Makrellbekken is a neighbourhood in the Oslo borough of

Vestre Aker Vestre Aker (Western Aker) is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. It has a population of 50,157 as of 2020. The previous Aker Municipality was merged into the city of Oslo in 1948. The borough of Vestre Aker was organized as part of the 1 Ja ...

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 ...

, bordering the borough of

Ullern Ullern is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. History The borough has its name from an old farm, Norse ''Ullarin''. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the Norse god Ullr. The last element is ''vin'', meaning pasture or mea ...

. It is located between Smestad and Holmen. The main road is Sørkedalsveien, a part of

Norwegian National Road 168 Norwegian National Road 168 ( no, Riksvei 168) is a major route between Bærum and Oslo, Norway. It stretches from the industrial area of Rud, Bærum to the inner city of Oslo. It is connected with important roads like the European route E16 and t ...

. The place is served by the

Røa Line The Røa Line ( no, Røabanen) is a rapid transit line of the Oslo Metro, Norway, which runs from Majorstuen in Oslo to Østerås in Bærum. It serves neighborhoods such as Smestad, Hovseter, Huseby and Røa in northwestern Oslo, and Grini, � ...

(Line 2) of

Oslo Metro The Oslo Metro ( no, Oslo T-bane or or simply ) is the rapid transit system of Oslo, Norway, operated by Sporveien T-banen on contract from the transit authority Ruter. The network consists of five lines that all run through the city centre, wit ...

Etymology

The name is derived from the stream ''Makrellbekken'' which runs through the area from north to south, and which had already given its name to some farms in the area. These existed before the modern development, and one of their farmhouses has been transferred to the

Norwegian Museum of Cultural History Norsk Folkemuseum (Norwegian Museum of Cultural History), at Bygdøy, Oslo, Norway, is a museum of cultural history with extensive collections of artifacts from all social groups and all regions of the country. It also incorporates a large open- ...

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

Oslo byleksikon ''Oslo byleksikon'' ( en, Oslo City Encyclopaedia) is an encyclopaedia on Oslo, Norway's capital city. It has been published in five editions since 1938. The third, fourth and the fifth editions were published in cooperation between the heritage ...

, 5th ed., 2010, page 272, Editor: Knut Are Tvedt

The name

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

, the name Makrellbekken (Literally: Mackerel-stream) for many seems comical, if you realize that the fish

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

does not live neither in streams or freshwater. However, the name has nothing to do with the fish, but is a distortion of "''Markskillebekken''" (Literally: The cropland-divide-stream), the former boundary stream between the farms of Huseby, Voksen, Smedstad and Holmen.

History

The first business building was erected in Makrellbekken in the 1920s. The station on the suburban railway line opened on 24 January 1935 and is now served by line 2 of T-Banen. A quarry was operated in Makrellbekken before and during the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

, and Soviet prisoners of war were forced to work there.

Notable buildings

The Makrellbekken station is located under the bridge leading Sørkedalsveien across the suburban railway line. West of it is

Njårdhallen Njårdhallen is an indoor sports arena located in Vestre Aker, Oslo, Norway. It was opened in 1960, and designed by Frode Rinnan. It is mainly used by the sports club Njård for indoor sports such as basketball and handball. Formerly, mainly in t ...

, a sports and former concert venue, already in the

borough. A statue of resistance fighter

Gregers Gram Gregers Winther Wulfsberg Gram (15 December 1917 – 13 November 1944) was a Norwegian resistance fighter and saboteur. A corporal and later second lieutenant in the Norwegian Independent Company 1 ( no, Kompani Linge) during the Second World ...

stands nearby. Next to Njårdhallen and the station, the new embassy of the United States of America was opened in May 2017.{{cite web, url=https://no.usembassy.gov/embassy/oslo/new-embassy-makrellbekken/, title=New Embassy at Makrellbekken | U.S. Embassy in Norway, website=no.usembassy.gov, accessdate=2017-11-08

Sports

Makrellbekken is home to the sports club

SK Njård SK Njård is a Norwegian multi-sports club from Vestre Aker, Oslo. It is named after Njörðr in Norse mythology. Founded in 1924, it has sections for alpine skiing, fencing, team handball, cross-country skiing, tennis, gymnastics, and rhythmi ...

. Its tennis courts are located on the place of the former quarry.

References

Neighbourhoods of Oslo