Oslo is the capital and most populous city of Norway. Around 675,000 people live in the Oslo city center and about 1.2 million live in the Oslo urban area. Oslo had tremendous growth in the early 2000’s, much of it from international immigration but also from high birth rates back then. Oslo now has something like 25% immigrants. Oslo is a very global city today. Oslo is also a rather expensive city, but hey, we were on vacation.

Oslo was founded as a city in 1040 and became the capital of Norway around 1300. The city’s name has changed over the centuries. Per our local guide, Oslo has burned down 19 times, despite the fact that the city has 10 rivers. Of course, our guide said that “they just kept rebuilding with wood”. That’s because wood is the cheapest. But hey, we often do the same thing in our country, so there you go. And all the fires mean that Oslo is not full of really old buildings.

Our local guide said that the Oslo area has grown grain for 700 years. Oslo is Norway’s center for trade, shipping, banking, and industry. It’s also an important European center for maritime and maritime trading. Oslo has some of the world’s largest shipping companies, shipbrokers, and maritime insurance brokers. We saw lots of indications of all this as we walked around Oslo.

Here are a few of my Oslo city highlights that we visited during our stay here.

Akershus Fortress, a small portion of it anyway, is in the first photo. It was begun in 1299 and has been a vital stronghold and a royal residence in Oslo since the 14th century. Many different people put their mark on the fortress over the centuries although it fell into neglect in the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, it is fully restored and both a popular tourist attraction and a site for official government functions. We walked all over the fortress but it was raining, so we didn’t do too close an inspection. The fortress has former royal living quarters, a castle church, the Armed Forces Museum, Norway’s Resistance Museum, and courts, stables with horses, gardens and lots more. The ground is all cobblestone and the buildings go on and on. We didn’t have a tour guide here so I’m not sure what all the buildings are used for today. They also hold major events, concerts, and public holiday celebrations and ceremonies here at the fortress.

They Royal Palace is the second photo. It was built in the first half of the 19th century as the Norwegian residence of French-born King Charles III of Norway. At the time, he reigned as king of Norway and Sweden. The palace is the official residence of the current Norwegian monarch. The palace is surrounded by the Palace Park with Palace Square directly in front. They give tours but the tours don’t start until late June so we were here too early for a tour.

The Oslo Opera House is to the left of us in the third photo. It’s home of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet and the national opera theater of Norway. It’s in central Oslo right on the harbor. It’s the largest cultural building constructed in Norway since 1300. Construction started in 2003 and finished in 2007 and it was dedicated in a gala opening in 2008. The outside surfaces are marble from Carrara, Italy and white granite. The building has 1,100 rooms. The roof was built to be walked on and we hiked all the way to the top of it. We didn’t go inside but we peered in the 49 foot tall windows and could see quite a bit. It’s very nice inside. There are also external and internal art works as part of the building.

The building to the right of us in the third photo is going to be the new Munch Museum which won’t be finished for another year. (Munch?...think of “the Scream”)

The Nobel Peace Center is in the fourth photo. The building is an 1872 train station building overlooking the harbor and near the City Hall. This museum tells the story of the Nobel Peace Prize, the life of Alfred Nobel, and all the work of the peace prize winners. It also has temporary exhibits, discussions and conferences about peace, war, and conflict resolution. Most people think of Stockholm Sweden in connection with the Nobel Prizes. The other four Nobel prizes are awarded in Stockholm but the fifth, the peace prize, is awarded in Oslo as the winners are selected in Norway. We spent several hours inside the museum. The current temporary exhibits were “The Body as a Battlefield” about violence against women and “Climate Change” with a variety of presentations. Much of the museum is quite “high tech”.

The last photo is Oslo City Hall. I decided that City Hall was the “icon of Oslo”. Copenhagen had its Harbor Street and The Little Mermaid for icons. I had to decide for myself in Oslo. No guides told us about any city icons. You might think that city hall would be a silly choice. It’s a double-tower blockish brick building. Why would that be the icon. I would say because it’s in the middle of town, one of the largest and most recognizable buildings from many parts of the city and it’s not really ‘just’ a city hall. It’s more of an art museum. Our guide highly recommended that we visit City Hall and it was only a half block from our hotel so we decided the first day to go and visit it. I highly recommend that anyone visiting Oslo visit City Hall.

It was built between 1931 and 1950 with delays due to World War II. It houses the city council, the city’s administration and other municipal organizations. But wait until you see it…in my next post.