Ullern is a

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 ...

of the city 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 ...

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 In Norse mythology, Ullr (Old Norse: ) is a god associated with archery. Although literary attestations of Ullr are sparse, evidence including relatively ancient place-name evidence from Scandinavia suggests that he was a major god in earlier G ...

. The last element is ''vin'', meaning pasture or meadow. In Medieval times, the farm belonged to the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

Hovedøya Hovedøya is one of several small islands off the coast of Oslo, Norway in the Oslofjord. The island is quite small, no more than 800 metres across in any direction, the total area is 0,4 square kilometre. It is well known for its lush and green ...

. Following the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in 1536, the farmland was separated between the crown and the local

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

. Formally divided into lower and upper Ullern in 1740, both farms were bought by

Herman Severin Løvenskiold Baron Herman Severin Løvenskiold (30 July 1815 – 5 December 1870) was a Norwegian-born Danish composer, most noted for his score for August Bournonville's 1836 version of the ballet ''La Sylphide'' for the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen. ...

, in 1878 and 1866 respectively. At the time, Ullern was a part of the rural municipality Aker. Signs of urbanization began in the 1800s, when Skøyen and areas along the Lysaker River, which divides Ullern from

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

, began developing into industrial sites. The 1872 opening of the

Drammen Line The Drammen Line ( no, Drammenbanen) is a railway line between Oslo and Drammen, Norway, which was opened on 7 October 1872. It serves all trains west of Oslo Central Station and is owned by Bane NOR. The line opened as a narrow gauge railway, ...

railway was a catalyst for further building activity, as were the 1912 opening of the

Smestad Line Smestad may refer to the following locations: *Smestad, Oslo in Oslo, Norway **Smestad (station) Smestad is a station shared by the Røa Line (line 2) and the Kolsås Line (line 3) on the Oslo T-bane system. Although the two lines continue to ...

and the 1919 extension of the

Skøyen Line The Skøyen Line ( no, Skøyenlinjen/''Skøyenlinja'') is a tram, tramway line running from Palace Park, Slottsparken to Skøyen in Oslo, Norway. It is served by line 13 of the Oslo Tramway. It connects the Briskeby Line at Slottsparken to the Lil ...

Lilleaker Lilleaker is a neighbourhood and industrial site in Ullern, Oslo, Norway. It is located east of the river Lysakerelva. The area is named after the Lilleaker farm. Lilleaker served by the Lilleaker station of the Oslo Tramway, the southern part b ...

. The two latter lines were later extended further, in 1935 and 1924 respectively. In 1942, a connection between the two lines, between

Jar A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically made of glass, ceramic, or plastic, with a wide mouth or opening that can be closed with a lid, screw cap, lug cap, cork stopper, roll-on cap, crimp-on cap, press-on c ...

and Sørbyhaugen, was opened, providing public rail transportation to the northern part of Ullern. In 1948, Ullern became a part of

, when Oslo absorbed the entire Aker municipality. In the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

period, the

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

-dominated housing was supplemented by

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently ...

s, scattered across the borough.

Geography

Neighborhoods in the borough of Ullern include Lysejordet, Øraker, Lilleaker, Sollerud, Vækerø, Bestum, Ullern, Bjørnsletta, Ullernåsen, Montebello, Hoff and

Skøyen Skøyen is a neighborhood of Oslo, Norway. It is located in the western part of the city, in the borough of Ullern. The district has an increasing share of business activities, a development started in the 80s. Skøyen is the site of Skøyenpar ...

. The borough borders the Lysaker River and Bærum municipality in the west,

Lysakerfjorden Lysakerfjorden ( en, Lysaker FjordRacing Yachtsman / Milestones in Norway. 1983. ''Yachting'' (December): 34–38, p. 38.) is an arm of the Oslofjord in Norway. It starts at the mouth of the Lysaker River, and is bordered by the peninsulas Snarøya ...

and

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 ...

in the south, Frogner borough in the east and Vestre Aker borough in the north. Before the borough mergers of 2003, the neighboring boroughs were

Røa Røa is a neighbourhood and a former administrative borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. In 2004 the borough of Røa was merged with neighbouring Vinderen to become Vestre Aker borough. Røa is a suburb of Oslo, located approximately 7 kilometer ...

and

Vinderen Vinderen is a neighbourhood in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. It was a separate borough until 1 January 2004, when it was incorporated into the newly established borough of Vestre Aker. Its amenities include Vinderen station. The prosp ...

in the north and Uranienborg-Majorstuen and Bygdøy-Frogner in the east. View of Jar and Ullern

The hill Ullernåsen reaches 201 metres

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. It is known for its

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

origin.

