Norway Opens New Memorial for Victims of Deadly 2011 Far-Right Terrorist Attack
by Shiryn Ghermezian
The opening of the national memorial site at Johan Nygaardsvolds plass in the government quarter, in Oslo, Norway, July 19, 2026. Photo: Reuters
A new, permanent national memorial was unveiled in Oslo, Norway, on Sunday for the 77 victims of the country’s deadliest peacetime terrorist attack nearly 15 years after it took place.
On July 22, 2011, Norwegian far-right extremist Anders Breivik detonated a car bomb in Oslo that killed eight people before he went on a shooting spree at a youth camp on the island of Utøya, where he killed another 69, mostly teenagers. Hundreds of others were injured.
The memorial, called “Upholding,” features a large blue steel frame that supports a massive mosaic comprised of around 300,000 individual stone tiles that depict a small wading bird, as well as reeds and branches. The design was reportedly inspired by the landscape around Lake Tyrifjorden near Utøya,, and the names of all 77 victims of the attack are engraved on the memorial. The structure is located in Oslo’s newly built Government Quarter, close to the location of the bomb explosion that started the 2011 attack. It was created by artist Matias Faldbakken, who said he had seen the bird on the island of Utøya, according to the BBC.
Survivors and relatives of the attack’s victims gathered in Oslo on Sunday for the memorial’s unveiling ceremony, which was also attended by Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and government officials. Haakon additionally visited 22 July Centre, a new commemorative and education centre in Oslo dedicated to the attacks. There is also a permanent mainland memorial at Utøyakaia, which opened in 2022, that commemorates the July 22 attacks.
In 2012, Breivik was sentenced to 21 years in jail. The mass murderer has failed over the years to challenge the terms of his sentence and get parole, and was also unsuccessful when he sued the Norwegian government in 2024 in an effort to end his isolation in prison.
