Bygdøy Royal Estate (), also known as the ''Bygdø Royal Farm'', is a

Kongsgård () is a residence, estate, or farmland that has belonged to or still belongs to the Scandinavian monarchs or royal families. History During the Viking Age and early Middle Ages, the nations of Scandinavia were organized as frail political uni ...

estate and

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

that occupies a large part of the northwestern part of the

Bygdøy Bygdøy or Bygdø is a peninsula situated on the western side of Oslo, Norway. Administratively, Bygdøy is part of the borough of Frogner. It historically was part of Aker Municipality and became part of Oslo in 1948. Bygdøy is a popular recr ...

peninsula in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is the official summer residence of the

king of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty king ...

History

Middle Ages

The estate originally belonged to the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery on Hovedøya. At the end of the thirteenth century, Bygdøy was purchased from the Hovedøya monastery by King

Haakon V of Norway Haakon V Magnusson (10 April 1270 – 8 May 1319) (; ) was King of Norway from 1299 until 1319. Biography Haakon was the younger surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, King of Norway, and his wife Ingeborg of Denmark. Through his mother, ...

as a gift for his wife, Queen Euphemia of Rügen. Their daughter, Ingeborg of Norway, later returned the island to the monastery. It was acquired by King

Christian III of Denmark Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

-Norway. during the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

to supply

Akershus Fortress Akershus Fortress (, ) or Akershus Castle ( ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress has been the namesake and centre of the ...

and its garrison. The later kings of Denmark-Norway would also use the estate for hunting and as a hunting lodge. A zoological garden was set up by King

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and King of Norway, Norway and List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein, Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is th ...

-Norway.

Current estate

The current main building was erected in 1733 as a summer residence and ''

maison de plaisance In Renaissance architecture, Renaissance and Early Modern German architecture, a ''Lustschloss'' (, both meaning "pleasure palace") is a country house, château, or palace which served the private pleasure of its owner, and was seasonally inh ...

'' for the Governor-general of Norway, Christian Rantzau (1684–1771). King Christian Frederick lived on the estate in 1814 after he was forced to give up the throne and before he left for Denmark. Following the establishment of the Swedish-Norwegian Union, King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

purchased the remaining estate grounds from the Norwegian government in 1837. King Oscar I would later erect the palace Oscarshall close to the estate grounds while his son, King Charles IV, later sold much of the estate back to the government. King Oscar II, the last king of the union, invested considerably in the estate and constructed six villas which functioned as both residences and guest houses (only one of these villas exists today). King Oscar II also established the world's first

open-air museum An open-air museum is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts outdoors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is "the unconfined atmosphere ... outside buildings" ...

on the estate in the year 1881, a museum which in 1907 was overtaken by the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History.

Recent years

After the election of King Haakon VII in

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

, the King and Queen Maud lived their first year in Norway at the estate while the Royal Palace in Oslo was refurbished. Queen Maud created new English landscape and

rock garden A rock garden, also known as a rockery and formerly as a rockwork, is a garden, or more often a part of a garden, with a landscaping framework of rocks, stones, and gravel, with planting appropriate to this setting. Usually these are small ...

s on the estate grounds with the help of

Charles Edward Hubbard Charles Edward Hubbard (23 May 19008 May 1980) was a British botanist, specialising in agrostology – the study of grasses. He was considered "the world authority on the classification and recognition of grasses" in his time. He is indicated ...

. The royal family would later use the estate as a summer residence, a tradition which was continued by King

Olav V Olav V (, ; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was born at Sandringham House in England, the only child of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud o ...

and later

Harald V Harald V (, ; born 21 February 1937) has been King of Norway since 1991. A member of the House of Glücksburg, Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the line of succ ...

. A comprehensive restoration of the main building and gardens began in 2004. The buildings and gardens have undergone extensive refurbishments and the estate is again set to be the regular summer residence of Harald V and Queen Sonja . As a birthday present when the King and Queen turned 70 in the year 2007, the Norwegian government restored a statue of Herman Wedel Jarlsberg, which was erected by King Charles IV and unveiled in 1845, while also restoring the original buildings in the '' Dronningberget''-park which is close to the estate.

Public accessibility

Bygdøy Royal Estate is the largest organic dairy producer in the city of Oslo with a visit yard, riding school, organic food production and

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

. Jams from fruit grown on the farm are for sale. There is a

cafe A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargil ...

in the gardener's house every Saturday and Sunday most of the year. Opening hours: Saturday and Sunday 12 noon - 4 pm. The farm buildings ''except the main building and the royal park'', such as the stable and the barn are open to the public every Saturday from March to June and August to October.Lørdagsåpen gård
at the official website in Norwegian

Gallery

File:Bryllupsfest på Bygdø kongsgård i 1869 OB.OT072.jpg, Royal wedding celebrations in 1869 File:Bygdøy Royal Estate 1903.jpg, The estate in 1903 File:Bygdø kongsgårds have med dam og bro i 1935 OB.X0803.jpg, The estate's

English landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal ...

File:Kongen, Dronningen og Kronprinsen, 1924 (6958859457).jpg, King Haakon VII, Crown Prince Olav and Queen Maud in the estate gardens, 1924 File:Christian Frederiks vei - kongsgården.jpg, Gates leading to Bygdøy Royal Estate File:Bygdøy kongsgård (29. april 2018).jpg, Aerial view of the estate in 2018

References

External links

Bygdø Royal Farm - From the Royal House of Norway
(In English)
Official website in Norwegian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bygdoy Royal Estate Bygdøy Houses completed in 1733 Buildings and structures in Oslo Palaces in Norway Royal residences in Norway