Transportation

Ullern is served by the

Lilleaker Line The Lilleaker Line ( no, Lilleakerbanen) is a suburban tramway from Skøyen in Oslo westwards to Jar, Bærum in Norway. It is operated by Line 13 from Ljabru to Bekkestua of the Oslo Tramway, operated by Oslo Sporvognsdrift. The line continues o ...

and

of the

Oslo Tramway The Oslo tram network ( no, Trikken i Oslo, short from ', 'electric') is the tram system in Oslo, Norway. It consists of six lines with 99 stops and has a daily ridership of 132,000. It is operated by , a subsidiary of the municipally-owned who ...

, the

Kolsås Line The Kolsås Line ( no, Kolsåsbanen) is a line of the Oslo Metro. It branches off from the Røa Line at Smestad Station and runs through western Oslo and Bærum to Kolsås Station. It serves the neighborhoods of Ullernåsen, Øraker, Jar, Bek ...

of the

Oslo T-bane 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 ...

and the

railroad. The stations within the borough are Øraker,

, Sollerud,

Furulund Furulund is a locality situated in Kävlinge Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of Sw ...

, Bestum,

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 ...

, Abbediengen, Hoff and

(Oslo Tramway); Bjørnsletta, Åsjordet, Ullernåsen and Montebello (Oslo T-bane); and

(Drammen Line). Defunct stations are Bestum (Oslo Tramway);

Lysakerelven Lysakerelven (also known as Lysakerelva, en, Lysaker River) is a river in Norway that forms the boundary between the municipalities of the capital city of Oslo and Bærum. The river by this name has its source in Bogstadvannet, though the sourc ...

, Old Bjørnsletta, Sørbyhaugen,

Husebybakken Kastellbakken (later renamed into ''Husebybakken'') is an abandoned, but first modern ski jumping hill in history, opened in 1879. It was located at Ullern in Oslo, Norway. It was the venue of Husebyrennet, Norway's and the world's most prestigi ...

(Oslo T-bane) and Bestun (Drammen Line). The

European route E18 European route E18 runs from Craigavon in Northern Ireland to Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length. Although the designation implies the possibility of a through jour ...

runs through the southern part of the borough. At Vækerø, the Norwegian national road 160 branches off and heads north-east, passing Furulund station, the Old Bjørnsletta station and Lysakerelven station before crossing the Oslo-Bærum border at

. The Ring 3 starts at

Lysaker Lysaker is an area in Bærum Municipality, Viken (county), Viken County, Norway. Lysaker is the easternmost part of Bærum and borders Oslo city proper, proper. Lysaker was initially a farming community, later becoming a residential area. Today ...

, crosses the Oslo-Bærum border in the southern

Granfoss Tunnel The Granfoss Tunnel is a set of two tunnels on Ring 3 in Oslo, Norway. The two tunnels are long and they are part of the Granfoss Line, a stretch of motorway which was opened in 1992 connecting Ring 3 with the European route E18. The name come ...

, emerges at Mustad before entering the northern Granfoss Tunnel, finally emerging near

Ullern Church Ullern Church ( no, Ullern kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Sør-Odal Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Ullern, Innlandet, Ullern. It is the church for the Ullern parish which is part of ...

. It passes the Radium Hospital before continuing into Vestre Aker at Smestad. The residents also have access to boat traffic from nearby

, and until 1998 access to the now-defunct

Oslo Airport, Fornebu Oslo Airport, Fornebu ( no, Oslo lufthavn, Fornebu), was the primary international airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from 1 June 1939 to 7 October 1998. It was then replaced by Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, and the area has since been redevel ...

Business

Major commercial areas are found at Lilleaker, Vækerø and Skøyen. The shopping mall

CC Vest CC Vest is a Norwegian shopping centre in Lilleaker, Oslo. It has 78 outlets, and mainly serves western Oslo as well as eastern Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on th ...

is located at Lilleaker, partially utilizing the former locales of the manufacturing company O. Mustad & Son. A locomotive production company, Thunes Mekaniske Værksted, had its localities at Thune, but is now defunct. Until the 2000s, Norges Varemesse ran a large convention center at Skøyen. The

Norwegian Radium Hospital Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospitalet ( no, Oslo universitetssykehus, Radiumhospitalet) is one of the four campuses of Oslo University Hospital in Oslo, Norway, and is dedicated to cancer treatment. This part of the hospital is the most specia ...

