{"id":292326,"date":"2025-10-10T16:03:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T16:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/292326\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T16:03:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T16:03:18","slug":"norways-crown-prince-haakon-joins-new-yorkers-to-celebrate-200-years-of-norwegian-american-heritage-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/292326\/","title":{"rendered":"Norway\u2019s Crown Prince Haakon joins New Yorkers to celebrate 200 years of Norwegian American heritage \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

On July 4, 1825, 52 Norwegians, many of them Quakers seeking religious freedom, boarded a ship named Restauration in Stavanger, Norway. They arrived in New York City on Oct. 9, 1825, laying the foundation for the 800,000 Norwegians who would immigrate to the United States over the next 200 years.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, exactly two centuries later, H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and hundreds of Norwegian Americans \u2014 some wearing bunad, the traditional Norwegian costume \u2014 gathered at Pier 16 by the South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan to witness the arrival of a replica of the Restauration.<\/p>\n

The ship completed a three-month voyage retracing the original route from Norway to England, across Madeira and the British Virgin Islands, before reaching its final destination in New York City \u2014 a journey linking past and present.<\/p>\n

\"\"H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway waves at the replica of the Restauration at the bicentennial celebration of Norwegian immgrants at Pier 16 in New York City. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann \"\"The replica of the Restauration arrives for the bicentennial celebration of Norwegian immgrants at Pier 16 in New York City. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

The visit to New York City marked the last leg of Crown Prince Haakon\u2019s four-day trip to the United States, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the first organized Norwegian emigration to America.<\/p>\n

The prince, who visited Iowa on Monday and Minnesota on Tuesday and Wednesday \u2014 where he met with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz \u2014 told the crowd that the journey begun 200 years ago told stories of hope, disappointment, success and challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut above all, they bear witness to the generations of Norwegians who were inspired to seek a new life of freedom and possibility,\u201d Prince Haakon said, noting the vast contributions Norwegian Americans have made to the United States. \u201cThey brought with them values that still hold today: hard work, humility and a strong sense of fellowship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond celebrating the deep cultural and historical ties between the U.S. and Norway, the trip also promoted cooperation in business, education and culture.\n<\/p>\n

Prince Haakon told Brooklyn Paper that the United States remains an important ally and that the millions of Americans with Norwegian heritage provide a strong foundation for the relationship between the two countries. Fun fact: At one point, New York City\u2019s Norwegian community was the third-largest Norwegian-speaking population in the world, after Oslo and Bergen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many things that we cooperate on,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are many American companies in Norway that are doing very good work there. And there are many Norwegian companies working together with American companies here. There are many links. \u201c<\/p>\n

New York City Commissioner for International Affairs Aissata Camara, who joined the festivities alongside Norway\u2019s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide and Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth at Pier 16, said that with the arrival of the Restauration, Norwegian immigrants became part of America\u2019s \u2014 and New York City\u2019s \u2014 story, built by dreamers from every corner of the globe.<\/p>\n

\"\"From left: NYC Commissioner for International Affairs Aissate Camara and H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann \"\"Norwegian Americans celebrated 200 years of of Norwegian immigration at Pier 16 in New York City. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York City was and remains the gateway to new beginnings,\u201d Camara said. \u201cEvery generation of immigrants \u2014 from Norway, from Africa, from Asia, from Latin America \u2014 has built this city with their hands, with their hearts and their belief in what is possible. Our diversity is not a challenge; it is our greatest strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the Norwegian cultural celebration in downtown Manhattan, which included traditional Norwegian food, literature, music and historical exhibitions, the prince and his entourage boarded a ferry to Brooklyn for a meet-and-greet with the coaches and players of the Gj\u00f8a soccer club at the Red Hook soccer fields.<\/p>\n

At the IKEA ferry terminal in Red Hook, a delegation from the NYPD Vikings Association, led by Inspector Jason Hagestad, the association\u2019s president, welcomed the prince to Brooklyn and accompanied him to the soccer fields before presenting him with a Vikings Association T-shirt.<\/p>\n

\"\"From left: NYPD Inspector Jason P. Hagestad, president of the NYPD Vikings Association; Norway\u2019s Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth; H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway; and Norway\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide attend the bicentennial celebration of Norwegian immigrants in Red Hook. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Founded by Norwegian immigrants in 1911, Gj\u00f8a is the oldest continuously operating soccer club in the United States. Its young players were pleasantly surprised by how down-to-earth and approachable the prince was \u2014 including 10-year-old teammates Nils and Alex, who chatted with the majesty.<\/p>\n

Nils, who speaks Swedish, said he enjoyed talking with someone who speaks a similar language.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was really nice. He gave off some really nice vibes,\u201d Nils said. \u201cI was happy he even took time to talk with any other players, because he could have just been like, \u2018No, I\u2019m not gonna come to New York and I\u2019m not gonna talk with these players.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Gj\u00f8a player Nils said the Prince gave off some really nice vibes. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann \"\"Crown Prince Haakon of Norway met with players of the Gj\u00f8a soccer club. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Alex added, \u201cThe prince was really cool, [and] it was really cool meeting him.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Soccer mom Rachel told Brooklyn Paper she appreciated how generous the prince was with his time and that the kids were \u201cinsanely excited\u201d to meet him.\n<\/p>\n

\u201c[The kids] asked if they were famous now because they met royalty, and he\u2019s just so lovely and human and talkative with the kids \u2014 it\u2019s been really nice,\u201d Rachel said.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"A player of the Gj\u00f8a soccer club presents Crown Prince Haakon of Norway with a shirt bearing his name. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann \"\"Crown Prince Haakon of Norway met with players of the Gj\u00f8a soccer club. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Anne Kari, who has visited Norway and even toured the Royal Palace in Oslo, told Brooklyn Paper it was a special experience.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great, because I never met the king of Norway,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

Her mom, Diana, said many generations of their Norwegian family had emigrated to the United States, and meeting the prince was very \u201cmeaningful.\u201d Diana\u2019s grandparents met Prince Haakon\u2019s grandfather, King Olav V, while she herself had organized an event for King Harald and Queen Sonja and once saw the prince in Lillehammer, Norway.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, even in the diaspora here in the U.S., it\u2019s three generations \u2014 we keep these ties, and we just love the royal family so much. We\u2019re proud of them,\u201d Diana said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On July 4, 1825, 52 Norwegians, many of them Quakers seeking religious freedom, boarded a ship named Restauration…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":292327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,1121,149744,149745,149746,409,149747,405,403,149748,5226,5225,149749,149750,5228,5227,149751,149752,149753,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-292326","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-foreign-minister-espen-barth-eide","11":"tag-gju00f8a-soccer-club","12":"tag-h-r-c-crown-prince-haakon-of-norway","13":"tag-immigration","14":"tag-minister-for-trade-and-industry-cecilie-myrseth","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-city","17":"tag-new-york-citys-commissioner-for-international-affairs-aissata-camara","18":"tag-newyork","19":"tag-newyorkcity","20":"tag-norwegian-american","21":"tag-norwegian-immigrants","22":"tag-ny","23":"tag-nyc","24":"tag-pier-16","25":"tag-restauration","26":"tag-south-street-seaport","27":"tag-united-states","28":"tag-united-states-of-america","29":"tag-unitedstates","30":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","31":"tag-us","32":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}