Wessels plass ("Wessel's Square") is a square 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 ...

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 the ...

, located south of the

Parliament of Norway Building The Storting building ( no, Stortingsbygningen) is the seat of the Storting, the parliament of Norway. The building is located at 22 Karl Johans gate in central Oslo, Norway. It was taken into use on 5 March 1866 and was designed by the Swedish ...

History

Originally on the site was a knoll with a house surrounded by a garden. The Parliament of Norway Building was completed in 1866, ad in 1873 Oslo municipality bought the knoll. It was demolished around 1880 to give room for a park-like square. Named Stortingspladsen ('The Storting Square'), it was given its current name in 1891. It was named after

Johan Herman Wessel Johan Herman Wessel (6 October 1742 – 29 December 1785) was an 18th-century Danish-Norwegian poet, satirist and playwright. His written work was characterized by the use of parody and satiric wit. Biography Wessel was born and raised at Vest ...

, and a

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

of him was raised here in 1891. A statue of

Johan Sverdrup Johan Sverdrup (30 July 1816 – 17 February 1892) was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party. He was the first prime minister of Norway after the introduction of parliamentarism and served as the 4th prime minister of Norway. Sverdrup was ...

was raised in 1964. Under the square is a walking tunnel between the Parliament of Norway Building and office buildings across the street.

Transport

Wessels plass had a

light rail station A tram stop, tram station, streetcar stop, or light rail station is a place designated for a tram, streetcar, or light rail vehicle to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Generally, tram stops share most characteristics of bus stops, b ...

on the

Briskeby Line The Briskeby Line ( no, Briskebylinjen) is a line of the Oslo Tramway in Norway. It runs westwards from Jernbanetorget in the city center, passing through the neighborhoods of Briskeby and Uranienborg before reaching its terminus at Majorstuen. ...

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 ...

. It was served by lines 13 and 19, while it was active; westbound trams skipped the station. The square is also served by buses, and the

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, w ...

station Stortinget is not far away.

References

Squares in Oslo {{Oslo-geo-stub