Majorstuen or Majorstua is a particularly affluent

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in the Frogner

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, 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 inner part of

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 ...

. 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.

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 or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

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.) MajorstuenKirke 20080511-1

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 (1877–1956) and Harald Sund (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 aesthe ...

with influences of

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

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, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

, executed by the artist Per Vigeland (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.

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 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 was completed. It was designed by Erik Glosimodt who also designed a number of shelters and station buildings along

Holmenkollbanen The Holmenkollen Line () 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 and short station p ...

. 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.

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