This building housed the town’s prison. It was originally an outbuilding on the property. The main building, one of the town’s largest properties, served as town hall from 1733, with both court room and police station.
The outbuilding had been built around 1700 and was rebuilt as a prison around 1800. Remanded prisoners were no longer to be thrown into the dark and damp town hall cellar, but have cells with bunks, coarse woolen blankets and fresh straw.
The new prison had several cells. Those on the ground floor were used for the unruly, for drunkards, women and ordinary citizens. The census of 1801 lists five women and eight men as being imprisoned here.
Hans Nielsen Hauge (1771-1824)
The lay preacher Hans Nielsen Hauge was imprisoned from 1804 to 1811. During that time he was kept isolated from the other prisoners in a loft room.
Hauge, who came from Østfold County, preached sermons in opposition to the laws of Denmark-Norway that forbade religious meetings held without the permission of the local clergyman. He worked as a preacher all over Norway in the years 1796-1804, and wrote a large number of religious works at this same time. He was an inventive organizer of many types of businesses, from publishing houses to paper factories to salt works.
Because authorities could not allow a layman to work as a religious leader, he was arrested and jailed several times. He was finally convicted in 1813 and sentenced to two years hard labor. This was later commuted to a large fine.