The
Norwegian national organisation for protecting antique or historical housing and infrastructure. They operate out of
Oslo and is probably one of the most hated goverment branches in Norway. Riksantikvaren has the power to stop any construction work on buildings under it's protection. Even the slightest modification of a protected building requires a
paper trail with a good chance of getting a 'no' answer. Riksantivaren is also responsible for reporting breaches of it's code to the police. Some
people get very hostile towards this agency, and tries to sue them in various ways but fail since the agency are doing an
important but unwanted task. And the public in general thinks its a
Good Idea to stop companies and non-caring individuals from doing whatever they please.
On a personal note; I like them. Even though I couldn't get the big window in my room. I have lived in buildings protected by Riksantikvaren all my life and appreciate the work they do to protect our heritage. My father has a ambivalent relationship towards them, since he's a caprenter and has to put up with a lot of paper work. But in the end, he also think it's a positive thing, since he loves old architecture and restores old houses by hand.
Another example: The University of Oslo has some old buildings downtown. These are protected. One of the buildings is a gym (!). Riksantikvaren has said that playing soccer in the gym is forbidden, because of the risk of smashing the original hand-made windows. Things like running and indoor bandy are allowed. Fair enough, let's play somewhere else.