The Nobel Peace Center

The Nobel Peace Center

At the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo you can find out about all the prize winners and the father of the Peace Prize, Alfred Nobel. The center focuses on topics relating to war, peace and conflict resolution - in Norway as well as abroad. At the heart it is the Nobel Field, a "garden" of 1,000 blinking fibre optic lights where all the Peace Prize laureates throughout the years are presented on digital screens. 

There are changing exhibitions and modern, technological installations about war, peace and resolving conflict. The center also hosts a number of events, including lectures and open meetings, seminars and discussions (many of them in English), a wide range of cultural and artistic manifestations, as well as activities for children.

The Nobel Peace Prize

In October each year the eyes of the world turn to Norway and Oslo, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded. This gives Norway a unique opportunity to put peace on the international agenda. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by a committee of five people, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, chosen by the Norwegian Parliament.

Two months later, on 10 December, the Norwegian Royal family and the cream of Norwegian society gather in Oslo Town Hall for the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, a tradition dating back to 1905. The event itself is by invitation only, although proceedings are shown live on TV.

A total of 101 individuals have received the Nobel Peace Prize, 86 men and 15 women, since its inception in 1901, and 23 prizes have gone to organisations. Fridtjof Nansen is the most famous Norwegian to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, which he received in 1922 for his humanitarian work on behalf of refugees after the World War I.