Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon visits Minnesota to mark 200 years of emigration to the US

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon visited Minnesota on Tuesday as part of a tour marking the 200th anniversary of organized emigration from his homeland to the United States, highlighting the deep connections between the two countries.

The Upper Midwest has some of the largest concentrations of Scandinavian Americans in the U.S., and Minnesota has well over 800,000 residents who claim Norwegian ancestry, according to state demographers. That's more than any other state. Nearly 5 million North Americans have Norwegian roots.

The crown prince began the day in Minneapolis at Norway House, which brings contemporary Norway to the U.S. through arts, commerce and culture. He was greeted by a large crowd, including women, girls and boys wearing colorful traditional bunad costumes, and others clad in more modern Norwegian sweaters.

“For generations, the United States and Norway have stood side by side,” he said at a business summit. “Building on this partnership, we can continue to develop solutions that are sustainable, innovative and future-oriented.”

Haakon also cut a ribbon to open Norway House’s new Saga Center. It’s an immersive, interactive exhibit for families to explore their connections with Norway, where they can also navigate 3D outdoor and urban landscapes to learn about the country’s friluftsliv (outdoor life) and byliv (city life).

Haakon then went to the state Capitol in nearby St. Paul to meet with Gov. Tim Walz, who said his state takes deep pride in its Norwegian heritage, calling it "foundational to what we are as Minnesotans.”

The crown prince noted that a third of Norway's population left in the first 100 years of mass emigration, with 800,000 heading to the U.S.

“Some people, analysts have had a theory that everyone with any initiative left for the United States in that period," Haakon told reporters, jokingly. “I hope that for those of us who stayed, that’s not entirely true. ... I think, in Norway, we developed at the same time. And today there’s very much a benefit from that history, because, of course, bonds between nations (are) bonds between persons, people.”

The crown prince’s agenda also included a visit to Mindekirken, the Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church in Minneapolis, which still holds services in Norwegian. Haakon's mother, Queen Sonja, visited the church in 2022 for its 100th anniversary.

Haakon also has a visit set for Wednesday to St. Olaf College in Northfield, a school south of Minneapolis that was founded by Norwegian immigrants and has hosted several royal visits.

Haakon began his tour Monday at Vesterheim, a museum in Decorah, Iowa, that tells the story of Norwegian immigrants. He met there with three descendants of people who arrived on the Restauration, a ship carrying 52 Norwegians that left July 4, 1825, from Stavanger. One traveler gave birth on the long voyage, so 53 arrived in New York.

The Crossings 200 commemorations shift east on Thursday, the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the Restauration in New York. Haakon is due to to welcome a replica of the sloop when it sails into Pier 16, by the South Street Seaport Museum, where a Norwegian cultural celebration will also take place.

The crown prince's trip to America comes as support at home for the Norwegian royals has been tested.

Not making this trip due to a lung ailment is Crown Princess Mette-Marit, whose nonroyal son from a previous relationship, Marius Borg Høiby, was indicted in August on charges that included rape.

Haakon's sister, Princess Märtha Louise, raised eyebrows when she married an American self-professed shaman last fall. Norwegian news reports say Netflix documentary on their courtship and wedding, “Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story,” which premiered last month, ruffled some royal feathers.