The building we now stand outside opened in 1935 as a state archive. Jakob Johan Sigfrid Friis worked at the time as a state archivist. At the outbreak of the war, Friis removed documents from the building before the German forces occupied it. The Arkivet was an attractive facility to occupying forces, with its proximity to the harbor and the city center and many rooms divided by thick walls. The State Archive was occupied by German troops on 10 April 1940 and used by German anti-aircraft soldiers until January 1942, when the building became Gestapo headquarters for Southern Norway. The name ‘The Arkivet’ followed the building into the war years. (Source of image:https://www.fanger.no/prisoncamps/982)