Grünerløkka is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. Grünerløkka became part of the city of Oslo (then Christiania) in 1858. Grünerløkka was traditionally a working class district; however, since the late 20th century the area has increasingly undergone gentrification. Although it is located in the

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

, it is more expensive than other parts of the East End.

Etymology

The first element was derived from the surname ''Grüner''. The last element is the

definite In linguistics, definiteness is a semantic feature of noun phrases, distinguishing between referents or senses that are identifiable in a given context (definite noun phrases) and those which are not (indefinite noun phrases). The prototypical d ...

form of ''løkke'', meaning " paddock". Grünerløkka was named after Friedrich Grüner (1628-1674) who served as chief administrator (''Oberhauptmann'') and the master of the mint (''myntmester'') at Christiania from 1651 until his death in 1674. Grüner purchased the Kings Mill (''Kongens mølle'') and surrounding acreage in the area from King Christian V of Denmark in 1672.

History

Thorvald Meyer Thorvald Meyer (23 September 1818 – 3 February 1909) was a Norwegian businessman and philanthropist. He was a wholesaler, retailer and shipowner as well as a land owner and developer. Biography Meyer was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norwa ...

(1818–1909) bought parts of the Grünerløkka area in 1861. The industrialist built the main street of Grünerløkka, now named Thorvald Meyers gate. During the 19th century, Grünerløkka became a working-class area. Several factories were placed here because of the advantages of being located close to the Akerselva River. Christiania Seildugsfabrikk from 1856 and Aktieselskapet Herkules from 1898 were two of the factories established. Grünerløkka is located with the parish of

Paulus Church Paulus Church (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Paulus kirke''; tr. ''Paul's Church'' or ''St. Paul's Church'') is a church which was consecrated in 1892, located in Grünerløkka in Oslo, Norway, just opposite the Birkelunden Park. The church is ...

(''Paulus kirke''). In 1866, Paulus parish had a total population of 13,600. By 1900, the parish population had risen to 22,000. At that time, only five streets in Oslo had a population above 3000. Of these, three were located in Grünerløkka: Markveien, Thorvald Meyers gate and Toftes gate. In 1864, a square meter had been priced at about 30 Norwegian shilling Active selling of property started in 1865. However, even as

offered low-priced land, almost no one bought any of it until after 1868. The park square called Olaf Ryes plass has its name from Norwegian-Danish General Olaf Rye (1791–1849). It was an open field well into the 1880s. The property was bought by Oslo kommune from members of the Grüner family in 1883. A narrow diagonal street was built which led from Markveien to Thorvald Meyers gate. It had a stopping spot for horses and carriages at the middle point. This section is now a pedestrian park square.

Politics

As a borough of Oslo, Grünerløkka is governed by the city council of Oslo as well as its own borough council. The council leader is Geir Jensen from the Green Party and the deputy leader is Vemund Rundberget, of the Labour Party. The Green Party has the most seats. The 15 seats are distributed among the following

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

for the 2019-2023 term: * 4 from the Green Party (Miljøpartiet de Grønne) * 3 from the Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) * 3 from the Conservative Party (Høyre) * 2 from the Red Party (Rødt) * 2 from the Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti) * 1 from the Liberal Party (Venstre)

Sports

The neighbourhood has its own sports club, Grüner, which was founded in 1914 with ice hockey and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

as the most important activities. Grüner Fotball plays its home games at

Dælenenga idrettspark Dælenenga idrettspark is a sports facility located at Grünerløkka in Oslo, Norway. It consists of an artificial turf football pitch, a club house and an indoor ice rink—Grünerhallen. The facilities are owned by the Municipality of Oslo an ...

and currently is part of the third division of the Norwegian football system. The ice hockey team plays the home games at Grünerhallen.

Notable landmarks

Sportsklubben av 1909 Sportsklubben av 1909, often shortened as Sp-09 or Sportsklubben, is a Norwegian sports club from Oslo, founded in 1909. It has sections for amateur boxing and amateur wrestling, and has had several Olympians on its books. History It was founde ...

Alexander Kiellands plass (Oslo) Alexander Kiellands plass is a square in Grünerløkka in Oslo, Norway. The square is located at Ila between Uelands gate, Maridalsveien and Waldemar Thranes gate, is 8,66 acres big and has the shape of a triangle with two long sides of ca. 2 ...

Åmodt bro Aamodt bru is a suspension bridge located Oslo, Norway. It is a pedestrian bridge over the Aker River in the Oslo district of Grünerløkka. History Aamodt bru was originally built over the Drammen River in Buskerud near the mouth of the ...

Ankerbrua Ankerbrua is a bridge located in the district of Grünerløkka in Oslo, Norway. History Ankerbrua was built over the Aker River (''Akerselva'') to serve as an extension of Torggata along Ankertorget with Søndre gate. The former wooden bridge wa ...

* Ankertorget * Birkelunden * Blå *

Foss Brewery The Foss Brewery ( no, Foss Bryggeri) was a brewery in Oslo. The company was started in 1836 as the Ytteborg Brewery (''Ytteborgs Bryggeri'') and was located on ''Hausmanns gate'' (Hausmann Street). In the 19th century, the water in the lower par ...

Foss videregående skole Foss Upper Secondary School is an upper secondary school in Oslo, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion ...

* Freia * Frydenberg * Grünerhallen * Keyserløkka * Kulturkirken Jakob *

Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo The Oslo National Academy of the Arts ( no, Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo, ''KHiO'') is a university college in Oslo, Norway, that provides education in visual arts, design and performing arts. It is one of two public institutes of higher learning in N ...

* Olaf Ryes plass * Qadis * Parkteatret * Paulus kirke *

Prinds Christian Augusts Minde Prinds Christian Augusts Minde was an asylum, workhouse and social institution located at Storgata 36 in downtown Oslo, Norway. History Mangelsgården was built in 1670–1698. The building was originally raised as a holiday residence with ...

Ring 2 (Oslo) Ring 2, sometimes called Kirkeveiringen and until 2010 officially known as National Road 161 ( no, Riksvei 161), and now also officially County road 161 ( no, Fylkesvei 161), is an important ring road and surface street through densely populated ...

Sagene ring The Sagene Line ( no, Sagenelinjen) is a former line of the Oslo Tramway in Norway. It ran from Stortorvet in the city center along Akersgata and Ullevålsveien through the neighborhood of St. Hanshaugen. It then continued along Colletts gate, ...

Schou Brewery The Schou Brewery ( no, Schous Bryggeri) is a former Norwegian brewery. History The company originated in a brewery that Johannes Thrane founded around 1800. Jørgen Young owned the brewery for some time before it was purchased by Christian Ju ...

* Sinsenkrysset * Sofienberg * Sofienberg kirke *

Sofienberg Park Sofienberg Park ( no, Sofienbergparken) is a large park in the Grünerløkka district of Oslo, Norway, covering an area of . Name The park takes its name from a country villa called Sofienberg which was located at the upper end of Nødre Dælen ...

Gallery

Olaf Ryes plass sommer.JPG, The park at Olaf Ryes plass View from siloen.jpg, View from "silo" (Marselis gate 24) to the northeast of Grünerløkka Thvmeyersgt 2005.jpg, Tram at market day in Thorvald Meyers gate Markveien.jpg, Markveien

References

Other sources

*Tvedt, Knut Are, ed (2000). "Grünerløkka" in ''Oslo byleksikon'' (Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. 4th ed. pp. 170–171)

External links

Grünerløkka, official website
(City of Oslo)
Guide to Grünerløkka
visitoslo.com
Munch's Grünerløkka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grunerlokka Boroughs of Oslo Working class in Europe