The bank was founded in Oslo (then called
Christiania) in 1848 as
Christiania Kreditkasse, though changed its name to Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse in 1862. In 1858, the bank moved out of its temporary location at the home of the bank manager, Fritz Henrich Frölich, and to permanent locations. It opened branches in 1897, under the directorship of
Peter Harboe Castberg. The bank expanded out of Oslo in 1957 when it bought
Elverum Kreditbank and
Hamar Privatbank, and in 1959 with the acquisition of
Agder Bank. By 1965, the bank had 18 offices outside Oslo. In 1973, the bank opened its first international office, in
Luxembourg. In the 1980s, the bank further acquired
Andresens Bank (in 1980),
Vestfoldbanken (in 1981) and
Fiskernes Bank (in 1983). In the last years of the 1980s, there was a major financial crisis in Norway and by 1991 the bank had used up all capital. To save the bank, the
Government of Norway took over the bank and gave it new capital, rescuing it from
bankruptcy. In the early years of the 1990s, the bank also bought
Sunnmørsbanken and
Sørlandsbanken. In 1995, the government reduced its ownership to 51%, listing it on the
Oslo Stock Exchange, and in 1999 to 35%. The same year, the
Swedish MeritaNordbanken bid for the bank, and in 2000 the government sold its shares and the bank became part of Nordea. ==References==