Sentralanlegget is the war headquarter of the Norwegian government. The facility is located in Hole

Hole, Norway

Hole is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Ringerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vik. Hole is located around lake Tyrifjorden and extends to the woodland around Oslo...

 municipality in Buskerud

Buskerud

is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.-Geography:...

 County, and designed as an underground shelter in the west side of the mountain Kongens utsikt. The purpose of this is to avoid a direct hit from a nuclear missile from the east.

History

Sentralanlegget was built by the civil defense

Civil defense

Civil defense, civil defence or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation, and recovery...

 authority during the 60s.
The cold war and the threats represented by the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 made it necessary to build a facility where members of the Norwegian Royal Family

Norwegian Royal Family

The Royal Family of Norway is the family of King Harald V of Norway. In Norway there is a distinction between the Royal House and the Royal Family. The Royal House includes only the King and his spouse, the Queen, the King's eldest son with spouse, being the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and the...

, members of the government and other key personnel could evacuate to in case of a military attack on the nation. Hole municipality was chosen due to its massive mountain range, ideal for an underground shelter, and because of its relative proximity to the governmental offices and the Royal Palace in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. The end of the Cold war marked a change in the threats against Norway, as the neighboring Soviet Union no longer existed. Seen in the light of the modern world, this facility is now in many terms outdated. Nevertheless, it is still operative and can be used if the situation should prove it necessary. During the 80s the Norwegian government built a new, smaller and more modern war headquarter in a bunker under the governmental offices in Oslo. This, though, can not accommodate a larger number of persons for a longer time.

Function

Sentralanlegget has two main entrances located some three hundred meters apart. From these, tunnels lead to the facility inside the mountain.
Sentralanlegget can accommodate 600 persons for months, and includes a hospital, restaurant/bar, communication central, conference rooms, situation room, private rooms for members of the government and the royal family and storage rooms for supplies. The facility is self contained with power, water, air and food. It is the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning

Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning

The Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning is a Norwegian government agency under the Minister of Justice and the Police...

that is responsible for the daily operation of Sentralanlegget. The Ministry of Justice and the Police and the Prime Ministers Office are also involved.

Secrecy

Due to the sensitive nature of such a facility, location and technical details are classified. The entrances are digitally removed from aerial photos in Norwegian internet search engines. During the 80s, journalists in a newspaper for a leftist non-violence organisation were threatened with legal action by the Prime Ministers Office if they published a story on the facility. In April 2010 Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation reported that phone numbers, address, and the number of employees could be found in Norwegian search engines and phone catalogs. All information was provided by the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning, most likely caused by a human error. Journalists also found technical drawings and lists of security cleared personnel lying open for everyone in the Norwegian state archive. These were later withdrawn.