Majorstuen is a particularly affluent

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural are ...

in the

Frogner Frogner is a residential and retail borough in the West End of Oslo, Norway, with a population of 59,269 as of 2020. In addition to the original Frogner, the borough incorporates Bygdøy, Uranienborg and Majorstuen. The borough is named after ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

in the inner part of

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

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 of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Majorstuen is known for its vibrant downtown and especially its shopping area. The area has several elegant townhouses c. 1880–1890. The area is also an important public transport junction in Oslo, where all metro lines, three tram lines and five bus lines operate. It is served by

Majorstuen station Majorstuen is a subway station on the Oslo Metro and a tram stop on the Briskeby Line of the Oslo Tramway. It is located in the Majorstuen neighborhood in the Frogner borough. Majorstuen is shared by all the subway lines, and, being located just ...

The name

The neighborhood was named after a well-known public house that was located on the east side of Sørkedalsveien. Dating from the 1700s, the house was named for

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Michael Wilhelm von Sundt (1679–1753). The last element is the finite form of ''stue'' 'cabin, house with a single room'. There has long been a disagreement about the forms ''Majorstuen'' and ''Majorstua'': ''stuen'' is the articulated form when ''stue'' is treated as a masculine, and ''stua'' is the articulated form when it is treated as a feminine noun. The original pronunciation was ''-stua'' (Norwegian feminine inflection) but, because Danish was the only written language in Norway well into the 19th century, the name was written ''-stuen'' (Danish common gender inflection). The locals say either, but the local borough council has also adopted ''Majorstuen'' as the official name of the area. (For a similar disagreement, see

Akerselva Akerselva or Akerselven ( en, Aker River) is a river which flows through Oslo. It starts at Maridalsvannet in Oslomarka, and traverses the boroughs of Nordre Aker, Sagene, Grünerløkka, central Oslo and Grønland, whereby it finally ends at P ...

Majorstuen Church

Majorstuen Church (''Majorstuen kirke'') was consecrated on 26 March 1926 as Priest's Church (''Prestenes kirke'') when it was built for the funds collected among Norwegian clergymen. Oslo Municipality took over the church in the 1960s and changed its name to Majorstuen Church. Majorstuen Church was designed by architects

August Nielsen August Bendix Christofer Nielsen (7 May 1877 – 21 February 1956) was a Norwegian architect. August Nielsen was born in the village of Vik at Sømna in Nordland, Norway. He was a son of politician Sivert Nielsen (1823–1904) and Jonethe Cor ...

(1877–1956) and

Harald Sund Harald Thorbjørn Sund (February 16, 1876 – April 9, 1940) was a Norwegian architect, artist and illustrator. Architectural career Sund was born at Sund in the parish of Gildeskål in Nordland, Norway. Sund studied architectural engineering ...

(1876–1940) in the style of

Classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...

with influences of

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

and neo-baroque. The main church has 400 seats and was built of brick. The chapel, ''Cappella Johannea'', is decorated with frescos with themes from the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of R ...

, executed by the artist

Per Vigeland Per is a Latin preposition which means "through" or "for each", as in per capita. Per or PER may also refer to: Places * IOC country code for Peru * Pér, a village in Hungary * Chapman code for Perthshire, historic county in Scotland Math a ...

(1904–1968) in 1932. The altar picture is titled: The Christian Hope (''Det kristne håp''). The tapestry is by designer and textile artist,

Else Marie Jakobsen Else Marie Jakobsen (28 February 1927 – 12 December 2012) was a Norwegian designer and textile artist. Biography Jakobsen was born and raised in Kristiansand, Norway. She graduated from Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry (n ...

Majorstuen School

Majorstuen school is the primary and secondary school in Majorstuen. The school was designed by architect Bredo Henrik Berntsen (1877–1957). The first phase was completed in 1908. Majorstua 1 TRS

Majorstuen Station

(''Majorstuen stasjon'') is the last common point for all subway lines on the western side of Oslo. The station was opened in 1898 as the terminus for Holmenkollbanen. It remained so until Smestadbanen was completed in 1912. In 1928 the tunnel to the National Theatre station (called the Underground Railway) was built. The original station building was built in 1916, when

Tryvandsbanen A/S Tryvandsbanen was a Norwegian company that constructed a rail extension nicknamed Tryvandsbanen ("Tryvann Line") of the Holmenkoll Line The Holmenkollen Line ( no, Holmenkollbanen) is an Oslo Metro line which runs between Majorstuen and N ...

was completed. It was designed by

Erik Glosimodt Erik Waldemar Glosimodt (19 December 1881 – 18 September 1921) was a Norwegian architect. He is best known for drawing many railway stations, among others the preserved Kongsvoll Station. Glosimodt was born in Oslo, Norway. He studied under He ...

who also designed a number of shelters and station buildings along

Holmenkollbanen The Holmenkollen Line ( no, Holmenkollbanen) is an Oslo Metro line which runs between Majorstuen and Nordmarka in Oslo, Norway. Operating as Metro Line 1, it is the route with the fewest passengers and the only one still to have level crossings ...

. It had two entrances, one for Holmenkollbanen, and one for Smestadbanen. When the work of underground track started, the station was destroyed. The current Majorstuen station dates to 1930 and was designed by Kristoffer Lange. ''Erik Waldemar Glosimodt'' (Norske arkitekter)
/ref>

References

Other sources

*Sandnes, Jørn; Ola Stemshaug (1997, 3rd edition 2007) ''Norsk Stadnamnleksikon'' (4th edition)'' (Det Norske Samlaget)

External links

MajorstuenMajorstuen ChurchMajorstuen School
* {{coord, 59, 55, 45, N, 10, 42, 59, E, type:city_region:NO, display=title Neighbourhoods of Oslo