- Address: Frederiks Gate 2, 0164 Oslo, Norway
- Working hours: daily 11: 00-16: 00, Mon - closed
- Phone: +47 22 85 19 00
- Website: www.khm.uio.no
- Architect: Henrik Bull
- Architectural style: modern
- Admission: free
On one of the streets of Oslo , named in honor of King Christian IV, there is a building in which the museum of Norwegian history is located. It presents exhibits that tell about the life of this country since the Stone Age.
History of the Museum in Oslo
The construction of this metropolitan landmark began in 1811. It was then that the public organization of Christiania obtained the permission of the King to create the University of Frederik (Det kongelige Frederiks univeristet). Later it became known simply as Universitet i i Oslo. The architect of the Historical Museum of Oslo was appointed Carl August Henriksen, who decided to adhere to the Art Nouveau style. At the last stages, the construction was led by architect Henrik Bull.
The official opening of the 4-storey Historical Museum of Oslo was held in 1904. The architectural feature of this structure is the smooth lines of the facade, which adorn the semicircular towers.
Expositions of the Historical Museum of Oslo
In fact, under the roof of this building are three museums :
- ethnographic museum (Etnografisk Museum);
- the state meeting of antiquities (Oldsaksamlingen);
- collection of coins and medals (Myntkabinettet).
The National Antiquities Collection is located on the first floor of the Oslo Historical Museum. Here are collected archaeological finds that tell of the history of the country, beginning with the Stone Age, capturing the Viking Age and ending with the Middle Ages. In this pavilion you can also get acquainted with the culture of the peoples of the Arctic.
The second floor is reserved for a collection of medals, notes and coins of different periods. In the Historical Museum of Oslo, there are 6,300 copies, which in 1817 donated a well-known collector and part-time professor of the Norwegian University - George Sverdrup.
The third and fourth floors are reserved for an ethnographic museum. In this pavilion of the Historical Museum of Oslo, a large number of exhibits have been collected that introduce visitors to the cultural features of the inhabitants of the polar territories, the Americas, Africa and the East. Here you can also see objects of ancient art and ancient Egypt.
The most interesting exhibits of the Historical Museum of Oslo can be called:
- a collection of Egyptian mummies;
- collection of medieval rings;
- guns and helmets belonging to the ancestors of modern inhabitants of Norway .
All exhibits are located in spacious and bright halls, due to which they can be carefully considered. For the convenience of visitors, each item is accompanied by an explanatory plate in Norwegian, German and English. If you want, you can book an excursion with a guide. On the territory of the Historical Museum of Oslo there is a small cozy cafe and a shop where you can buy a copy of the exhibit.
How to get to the Oslo Historical Museum?
This cultural site is located in the southern part of the Norwegian capital, 700 meters from the coast of the Inner Oslofjord Gulf. From the center of Oslo to the historical museum can be reached by bus or trolley. In 100 m from it there are stops Tullinlokka and Nationaltheatret, to which it is possible to go on routes №№ 33, 150, 250E, N250.