Evjemoen was a Norwegian

military camp A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent military base, for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or operations, and often have the form of large cam ...

in use from 1912 to 2002. The camp lies south of the village of

Evje Evje is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1877 until 1960. It was located in what is now the eastern part of the present-day municipality of Evje og Hornnes in the Setesdal valley of ...

Evje og Hornnes Evje og Hornnes is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Setesdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Evje. Other villages in the municipality include Åneland, Dåsn ...

municipality in

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

county. From 1953 to 1995, Evjemoen was used as a training area for the ''Infanteriets øvingsavdeling II (IØ2)''. The camp was retired in December 2002.

History

Evjemoen was established in 1912 for the Rogaland Infantry Regiment (IR8) during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Germans occupied and enlarged the camp. Evjemoen served as a Norwegian military camp and a boot camp for the

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

until the closure in 2002. In 1979-1980, the future

Norwegian prime minister The prime minister of Norway (, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government department heads) are coll ...

and

Secretary General of NATO The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance with 32 member states. The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinat ...

Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (; born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. Since 2025, he has been the Minister of Finance in the Støre Cabinet. He has previously been the prime minister of Norway and secretary general of NATO. ...

served his

military conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

at Evjemoen.

Environment

Evjemoen lies in the

Setesdal Setesdal (; older name: Sætersdal) is a valley and a traditional district in Agder County in southern Norway. It consists of the municipalities of Bykle, Valle, Bygland, Iveland, and Evje og Hornnes. The Otra river flows through the val ...

valley about north of

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...

, on the flat plain at the east side of

Otra The Otra is the largest river in the Sørlandet region of Norway. It begins in Setesdalsheiene mountains at the lake Breidvatnet in Bykle municipality in Agder county, just south of the border with Vinje municipality in Telemark county. The r ...

river.

Timeline

* 1912–1918: Evjemoen established. It was tied to the

Setesdal Line The Setesdal Line () was a railway between Kristiansand and Byglandsfjord in southern Norway, long. It was built with a narrow gauge of , and opened to Hægeland 26 November 1895, and to Byglandsfjord 27 November 1896. Stations along the line ...

for rail service. * 1921–1939: Evjemoen was used as a training and drill center. * 1940–1945: The Germans occupied and expanded the camp using Russian prisoners of war. The Russians were quartered in the original Norwegian camp. * 2002: camp closed.

External links

Landsverneplan for Forsvaret (Evjemoen)
{{coord, 58, 33, 48, N, 7, 46, 54, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-nowiki, display=title Norwegian Army bases Setesdal Military installations in Agder Evje og Hornnes