Nobel Peace Center, Oslo

The Nobel Peace Center (Nobels Fredssenter) is a showcase for the Nobel Peace Prize and one of Oslo’s most recognizable sites. Overlooking the city’s harbor, it is located on City Hall Square (Rådhusplassen) near the City Hall, where the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony takes place every year, on December 10, commemorating Alfred Nobel's death.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by a Norwegian committee supported by the Norwegian Nobel Institute, founded in 1904; other Nobel Prizes are awarded in Sweden.

The center opened in 2005 in a ceremony attended by His Majesty King Harald V and the Norwegian Royal Family. Today, this is one of the most popular museums in Norway, receiving annually some 250,000 visitors.

The center is housed in a cream-colored, elegant building constructed in 1872 by architect Georg Andreas Bull. Previously, it served as the Oslo West Railway Station (Oslo Vestbanestasjon). After the station closed in 1989, the building was converted for its current use by British architect David Adjaye; the American designer David Small developed all its hi-tech installations.

The center uses a wide range of multimedia and interactive technology to present information on all the Nobel Peace Prize laureates and their work, as well as the story of Alfred Nobel himself – a renowned physicist, who directed his fortune to fund prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace.

As a part of a network of Nobel institutions, the center hosts regular exhibitions, meetings, debates, and conferences, as well as offers a broad educational program and guided tours.