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Oslo was founded as a city at the end of the Viking Age in 1040 under the name Ánslo, and established as a kaupstad or trading place in 1048 by Harald Hardrada. The city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V of Norway around the year 1300.
- Oslo
- 0001 – 1299
- 1 m (3 ft)
- Norway
- Becoming The Country's Capital
- Losing Its Status
- The Former Name of Oslo
- Christiania’s Renaissance
- Christiania Is The Capital Once Again
- Oslo’s Back, Tell Your Friends
- A Peaceful City
- A City of Culture
- Learning More About Oslo’s History
Archaeologists have discovered graves that indicate there was a settlement in the area around the year 1000, possibly earlier. According to the Norse sagas, the establishment of the city occurred in 1049 when King Harald Hardradamade it a designated Kaupstad or trading place. During the reign of Olaf III, Oslo grew to be an important cultural centr...
Tragedy struck the city in 1349 when plague in the form of the Black Death arrived. Half of the city's 3,000 residents died. The church, suffering a loss of income, started to decline. The Hanseatic traders who had started to arrive in the 12thcentury grew in importance. Less than 100 years after becoming the capital, Oslo lost its status when the ...
What's in a name? The name Oslo, also styled Ánslo, Áslo, Óslo or Opslo has a disputed origin. The name comes from Ás and lo. The lo part is easy – that’s a field, meadow or pasture. The Ás is the tricky part. It could derive from Old Norse Áss meaning Godhead – derived from the Æsir – to give ‘meadow of the Gods’. The problem is that Ás in this fo...
In the early 18th century, the Great Northern Warraged between Sweden and an alliance of Russia, Denmark-Norway and Saxony-Poland-Lithuania. The war was about supremacy in Northern Europe and influence on the Baltic Sea. Through the war various other parts of Germany, and even Great Britain, joined in with the result that Sweden was defeated, and R...
In 1814, the city regained its status as capital of the independent Kingdom of Norway. Denmark had to cede Norway to Sweden according to the Treaty of Kiel. This wasn’t a popular idea but the two countries entered a somewhat forced personal union after a short war. The main difference was that they were to keep their own laws and customs. And, as s...
The 20thCentury was an important time for Norway. In 1905, the personal union with Sweden was dissolved amicably and Norway finally became the independent state that we know today. Many residents of the city felt that a name honouring a Danish king, that had nothing do with the history of Norway was inappropriate for its capital. In 1918, civil ser...
Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel established prizes for advances in the fields of Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine. The prizes were first awarded in 1901. All are awarded in his native Sweden except for the Nobel Peace Prize.It was Nobel's wish for that specific prize to awarded in Oslo. No one knows for su...
Like most countries, not many of Norway’s best known people actually hail from the capital. One of Oslo’s most famous sons, Edvard Munch, was actually born in Løten though his family moved to the city when he was one year old when his father Christian was appointed medical officer at the Akershus Fortress. Munch went on to paint many works througho...
There are a number of places to visit if you want to find out more about the history of Oslo. Kvadraturen is the area where King Christian IV decreed the new city of Christiania would be built. There are still a few buildings from the time standing including the city’s first town hall and its oldest café, Engebret. In Christiania torv, the town squ...
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May 5, 2024 · The city was founded by King Harald Hardraade about 1050, and about 1300 the Akershus fortress was built by Haakon V. After the city was destroyed by fire in 1624, Christian IV of Denmark-Norway built a new town farther west, under the walls of the Akershus fortress, and called it Christiania.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Capital of Norway. In 1299, King Håkon V decided to move from Bergen to Oslo, and with that, the capital moved. He cemented the city's status as the capital when he had the Akershus Fortress built in 1299. Everything changed in 1350 when the Black Plague came to Oslo.
In the year of 1049 AD, the history of Oslo started with the establishment of a small fortified town by King Harald 'Hard-Ruler'. He named his new seat of power after the Old Norse words for 'Fields of the Gods'.
With a population of 560,484 as of January 1, 2008, it is the third-largest Scandinavian city, after Copenhagen and Stockholm. It is arguably the world's most expensive city in which to live. According to the Norse legends, Oslo was founded around 1049, by King Harald Hardråde.
The Royal Palace, Stortinget, the University, National Theatre and the Stock Exchange were established in the 19th century. Christiana overtook Bergen and became the most popular city in 1850, and in 1878 it was renamed Kristiana. Oslo, the original name, was re-established in 1925.
