Gulbrand Lunde: Minister of Culture and Public Information (1941-1942)

(14 September 1901 – 25 October 1942)

• SPEECHES AND LECTURES OF GULBRAND LUNDE
• ARTICLES OF GULBRAND LUNDE

Lunde studied at the ETH Zurich in Zürich, Switzerland, and at the University of Freiburg in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. In 1925 he received a doctorate in chemistry in Germany. In 1927 he was employed at the chemistry department at the University of Oslo in Oslo, Norway. In 1929 he turned down two offers of professorships to become the director of the Hermetikkindustriens Laboratorium (English: Canning Industry Laboratory) in Stavanger, Norway. He was central to the development of the Norwegian canning industry and wrote a number of scientific treatises on biochemistry and on vitamins. 

Lunde quickly distinguished himself as a keen supporter of Vidkun Quisling and was one of the first members of Quisling′s political party, Nasjonal Samling. He participated in the establishment of Nasjonal Samling in Stavanger in 1933 and was active in the election campaign the same autumn. He was one of Nasjonal Samling′s foremost speakers and was an efficient administrator. In 1934, he was elected as a municipal council representative in Stavanger when the party received 12 percent of the vote. In 1935 he became Nasjonal Samling′s head of propaganda and authored a number of writings and publications. Nasjonal Samling performed poorly in elections in 1936 and Lunde then spent more time on work and family.

On 9 April 1940, Quisling attempted a coup against Norway's Nygaardsvold government and appointed Lunde minister of social affairs in what is referred to as Quisling′s First Cabinet, but Lunde declined the position. The coup failed after six days, and on 15 April 1940 the Supreme Court of Norway replaced Quisling′s First Cabinet with a seven-member Administrative Council (Norwegian: Administrasjonsrådet) to govern Norway. On 24 April 1940 Josef Terboven became the German Reichskommissar of Norway, and the Norwegian campaign ended on 10 June 1940 in the German conquest of Norway, with the Nygaardsvold government becoming Norway's government-in-exile.

On 25 September 1940, Terboven proclaimed the deposition of King Haakon VII of Norway and the Nygaardsvold government-in-exle, banned all political parties in Norway other than Nasjonal Samling, and replaced the Administrative Council by appointing a group of 11 Nasjonal Samling members to help him govern Norway as kommissariske statsråder (English: provisional councilors of state), with a goal of eventually establishing a collaborationist Norwegian government under Nasjonal Samling. Lunde was among the officials Terboven appointed that day, becoming acting minister of culture and public Information. A year later, on 25 September 1941, Terboven gave the 11 councilors the title of "minister." On 1 February 1942, the collaborationist Quisling regime was established as Den nasjonale regjering of Norway, technically replacing direct German civil administration of the country, although in practice Terboven continued to govern Norway. Lunde continued to serve as minister of culture and public information in the Quisling regime.

As minister of culture and public information, Lunde tried to gain control over intellectual life in Norway. Through speeches and lectures, he drew cultural historical lines from the Viking Age up to his own time to substantiate his opinions about the development of the Norwegian nation. 

Death

At 20:30 on 25 October 1942, Lunde, his wife Marie, and county manager for Bergen-Hordaland Christian Astrup departed Ålesund in a car driven by Hirden member Rolf Brennford for a journey that required a ferry passage on the Romsdalsfjord to Eidsbygda and on to Åndalsnes. The car arrived at the ferry terminal at Våge in Veøy in Romsdal at approximately 22:00. While Lunde and his wife slept in the back seat, Brennford got out of the car. The ferry, guarded by two German officers, started its engine to move a little closer to the quay, but instead it moved away from shore, causing the car to roll forward and plunge into the 5-metre (16.4 ft) deep water. Astrup escaped from the sinking car, but Lunde and his wife drowned. The incident led to an order to install booms at ferry terminals to prevent similar accidents. 

A large memorial service was held in Oslo for Lunde and his wife on 1 November 1942. They were cremated, and their urns later were placed at Hopperstad Stave Church near Vikøyri in Vik, Norway.

Family

Lunde was born in Bergen in what was then Sweden-Norway, the son of architect Sigurd Lunde (1874–1936) and Inga Grue (1870–1948). He was raised in Bergen. On 6 March 1929, he married Marie Honoria Halling Wulfsberg (26 August 1907–25 October 1942).