Gulbrand Oscar Johan Lunde (14 September 1901 – 25 October 1942) was a Norwegian chemist and politician of the Nasjonal Samling party who became a minister in the collaborationist government of Vidkun Quisling during World War II.

[1][2] His 1942 death was deemed accidental, although a 2012 biography of Lunde concluded that he was assassinated because his cultural views clashed with those of the government of Nazi Germany.

In 1929 he turned down two offers of professorships to become the director of the Hermetikkindustriens Laboratorium (English: Canning Industry Laboratory) in Stavanger, Norway.

He was central to the development of the Norwegian canning industry and wrote a number of scientific treatises on biochemistry and on vitamins.

[5] Lunde quickly distinguished himself as a keen supporter of Vidkun Quisling and was one of the first members of Quisling′s political party, Nasjonal Samling (English: National Gathering).

Through speeches and lectures, he drew cultural historical lines from the Viking Age up to his own time to substantiate his opinions about the development of the Norwegian nation.

[14] In September 1942, Lunde and Jim Johanessen, the leader of the music unit of the Nasjonal Samling′s uniformed paramilitary organization Hirden, invited the Jewish violinist Ernst Glaser to a meeting.

[15][16] At 20:30 on 25 October 1942, Lunde, his wife Marie, and county manager for Bergen-Hordaland Christian Astrup departed Ålesund in a car driven by Hirden member Rolf Brennford for a journey that required a ferry passage on the Romsdalsfjord to Eidsbygda and on to Åndalsnes.