Foundations in Norway Foundations in Norway Foundations in Norway (Norwegian: Bokmål: "stiftelse"; Nynorsk: "stifting") are independent i.e. self-owning juridical entities disposing assets that have been given by will, gift or other juridical dispositions for one or more purposes. There are approximately 7,600 foundations in Norway. Based on a total capital of nearly 100 billion crowns, foundations possess and control assets of estimated 200–300 billions. They constitute a small but economically important contribution to Norway's social and cultural life and to sports, education, and science. Norwegian foundations partly employ and partly engage approximately 35,500 individuals. Most foundations are located in the capital Oslo (the
Aristocracy of Norway the 1970s and 2000. During parts of the Romantic Nationalist epoch and the subsequent worshipping of Vikings, when it was popular and/or gave a particular high status to demonstrate descent from the 'real' (i.e. Medieval, non-foreign) noble families and kings of Norway, fraudulent pedigrees flourished. This was the case also during the illegitimate National Unification rule during Germany's occupation of Norway (1940–1945). The medieval aristocracy called themselves hird and later ‘free men’ likewise as commoners were called ‘unfree’. Knights were gathered in a particular class known as the Knighthood (), which stood above what was called ‘ordinary nobility’ (). The