Ingolf Elster Christensen
Ingolf Elster Christensen ( born March 28, 1872 in Forde, † May 3, 1943 ) was a Norwegian lawyer, officer, official, and a conservative politician.
Life
Christensen comes from a family of officers and officials. He made 1889 in Bergen High School and then went to the Military Academy in Norway, where he graduated in 1893 as an officer. From 1894 to 1896 he served as adjutant in Bergen, then went to Christiania ( today's Oslo ) to study law in record time. He then worked as an assessor of the district judge of Sogn og Fjordane. In 1899 he was admitted as a lawyer. In the same year he went to the Ministry of Defense, where he worked as a captain until 1906. Again, as a lawyer he was, inter alia, Secretary of the Committee for the creation of a new army order (Norway became independent in 1905 ). In 1907 he again went into the Department of Defense, most recently he was department head. In 1910 he became President of the Government of the District Nordre Bergenhus (since January 1, 1919 was the county of Sogn og Fjordane ), he held this office until 1930 held.
Christensen worked on national and military, but also agricultural issues. So he published in 1916 together with his brother, the writer Hjalmar Christensen Scripture Fædrelandet i verdenskrigens lys ( German: The Fatherland in the light of World War II ). Both Norway wanted on the side of the German Reich. In the periods of 1922-1924 and 1925-1927 he was a member of the Høyre in the Storting. Here he sat down one and Others against cuts in the defense budget under the government Mockwinckels. He himself was from the March 5, 1926 Minister of Justice in the government of Ivar Lykke. After a cabinet reshuffle on 26 July 1926 he was Minister of Defense until the end of the government on January 1928. 28th 1930 he took over the President of the Government of Oslo and Akershus.
As 1940, the German Reich invaded under the company Weserübung Norway and King Haakon VII and the government fled from Oslo, he remained in the capital. After Vidkun Quisling had proclaimed a government with himself at the helm, took the remaining also in Oslo judges of the Supreme Court, the initiative to create an alternative. With the support of the German Ambassador Curt Bräuer the Administrasjonsrådet on 15 April 1940 it was used. Christensen was its chairman. His experiences as a civil servant and not least its explicit pro-German attitude were probably the main reasons that made him a candidate for this position. Likewise, he was considered a favorite for the presidency of a rival government to the fled out of the country the Prime Minister Johan Nygaardsvold. This possibility has been considered with the kingdom Josef Terboven in the so-called Imperial Council negotiations. Involved were judges of the Supreme Court and the majority of the Presidium of the Storting. Also Christensen was involved in the background of these negotiations and is said to have repeatedly brought back to life. Ultimately, the negotiations broke down and Terboven sat on September 25, 1940 called kommissariske statsråder ( German title: Provisional Councils of State ), which almost all of the Nasjonal Samling (NS) belonged. This was also the end of the Administrasjonsrådets and the political end for its Chairman Christensen. In 1941 he was replaced as President of the Government of the NS - man Edward Stenersen. The last years of his life were spent in seclusion at the family farm in Forde.
Honors
Ingolf Elster Christensen was beaten in 1912 Knight of the Order of St. Olav, and was a member of the French Legion of Honour. As he campaigned for the very Flåmsbana, stands at Flåm Train Station is a monument in his honor.