History

Icelandic writer Snorre Sturlason contends that Harald Hardråde established a trading center in the area east of Oslo in 1050. Archaeologists have found proof that people lived in Oslo permanently from about the year 1000, thus Oslo celebrated its 1000-year anniversary in the year 2000. The first people of Oslo lived in humble wooden houses with turf roofs, and kept sheds for goats, sheep and cows. Christianity had recently come to Norway, and soon established a solid foundation. Over three hundred years, four monasteries and six churches were built in Oslo.

The first great era of Oslo began after Håkon V Magnusson's crowning in 1299. He married the Northern German princess Euphemia of Rügens, and built the Akershus Fortress where he later moved to.

In 1301 Duke Erik of Sweden came to Norway to visit his one-year-old fiancee, princess Ingebjørg, daughter of Queen Euphemia and Håkon V Magnusson. 18 years later Ingebjørg and Erik married to join the thrones of Sweden and Norway. The first union between the two countries was signed in the Bishop's castle, where Oslo Ladegård is today.

During the Middle Ages Oslo had around 3,000 inhabitants and covered an area the size of Slottsparken, the Royal Palace Garden. When the Black Death arrived in Oslo in 1349, half of its inhabitants died. After the plague, Norway became a province ruled by Denmark, and Copenhagen became the official capital city. The kings had their residence in Copenhagen and Stockholm for most of the time through 1400-1500. Due to its proximity to the two other union countries, Oslo had an important political role.

One night in 1523 soldiers under the Danish-Norwegian monarchy forced their way into the Maria Church and removed all the treasures. The catholic bishop of Oslo, Hans Rev, converted soon after to Protestantism. Despite the reluctance of the citizens, the Reformation was completed in 1537. The ruins of the Cistercian convent at Hovedøya bear witness to this process.

In 1624 rampant fires burned down the city of Oslo over the course of just three days. After several menacing fires King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway decided to build the town up from scratch, but this time on the other side of Bjørvika. The people protested, and the king himself had to come to Norway to force through his will to re-site the city, which he renamed after himself.

With its new Renaissance style, Christiania was built close to the thirteenth-century fortress at Akershus Castle To reduce the risk of a new fire, only brick buildings were allowed within the city borders. This manifested the social differences between the rich and the poor. Poor people had to live in the suburbs in wooden buildings. The social gap in Oslo became even bigger in the seventeenth century; the most fortunate built up vast amounts of capital from trading wood, as shipping and railroads improved the communication within Norway.

During the eighteenth century foreign impulses shaped the everyday life of the citizens of Oslo. Traders often went to Europe, where the Enlightenment thrived. Their most important trading partners were the colonial powers Great Britain and Holland, and they came home with heads full of enlightened ideas and luggage full of tobacco, coffee, tea, and spices. They did not wait long before they started to build luxurious houses with magnificent gardens. One of the wealthiest families in town, Collett, lived in the grand house on the corner of Kirkegata and Tollbugata. Today you can find Collettgården rebuilt at the Norwegian Folk Museum

One early morning in 1716, the Swedish king Karl XII and his troops easily occupied Christiania. The authorities retreated, but even after six weeks of intense fighting the Swedish troops did not manage to force Akershus Castle to its knees. He left Akershus Castle untouched, but Christiania was plundered and spoiled, and many lives were lost. Today you can see one of King Karl's cannonballs built into the wall of the old main post office as a memory to king Karl's onslaught. The ball hit the building that stood where the post office is now.

It's said that nineteenth-century Christiania, at the time a small, provincial town, was "a town with more animals than people". The king of Denmark gave up Norway to Sweden in the celebrated year of 1814. Norway formed its first constitution on the 17th of May that very year and Christiania became the capital city. People joyfully roamed the streets, their happiness hardly shadowed by the new forced union with Sweden.

Christiania was now a capital city, and new functions made new demands. New monumental buildings were erected as a symbol of independence: the Royal Palace and the Bank of Norway. Some time later, in 1852, Norway's first university was built.

A new class of government officials, a rising economy and the most rapid growth of population in Europe gave Christiania a brand-new look towards the middle of the nineteenth century. Increased trade and industrialization allowed the new capital to expand its boundaries.

The extreme public building activity monopolized builders and resources and led to an ardent shortage of housing. A new social class arose with a growing demand for servants and day workers, and later industrial workers as the factories along Akerselva were built. Poor people from all over the country came to Christiania in search of jobs and prosperity, but only bad working conditions and long hours awaited them. The population increased from 40,000 to 200,000 between 1850 and 1900, and in some parts of the town as many as ten people lived in small one-room apartments.

In 1905 Norway gained independence from the union with Sweden, and Christiania became the capital of the country. It was not until 1924 that the city was renamed Oslo. In 1948 Oslo and the neighbouring community of Aker united; the city continued to grow, as optimism won after the decadent years of World War II and the German occupation from 1940-1945. Popular major Albert Nordengen called Oslo "The city with the big heart"; it was the center of Norway and the doorway to Europe.

The population growth eased during the late sixties. Oslo became less industrial, and more a capital city. A multitude of organizations and businesses and a powerful authority formed a bustling political center. The hippies came and after them hordes of young rebels and punks, and a band by the name of Blitz occupied the house in which Edvard Munch grew up in. During the seventies and the eighties Løvebakken, in front of the parliament building often became the arena for protests against controversial resolutions, like the EEC and use of nuclear weapons.

Modern Oslo has many of fine restaurants and a pulsating nightlife, with Italian espresso bars everywhere and Halal-meat at Brugata, not to forget soggy hamburgers and spicy kebabs in the taxi queues. Oslo is continually influenced by new technology, urban and international impulses, immigrants, and foreign cultures, making this small city a cosmopolitan metropolis in its own right.