Morokulien

About

Morokulien (/mʊrʊˈkʉːliən/), also known as Fredsriket ("The Republic of Peace"), is a 6-hectare (15-acre) symbolic area on the Norway–Sweden border. A peace monument was erected there in 1914 to mark a century of peace between the two countries, and in 1959 the site became the ceremonial microstate of Morokulien during a joint Swedish–Norwegian radio broadcast. The site is widely regarded as the world's first transboundary peace park. In 2025, Morokulien became home to the world's first bi-national police station, jointly staffed by Norwegian and Swedish officers. The area functions as a cross-border tourist destination and cultural gathering place — hosting concerts, cultural events, ceremonies, and political meetings — and serves as a living symbol of the Nordic peace tradition and of cross-border cooperation between Norway and Sweden.

Morokulien lies between the Norwegian village of Magnor and the Swedish village of Eda glasbruk. Magnor is within Eidskog Municipality in Innlandet, Norway, and Eda glasbruk is within Eda Municipality in Värmland, Sweden. Morokulien is approximately 111 kilometres (69 mi) east of Oslo and 427 kilometres (265 mi) west of Stockholm.

The site lies where Norway's Route 2 meets Sweden's Riksväg 61 [ sv ], the main road between the two capital cities, and where the Kongsvinger Line and Värmland Line railways cross the border. This corridor has been the principal route between the two capitals since the late 17th century: the Vinger Royal Road, the first road suitable for wheeled traffic between Kristiania (now Oslo) and Stockholm, crossed the border between Magnor and Eda glasbruk. These transportation routes give the site both geographical and symbolic significance.

The area lies within the demilitarized zone established by the Karlstad Convention [ sv ] of 1905 following the peaceful dissolution of the Swedish–Norwegian Union. The border crossing at Magnor was also the route taken by Swedish forces on 1 August 1814 during the last armed conflict between the two countries, a historical association that influenced the choice of location for the monument.

Following the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, Sweden attempted to enforce the transfer of Norway from Denmark. Norwegian forces repelled Swedish troops in battles near Magnor, including Lier, Matrand and Skotterud. The conflict ended with the Convention of Moss, and the two countries entered a personal union under a shared monarch.

Tensions persisted until Norway peacefully dissolved the union in 1905. War was narrowly avoided, largely through the efforts of the Svenska Freds- och Skiljedomsföreningen ( Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society ). The resulting Karlstad Convention established a demilitarized border zone in which Morokulien lies today.

In 1914, marking the centenary of the 1814 conflict and the peace that followed, Swedish and Norwegian peace movements jointly funded and erected a monument on the border between Magnor and Eda. The surrounding 6 hectares (15 acres) of land, later known as Morokulien, came to be regarded as the world's first transboundary peace park.

The idea for the Peace Monument ( Swedish : Fredsmonumentet ) was proposed by Knut Sandstedt, executive secretary of the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, at the Nordic Peace Congress in Stockholm in 1910 and approved at a subsequent congress in Kristiania in 1912. The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society and Norges Fredslag [ no ] (Norwegian Peace League) purchased 2 hectares (4.9 acres) of land on each side of the border, forming the core of what would later expand into the present 6-hectare (15-acre) site.

Fundraising was difficult, and the Swedish government initially refused to contribute. In total, 26,500 kronor was collected — a considerable sum at the time. The Swedish parliament eventually approved a grant only after the inauguration had taken place. Architect Lars Johan Lehming [ sv ] designed the monument and worked without pay; he later lost his position at the Swedish defense bureau because of his involvement. The structure was built from grey granite quarried at Idefjorden and transported free of charge by the Norwegian State Railways.

The monument stands 14.83 metres (48.7 ft) tall and consists of two granite pillars rising from a shared base that straddles the national boundary. The pillars symbolize the two nations, separate and independent yet rooted in a common foundation. At the top, two sculpted figures representing Norway and Sweden clasp hands across sheaves of grain, symbolizing peace, brotherhood and shared culture.

One inscription, facing the railway, quotes King Oscar I, the King of Sweden and Norway from 1844 to 1859: "Henceforth shall war between Scandinavian brothers be impossible." Another, facing the Peace Square ( Norwegian : Fredsplassen ; Swedish : Fredsplatsen ), reads: "Norwegian and Swedish peace activists built this monument in 1914 in gratitude for 100 years of peace."

