Norway
People first settled in Norway around 10,000 years ago. They first survived by hunting and fishing, but gradually began to farm the land and to keep livestock. The first farms were created around 500 BC. The Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age, which lasted until around 1000 AD. During this time, better tools were made and trade grew.
The Viking Age lasted from around 800 to 1030. The Vikings built fast, ocean-going ships and travelled across the world raiding countries for their treasures and resources. However, many Vikings settled abroad, and as well as being skilled sailors and explorers, they became traders who set up communities in foreign lands.
Around the year 1030, the lands of Norway were made into one kingdom and Christianity was introduced. By the 13th century, Norway ruled over other countries including Iceland, Greenland, Shetland, the Faeroes and the Orkney Islands. This rule, known as the Norwegian empire, lasted until around 1350 when the plague known as the Black Death wiped out more than half of Norway’s population.
From 1380 until 1814 Norway was in a union with Denmark. When the union ended, it wrote its own national constitution. Later that year, Norway entered into a new union with Sweden which lasted until 1905. Norway was then able to choose its own king, and Prince Carl of Denmark, who became known as King Haakon VII, became the first ruler of an independent Norway for 525 years.
During World War II, Norway was under German occupation. Britain was one of Norway’s allies and King Haakon and his family lived in exile in the UK until the war was over. In the late 1960s, enormous fields of oil and gas were discovered off the Norwegian coast. This has had a huge effect on the country’s economy and for the last eight years, Norway has been voted the best country in the world to live in by the UN.
The Viking Age lasted from around 800 to 1030. The Vikings built fast, ocean-going ships and travelled across the world raiding countries for their treasures and resources. However, many Vikings settled abroad, and as well as being skilled sailors and explorers, they became traders who set up communities in foreign lands.
Around the year 1030, the lands of Norway were made into one kingdom and Christianity was introduced. By the 13th century, Norway ruled over other countries including Iceland, Greenland, Shetland, the Faeroes and the Orkney Islands. This rule, known as the Norwegian empire, lasted until around 1350 when the plague known as the Black Death wiped out more than half of Norway’s population.
From 1380 until 1814 Norway was in a union with Denmark. When the union ended, it wrote its own national constitution. Later that year, Norway entered into a new union with Sweden which lasted until 1905. Norway was then able to choose its own king, and Prince Carl of Denmark, who became known as King Haakon VII, became the first ruler of an independent Norway for 525 years.
During World War II, Norway was under German occupation. Britain was one of Norway’s allies and King Haakon and his family lived in exile in the UK until the war was over. In the late 1960s, enormous fields of oil and gas were discovered off the Norwegian coast. This has had a huge effect on the country’s economy and for the last eight years, Norway has been voted the best country in the world to live in by the UN.
Oslo
During the Viking Age the area that includes modern Oslo was located in Viken, the northernmost province of Denmark. Control over the area shifted between Danish and Norwegian kings in the Middle Ages, and Denmark continued to claim the area until 1241. According to the Norse sagas, Oslo was founded around 1049 by Harald Hardrada. Recent archaeological research, however, has uncovered Christian burials which can be dated to prior to AD 1000, evidence of a preceding urban settlement. It has been regarded as the capital city since the reign of Haakon V of Norway (1299–1319), the first king to reside permanently in the city. He also started the construction of the Akershus Fortress and the Oslo Kongsgard.
Oslo was destroyed several times by fire, and after the fourteenth calamity, in 1624, Christian IV of Denmark and Norway ordered it rebuilt at a new site across the bay, near Akershus Castle and given the name Christiania. Long before this, Christiania had started to establish its stature as a centre of commerce and culture in Norway. The last Black Death outbreak in Oslo occurred in 1654. In 1814 Christiania once more became a real capital when the union with Denmark was dissolved.
In 1948, Oslo merged with Aker, a municipality which surrounded the capital and which was 27 times larger, thus creating the modern, vastly enlarged Oslo municipality. At the time, Aker was a mostly affluent, green suburban community, and the merger was unpopular in Aker. The city and municipality used the name Kristiania until 1 January 1925 when the name changed to Oslo. Oslo was the name of an eastern suburb – it had been the site of the city centre, until the devastating 1624 fire. Oslo remained a poor suburb outside the city border. In the early-20th century, Norwegians argued that a name memorialising a Danish king was inappropriate as the name of the capital of Norway, which became fully independent in 1905.
