After midnight on January 14th, 1814, the Treaty of Kiel was signed and concluded peace between the dual monarchy of Denmark-Norway on the one hand, and Sweden and England on the other. Denmark's alliance with Napoleon had resulted in bitter defeat and the loss of Norway – the greatest territorial loss in Denmark’s history. The Swedish and Danish kings signed the treaties, which have been hidden away in the respective national archives ever since. Norway, not a party to the treaty, never received a copy of the splendid document that so decisively determined its modern history.
As part of Norway’s 2014 bicentennial celebrations, the Norwegian Storting (Parliament) ordered an exact 1:1 replica of the original treaty in 2013 from the Danish Royal Library’s Department of Preservation. Little is known about how treaty documents were actually made, requiring innovation and new research into parchment, calligraphy, silk and gold passementerie, wax seals, their silver capsules, complicated knots, and more. Though the history of technology might sound boring or dusty, discovering how things were made is a treasure hunt back in time.
