the national dish - fletegrette porridge, they drink intoxicating drinks, and at the end of the dinner - coffee with Yulekake Christmas cake. Half a century ago, it was customary, according to a long-standing tradition, to bake this cake from flour from the grain of the last sheaf harvested in the field. Some of the yulekake was kept until the first plowing, and the plowman had to eat a piece of cake while sitting on the plow. This seemed to emphasize the continuity between the previous and new harvest. Sometimes the Christmas cake was decorated with baked dough figures of piglets sucking a pig or a hen sitting on eggs (symbols of well-being). These traditions have hardly survived.

Until the end of the 19th century. During the Christmas evening, one of the dinner guests, having gone away secretly, made a stuffed animal out of straw and put it under the table. Such a stuffed animal was called Julesven ( julesuen - Christmas guy). In some areas of Norway, it was customary to dress a straw effigy in men's clothing. On the festive night of December 25, food and a glass of beer were placed next to the scarecrow. And now this custom is found in the mountain valleys of Vestland, but is not fully observed. Norwegians celebrate two days of Christmas - December 25 and 26 - walking, drinking, having fun, and at night, mummers often ride around in sleighs.

To this day, there is a custom of organizing comic processions of mummers on the eve of the New Year, among which there is certainly a julesven; he is portrayed by one of the guys. The mummers carry on a stick the head of a goat stuffed with hay with a long beard made of tow. All these customs indicate that the Christmas holiday was initially associated with some kind of pre-Christian custom, apparently agricultural. The origins of the festival of Lucia are unclear; it is possible that it also arose in pre-Christian times.

At the end of winter they celebrate Maslenitsa - Fastelavn ( fastelavn). For this holiday, round buns are baked with a couple of raisins on each, similar to the Slavic “larks with eyes.”

On one Sunday in March, the largest sports festival of the year is held in Holmenkolen. The all-Norwegian ski jumping competition takes place here, and this spectacle is popular not only among the residents of Oslo; Norwegians come here from different parts of the country.

Easter, like Christmas, is celebrated for two days. All establishments, even entertainment, are closed. Some city dwellers usually go to the mountains or forest. In rural areas, Easter is celebrated at home, inviting relatives and neighbors.

On the night of June 23-24, the day of Santa Hans (St. John) is celebrated. Girls decorate their heads with wreaths of flowers, cut down birch trees are placed in their houses, and the floor is sprinkled with fragrant sedge. Young people jump over lit bonfires and dance around them. Old tar barrels are burned on the banks of rivers and fjords.

There are two national civil holidays in Norway: May 1 and May 17. On May 1, demonstrations are organized throughout the country. The holiday is celebrated both as a holiday of international solidarity of workers and as a holiday of spring and flowers. However, it is more modest than the preceding Easter or the subsequent holiday on May 17, perhaps due to its intermediate position between two major holidays for Norway - religious and state.

Norwegian Independence Day is celebrated on May 17, which commemorates the constitution adopted in 1814 in Eidsvoll. At 10 o'clock in the morning, a procession of schoolchildren begins, among which stand out the columns of high school students graduating from school by this day. They walk in red uniform student caps, the girls are dressed in white dresses and shake rods over their heads - a comic symbol of the school. After the schoolchildren come the adults. The most colorful part of this procession of townspeople is always the column of Bunnelag - a peasant association in which women and girls are dressed in folk costumes of different provinces.

Sports and tourism

The most popular sports are skiing, speed skating and sailing. They have become truly popular. After all, it was Norway (and the north of Scandinavia in general) that was the birthplace of skates and skis - at least sports-type skis, narrow and with a smooth bottom surface. In the mountainous regions of western Norway, folk bone skates - runners - still exist in some places.

Norway has given humanity more than one outstanding world-class skier and speed skater - European and world champions. Norwegians start skiing and skating literally from early childhood. Skiing is a compulsory part of schoolchildren's physical training in every Norwegian town and country school. Over the past two decades, sailing racing, football and especially ice hockey have become increasingly popular in the country.

A fairly popular sport in the country is mountaineering and rock climbing. However, there are no particularly high peaks in Norway itself, although there are many technically complex rock walls several hundred meters high. Therefore, while training in their own country on low peaks and practicing the highest climbing techniques, Norwegians make major sport ascents abroad - in the Alps, in the Danish possession of Greenland and in the Hindu Kush, where they conquered both peaks of Tirac World. But such long ascents are only accessible to the wealthier part of the athletes.

In the last 30 years, especially due to currency difficulties after the war, Norway has opened its doors wide to foreign tourists. An ever-increasing flow of them has rushed into the country. Serving them, providing food, lodging and transportation constituted a whole new branch of the economy. Foreign tourism contributed to the improvement and expansion of the road network, the construction of numerous campsites and mountain huts, and the emergence of a special industry in light industry for the production of tourist equipment. In the last decade, the number of visiting tourists reached 1 million people per year (from Sweden, then from Denmark, England, Germany, the USA, etc.) -