Norway was invaded by Germany on 9 April 1940. Efforts to stop the invasion, most notably the sinking of Blucher, delayed the occupation of Oslo for a few hours which allowed King Haakon to escape the city. Oslo remained occupied throughout the war until Germany capitulated in 1945. During this time, the occupying troops were harried by saboteurs in acts of resistance.
Oslo was destroyed several times by fire, and after the fourteenth calamity, in 1624, Christian IV of Denmark and Norway ordered it rebuilt at a new site across the bay, near Akershus Castle and given the name Christiania. Long before this, Christiania had started to establish its stature as a centre of commerce and culture in Norway. The last Black Death outbreak in Oslo occurred in 1654. In 1814 Christiania once more became a real capital when the union with Denmark was dissolved.
In 1948, Oslo merged with Aker, a municipality which surrounded the capital and which was 27 times larger, thus creating the modern, vastly enlarged Oslo municipality. At the time, Aker was a mostly affluent, green suburban community, and the merger was unpopular in Aker. The city and municipality used the name Kristiania until 1 January 1925 when the name changed to Oslo. Oslo was the name of an eastern suburb – it had been the site of the city centre, until the devastating 1624 fire. Oslo remained a poor suburb outside the city border. In the early-20th century, Norwegians argued that a name memorialising a Danish king was inappropriate as the name of the capital of Norway, which became fully independent in 1905.
Norway was invaded by Germany on 9 April 1940. Efforts to stop the invasion, most notably the sinking of Blucher, delayed the occupation of Oslo for a few hours which allowed King Haakon to escape the city. Oslo remained occupied throughout the war until Germany capitulated in 1945. During this time, the occupying troops were harried by saboteurs in acts of resistance.
Akershus Castle and Fortress
The Akershus Fortress was built in the late 1290s by King Håkon V to ward off attacks from the Norwegian nobleman, Earl Alv Erlingsson of Sarpsborg. The fortress’s value came from its strategic location near the sea, and it has survived numerous sieges, never being captured in active battle. However, during WWWII, occupying German forces captured the fortress (without a fight) and used it as a prison and execution center. However Akershus Castle was used as a prison prior to WWII also. It housed many famous prisoners, including early Norwegian socialists. The fortress houses a castle, church, the Norwegian Armed Forces Museum, a model of Christiania (Oslo’s former name), and a prison museum. In addition, many members of the Norwegian royal family are buried in the castle’s mausoleum. The Akershus fortress has the status of a national symbol because of its role as seat of the king and government and the many important and dramatic historical events that have taken place here. The national importance is underlined by the fact that the castle now used as government's premier entertainment venues and hosts the Royal Mausoleum. |
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City Hall
The brick facade of Oslo City Hall is decorated with historical themes. Two tall towers and an enormous clock echo the design of traditional northern-European town halls. The architects combined national romanticism with modernist ideas. The murals in the Central Hall at Oslo City Hall depict scenes from Norwegian history and legends. The Pipervika area around Oslo City Hall was once a site of urban decay. Slums were cleared to build a plaza with civic buildings and an attractive harbor area. Windows of the Oslo City Hall overlook the bay of Oslo fjord. Every year on December 10, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded during a ceremony at the Oslo City Hall in Oslo, Norway. |
Nobel Peace Center
The Nobel Peace Center opened in Oslo, Norway on June 11,2005. It is a center where you can experience and learn about the various Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and their activities as well as the remarkable history of Alfred Nobel. In addition, it will serve as voice and meeting place where exhibits, discussions and reflections related to war, peace and conflict resolution is in focus. The Center combines exhibits and films with digital communication and interactive installations. |
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Norwegian Folk Museum
Norsk Folkemuseum was founded by Hans Aall in 1894. This time period was marked by strong national fervor and a desire for a more independent position in the union with Sweden. In 1898 the new museum was permanently established on the Bygdøy peninsula near Oslo, where the first comprehensive exhibit on cultural history was opened in 1901. Norsk Folkemuseum shows how people lived in Norway from 1500 to the present through its collections from around the country. Norsk Folkemuseum is Norway’s largest museum of cultural history. The 160 buildings in the Open-Air Museum represent different regions in Norway, different time periods, as well as differences between town and country, and social classes. The Gol Stave Church dating from 1200 is one of five medieval buildings at the museum. The contemporary history is presented through exhibitions and documentation projects. Permanent indoor exhibitions include folk art, folk costumes, toys and Sami culture. There is also a variety of temporary exhibitions and audience programs all year round. |
Oscarhall Summer Palace
