Portrett av Kong Haakon VII - King Haakon VII (6966513875)

Det kongelige slott 2 photo D Ramey Logan

The Royal Palace ( no, Slottet or ''Det kongelige slott'') in

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 ...

was built in the first half of the 19th century as the Norwegian residence of the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

-born King Charles III John, who reigned as king of Norway and Sweden. The palace is the official residence of the current Norwegian monarch while the

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wife ...

resides at Skaugum in Asker west of Oslo. The palace is located at the end of

Karl Johans gate Karl Johans gate is the main street of the city of Oslo, Norway. The street was named in honor of King Charles III John, who was also King of Sweden as Charles XIV John. Karl Johans gate is a composite of several older streets that used to be ...

in central Oslo and is surrounded by the Palace Park with the Palace Square in the front.

History

Until the completion of the palace, Norwegian royalty resided in

Paléet Paléet was a monumental single storey townhouse located in the Norwegian capital Oslo that for a long time functioned as a residence for the Norwegian royalty. History Construction The building was constructed between the years 1744-45 and was ...

, the magnificent townhouse in Christiania that the wealthy merchant

Bernt Anker Bernt Anker (22 November 1746 – 21 April 1805) was a Norwegian merchant, chamberlain and playwright. He was born in Christiania, the son of Christian Ancher and a brother of Peder Anker and cousin of Carsten Anker. His business included ...

bequeathed to the State in 1805 to be used as a royal residence. During the last years of the union with Denmark Paléet was used by the

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

s of Norway, and in 1814 by the first king of independent Norway, Christian Frederick. King Charles III John of the

House of Bernadotte The House of Bernadotte is the royal family of Sweden since its foundation there in 1818. It was also the royal family of Norway between 1818 and 1905. Its founder, Charles XIV John of Sweden, was born in Pau in southern France as Jean Bernado ...

resided there as crown prince and later as king during his frequent visits to his Norwegian capital.

Construction

Charles John chose the site for the permanent royal palace on the western side of Christiania in 1821 and commissioned the officer and inexperienced

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, Danish-born

Hans Linstow Hans Ditlev Franciscus (Frants) von Linstow (4 May 1787 – 10 June 1851) was a Danish/Norwegian architect who designed the Royal Palace in Oslo and much of the surrounding park and the street ''Karl Johans gate''. Background Hans Ditlev Franci ...

, to design the building. The

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

approved the stipulated cost of 150 000 speciedaler to be financed by the sale of government bonds. Work on the site started in 1824, and on 1 October 1825 Charles John laid down the foundation stone beneath the

altar An altar is a Table (furniture), table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of wo ...

of the future palace chapel. Linstow originally planned a building of only two storeys with projecting wings on both sides of the main façade. The costly foundation works caused the budget to be exceeded, and the building stopped in 1827, only to be resumed in 1833. In the meantime, the Storting refused additional grants as a demonstration against the king's unpopular efforts to establish a closer union between his two kingdoms. In 1833, Linstow produced a less costly project without the projecting wings, but with a third storey as compensation. Improved relations with the king made the

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years ...

grant the necessary funds to complete the building. The roof was laid in 1836, and the interiors were finished during the late 1840s.

The Royal Palace Chapel

The Royal Palace contains its own chapel, consecrated in 1844. The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. ...

is responsible for the religious services taking place there. It is the scene of many events of the Norwegian Royal Family like the royal

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

s and

confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an wikt:affirmation, affirma ...

s. There are also concerts of church music and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small num ...

