Nils Marstein

Who is Nils Marstein?

Nils Marstein is a Norwegian civil servant.

He took his architect's education at the Norwegian Institute of Technology from 1969 to 1974, and was hired in the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage in 1979. In 1991 he was promoted to head of the technical department. In 1995 he was promoted to acting director in the organization, meant to replace Øivind Lunde in the last two years of a Lunde's designated six-year term. Marstein was the first architect in 82 years to head the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage.

When his two-year term as acting director was nearing its end, Marstein applied to get the position on a permanent basis. The other candidate was Fatma Bhanji Jynge. On 1 August 1997 it was announced that Marstein was appointed. In 2003 it was decided to give him another six-year term, but he then had to step aside in August 2009. Sjur Helseth became acting director while Jørn Holme would succeed him in October 2009.

Marstein has been a member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property and the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.