Makrellbekken is a neighbourhood in the Oslo borough of Vestre Aker in

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. 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 (Line 2) of Oslo Metro.

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 in Bygdøy. Oslo byleksikon, 5th ed., 2010, page 272, Editor: Knut Are Tvedt

The name

In Norwegian, 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 Ullern borough. A statue of resistance fighter Gregers Gram 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