.The Palace Chapel
Royal House of Norway (in English)

During the Bernadotte dynasty

King Charles John never had the pleasure of residing in his palace before he died in 1844, and its first occupants were his son Oscar I and his queen Josephine. It was soon found that the royal family needed a more spacious residence, and the wings facing the garden were extended. Before the official inauguration in 1849, the central

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

that had been axed in 1833 was reintroduced, and the provisional steep roof was replaced by a more elegant and more expensive flat roof. The next Bernadotte kings Charles IV and Oscar II continued to use the royal palace in Christiania, but spent most of their time in Stockholm. King Oscar's wife, Sophia of Nassau, preferred to spend summers in Norway, but mostly stayed at the country manor

Skinnarbøl ''Skinnarbøl'' is a manor house and estate located east of the Norwegian city Kongsvinger. History Close to the Swedish border and Finnskogen, the estate lands have historically belonged to several families including the Swedish noble famili ...

near the Swedish border for the sake of her health. Oscar II was absent from the palace during 1905, the year of the dissolution of the union with Sweden, but his son, then Crown Prince Gustaf, paid two short visits in his vain attempts to save the union.

Permanent royal residence

The Bernadotte dynasty resigned their Norwegian throne in 1905 and was succeeded by Prince Carl of Denmark, who took the name of Haakon VII when he accepted his election as king of a completely independent Norway. Haakon became the first monarch to use the palace permanently and the palace was therefore refurbished for two years before he, Queen Maud and

Crown Prince Olav Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Norw ...

could move in. King Haakon would be the first monarch to greet the children's parade on the palace balcony during the Norwegian Constitution Day celebration in Oslo. It was also King Haakon VII who in 1905 introduced the tradition of weekly meetings with the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

, a tradition which is still practiced with the meetings always being held in the palaces' Council Chamber where the King's throne chair is located.

Modernization and public access

During the reign and residence of King Olav V from 1957 to 1991, there was little funds for renovation, something the poorly-built original structure direly needed. King Olav would therefore mostly reside at Skaugum and the Bygdøy Royal Estate, but relocated to the palace in 1968 when he gave the Skaugum estate as a wedding gift to his son Crown Prince Harald and his bride Crown Princess Sonja. Shortly after his ascension, King Harald V started a comprehensive renovation project of the palace. The renovations and improvements, all made by ''Statsbygg'', included new fire alarm systems, the construction of new bathrooms, kitchens, offices and a general restructuring of the palace. The King was criticized because of the amount of money needed to bring the palace up to a satisfactory state even if much of this went to rectify construction deficits from a century and a half ago. With the renovations completed, the King and Queen relocated from Skaugum to the palace in 2001 as the Skaugum estate was to become the new home of Crown Prince Haakon and his family. The palace, like all royal residence in Norway, is guarded by His Majesty The King's Guard; the Royal Guards. Since public tours began in 2002, the general public has been able to view and appreciate the renovation and splendor that the palace now boasts. The daily changing of the guards has also become a popular tourist attraction in recent years. The reception rooms at the Royal Palace
From the official website of The Royal Norwegian Family

The Palace Park

The Palace Park ( no, Slottsparken) is a surrounding

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to res ...

, one of the largest parks of the capital. It is .

The Queen Sonja Art Stable

In 2017, the former palace stables were renovated and converted into a multipurpose art venue which was named '' Dronning Sonja KunstStall''. The building will be used as a art gallery, museum and concert hall and is now open to the public.

Gallery

File:1292 A2. Oslo (11415436255).jpg, Aerial view of the Royal Palace and the surrounding park File:Slott noreg bak 1.jpg, The Royal Palace seen from the rear end File:Slottet IMG 6069 rk 85500.JPG, The Royal Family standing on the palace balcony File:Oslo-May-17th-2005.jpg, The children's parade passes the Royal Palace during The Norwegian Constitution Day File:Karl johan statue 1.jpg, Statue of King Charles John on the Palace square File:Royal Palace from Karl Johans Gate (2327073839).jpg, The Royal Palace seen from Karl Johan's street. The walls of the

can be seen on the left. File:President Medvedev and wife Svetlana with Royal Family of Norway big225594.jpg, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev with the royal family at a palace reception in 2010

Bibliography

References

External links

The Royal Palace (Official website of The Royal Norwegian Family)Historical photos
National Library of Norway
Slottet er 150 år

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 millio ...

, 1999 {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Oslo

Oslo Royal Palace Palaces in Norway 1849 establishments in Norway Houses completed in 1849 Terminating vistas