King Oscar I and Queen Joséphine sought to promote Norwegian art and craftsmanship when they commissioned the building of the summer palace.The King and Queen used private funds for the construction work and were themselves the owners of the land. During the construction of the Royal Palace Linstow had been criticised for relying too heavily on foreign craftsmanship. Norwegian craftsmen, however, had taken it as an excellent opportunity to learn and with the Palace as good as finished, they were now ready to set to work on Oscarshall. The King and Queen used Oscarshall to provide extensive patronage and assigned a number of artists to the project. The foundation stone was laid in the summer of 1848 and the topping-out ceremony celebrated on 21 August 1849, Queen Joséphine’s name day. That was also the day that the summer palace received its name. There have been claims that the idea to build the summer palace came not from King Oscar I, but from Queen Joséphine, and that the palace therefore should have be named after her and not after the King. |
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Oslo Cathedral
The word "church" (Norwegian "kirke") derives from the Greek "kyriaké" - that which belongs to the Lord, Kyrios. Oslo Cathedral (formerly the Church of Our Saviour) was completed in 1697 and is the city's third cathedral. Oslo's first cathedral, Hallvard's Church, was built in the first half of the 12th century by the crusader, Sigurd Jorsalfarer (Norwegian king 1103-1130). The beautiful church raised in honor of Oslo's patron saint, St. Hallvard, stood on a sandbank where two river mouths opened into the sea on the edge of the then small medieval town. For the next five hundred years, Hallvard's Church served as the bishop's see and was the most important church in the capital. But these were unsettled years in the town and country as a whole and Oslo was besieged, plundered and burnt down on numerous occasions. In 1624, King Christian IV (Dano-Norwegian king 1588-1648) ordered that the whole town be moved westwards, so that it could be protected by the Akershus fort. The old town of Oslo and Hallvard's Church were left to ruin and a second cathedral was constructed in the heart of the new city. Oslo's second cathedral (Holy Trinity Church) was consecrated in 1639. On April 21st 1686, less than fifty years after it was completed, the beautiful church was struck by lightning and burnt. When the capital was to build its third cathedral (Church of Our Saviour), a site was chosen outside the city walls (today Karl Johans gate), where the main road from Old Oslo entered the town. |
Oslofjord
Each of the islands in the innermost part of the fjord has its own identity and distinguishing history. Among them are Hovedøya, Lindøya, Nakholmen, Bleikøya, Gressholmen, and Langøyene. These islands can be reached with the Oslo-boats from Aker Brygge. Hovedøya contains monastery ruins, Gressholmen for its rabbits, Nakholmen, Bleikøya, Lindøya for their cosy cabins at the water's edge, and finally Langøyene for its camping possibilities and beach. The oldest settlements in the area surrounding the Oslofjord date from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age. It was here on the eastern and western shores that three of the best preserved Viking ships were unearthed. In historical times, this bay was known by the current name of the region, Viken (the bay). |
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Our Saviours' Cemetery
This cemetery was created in 1808 as a result of the great famine and cholera epidemic of the Napoleonic Wars. Its grounds were extended in 1911. The cemetery has been full since 1952. The cemetery is known primarily for Areslunden, Norway's main honorary burial ground. |
The Royal Palace
The proposal to build a royal residence in Oslo was raised in the Storting (Norwegian national assembly) for the first time in 1821, but this was not followed up until the following year, when King Carl Johan himself proposed it to the Storting. In spite of the pressures on the Norwegian economy, the Storting allocated 150,000 rix-dollars for the work, and in 1823 a commission was appointed to oversee the sale of government bonds to finance the project and to have overall responsibility in matters concerning the building. By 1827 the palace foundations were completed. However, most of the allocated money had now been spent, and between 1827 and 1833 all building work ceased, since the Storting was not willing to grant further funds. By summer 1836 the exterior was completed, and Linstow travelled to Denmark and Germany to find inspiration for the interiors. The rooms were completed during the 1840s in accordance with Linstow’s designs. When King Carl Johan died in 1844, it was immediately apparent that the Palace would be too small for the new Royal Family. The Storting granted an additional allocation for the purpose of beautifying the exterior and enlarging the wings. The original roof, which no one had considered to be satisfactory, was lowered, and a monumental temple front with pillars was added to the main façade. |
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Viking Museum
The main attractions at the Viking Ship Museum are the Oseberg ship, Gokstad ship and Tune ship. Additionally, the Viking Age display includes sledges, beds, a horse cart, wood carving, tent components, buckets and other grave goods. Many fully or nearly fully intact Viking ships are on display. The museum is most famous for the completely whole Oseberg ship, excavated from the largest known ship burial in the world. |