The inauguration on 16 August 1914 drew approximately 12,000 people, four times the number expected, including 60 Norwegian and 10 Swedish members of parliament. Speakers included Jørgen Løvland, President of the Norwegian parliament (the Storting ); Bishop Knut Henning Gezelius von Schéele [ sv ] of Sweden; and Carl Sundblad, a founder and then vice-chairman of the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, who had been one of the initiators of the monument project and a signatory of the 1913 public appeal that funded it. The outbreak of the First World War just weeks earlier cast a shadow over the event.

During the Second World War, the monument stood partly in German-occupied Norway. German forces respected the site, and it became one of the few places where Norwegian–Swedish couples could marry and cross the border to begin their lives together. The forested border region of Finnskogen, including areas around Morokulien, formed part of a network of clandestine routes used by Norwegian resistance members, supported by contacts and helpers on the Swedish side of the border, to move refugees and intelligence into neutral Sweden while evading German occupation forces. In the summer of 1945, shortly after the end of the war, 13,000 people gathered at Peace Square to hear Swedish diplomat Folke Bernadotte speak about his efforts to secure the release of prisoners from German concentration camps.

Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme and Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, 1983 Visitor guide Christina Öster between the speakers of parliaments Per Westerberg (Sweden) and Olemic Thommessen (Norway), 2014 The centenary of the monument's inauguration was marked on 16 August 2014 by ceremonies attended by the speakers of both national parliaments, Per Westerberg and Olemic Thommessen. A Peace Bell donated by the World Peace Bell Park in Hwacheon, South Korea, was unveiled as part of a "triangle for peace" linking Hwacheon, Oslo and Morokulien.

The monument underwent major restoration between 2019 and 2021, funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Region Värmland, Innlandet County, and the municipalities of Eda, Eidskog and Filipstad, at a total cost of approximately ten million Swedish kronor. The restored monument was re-inaugurated on 25 September 2021 in a ceremony attended by representatives of the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society and around 100 guests from both countries.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Peace Square became a meeting point for those separated by border closures. In August 2020, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, unable to cross into Norway due to travel restrictions, met Norwegian researcher Per Espen Stoknes at the border line to record an interview for a BBC documentary series. Observing COVID-19 distancing rules, they leaned back and briefly tapped shoes across the border rather than shaking hands, a gesture that also meant neither party crossed into the other country.

On 10 September 2025, a joint Norwegian–Swedish police station was inaugurated at Morokulien by Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway. Described as the first bi-national police station in the world, it is staffed by officers from both countries and is intended to strengthen cooperation on cross-border crime prevention, emergency response and public safety. The opening ceremony was attended by the justice ministers and national police commissioners of both countries. The station has a line on the floor marking the national boundary. Outside is an art installation by Norwegian artist Julius Karoubi comprising two mosaic-covered concrete sculptures, one on each side of the border, incorporating glass from Magnor Glassverk and Eda Glasmuseum [ sv ].

Built in 1996, the Morokulien Information Center is one of the few buildings in the world constructed directly over a national border. Its construction required special permission from both governments as an exception to treaty regulations governing the border zone. A glass line marks the boundary inside the building. The Information Center has a shared post office with the Norwegian postcode 2242 and Swedish postcode 673 93. At the entrance, a Norwegian letterbox stands on the right and a Swedish letterbox on the left, allowing visitors to post letters bearing stamps from either country.

The building houses a gift shop, tourist information services for both countries, and the offices of Grensetjänsten Norge–Sverige, a permanent cross-border advisory service established in 1997. Grensetjänsten provides guidance on taxation, social insurance, employment law and related issues for people who live in one country and work in the other. In 2024 it handled more than 16,000 inquiries and its website received around 300,000 visits. It forms part of the Nordic Council of Ministers ' framework for freedom of movement.

Grensstua (literally "border cottage"; Swedish : Gränsstugan ) on the Norwegian side houses the Morokulien amateur radio station, operated by ARIM (Amatörradio i Morokulien) since 1968. The station operates under call signs SJ9WL (Sweden) and LG5LG (Norway). Operators staying for several days must daily alternate the call. Since becoming active, operators and visitors have made more than 2.3 million contacts worldwide. The cottage can be rented by visiting radio amateurs, with proceeds funding licenses for people with disabilities. ARIM organizes an annual Morokulien HAM Day each August, held on the weekend closest to 16 August, the anniversary of the monument's inauguration.