, opened in 1931, is located at Montebello. Slightly east of the Radium Hospital is Smestad fire station, opened in 1947. There are several schools in the borough, but no institutions of higher education.

Culture

Ullern is a parish in the

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

, but the borders do not correspond with the borough borders. The parish was separated from Vestre Aker in 1906, and later on Røa and Skøyen were separated from Ullern, in 1957 and 1984 respectively. Ullern church, serving the parish of Ullern, was raised in 1903. The parish of Skøyen had its church raised in 1989. The parishes of Ullern and Skøyen are parts of Vestre Aker deanery, in turn a part of the

Diocese of Oslo Oslo bishopric is the Church of Norway's bishopric for the municipalities of Oslo, Asker and Bærum. It is one of Norway's five traditional bishoprics and was founded around the year 1070. History Oslo was established as a diocese in 1068. It ...

. The local newspaper is ''

Ullern Avis Akersposten Ullern is a List of boroughs of Oslo, borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. History The borough has its name from an old farm, Old Norse language, Norse ''Ullarin''. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the Norse god Ullr. The la ...

''. ''

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 million ...

'' is widespread as well.

Sports

The local multi-sports team is

Ullern IF Ullern Idrettsforening is a Norwegian multi-sports club from Ullern, Oslo. It has sections for association football, team handball, basketball, bandy and cheerleading. The club colors are white and red. General history The club was founded in 1 ...

. It was founded in 1909, and absorbed the neighboring teams Bestum IF and Liull in 1972. Their home field, used for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

matches, is located near Lysakerelven station. The indoor arena Ørakerhallen is used for handball and basketball matches; its basketball team last won the national title in 1996. The

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

club Ullern TK split from Ullern IF in 1992, and has its courts at Blokkajordet. Since 2000 it also owns 25% of the national tennis arena at Hasle. Notable players include

Thorvald Moe Thorvald Moe (born 4 October 1939) is a Norwegian former tennis player, economist and civil servant. He was born in Oslo. He was appointed Director General ( no, ekspedisjonssjef) in the Ministry of Finance (Norway), Ministry of Finance from 1978 ...

and Jan Frode Andersen. Ullern had several ski jumping hills in the past. Ullernbakken in Ullernåsen was demolished in 1958. Another hill, Husebybakken, was the venue of the competition

Husebyrennet Husebyrennet was a ski jumping competition which was held in Ullern, Oslo, Norway. These yearly competitions, held from 1879 to 1891, were a precursor to the Holmenkollen event. Starting in January 1892, this competition relocated to the Holm ...

between 1879 and 1891. The competition was moved to the hill

Holmenkollen Holmenkollen () is a mountain and a neighbourhood in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. It goes up to above sea level and is well-known for its international skiing competitions. Overview In addition to being a residential area, the are ...

in 1892, starting the

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( no, Holmenkollen skifestival or ) is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. History It takes place in March ...

. In addition, boat sports are popular. The rowing club Bestumkilen RK and the canoeing club

Oslo KK Oslo Kajakklubb is a sports club from Oslo, Norway. Established on 1 March 1931, its only sport is canoe racing. It is based at Bestumkilen outside of Skøyen, sharing the locality with the rowing club Bestumkilen RK. Member-wise, the club lang ...

are based in

Bestumkilen Bestumkilen is a bay in Lysakerfjorden in the inner Oslofjord area of Norway. Located west of the Bygdøy peninsula and east of Vækerø, it is bordered by the islet Killingen in the southwest and the mouth of the river Hoffselva at Sjølyst in ...

, an arm of

. Leisure boating is also widespread.

Politics

As a borough of Oslo, Ullern is governed by the city council of Oslo as well as its own borough council. The council leader is Carl Oscar Pederson from the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, and the deputy leader is Ingrid Hopp, also of the Conservative Party. The Conservative Party has the most seats. The 15 seats are distributed among the following

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

for the 2019-2023 term: *8 from the

(''Høyre'') *2 from the Labour Party (''Arbeiderpartiet'') *2 from the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

(Miljøpartiet de Grønne) *1 from the Progress Party (''Fremskrittspartiet'') *1 from the Socialist Left Party (''Sosialistisk Venstreparti'') *1 from the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

(''Venstre'') The administration is headquartered at Hoff.

References

{{coord, 59, 55, 32, N, 10, 39, 17, E, region:NO-03_type:city_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Boroughs of Oslo