Etterstad () is a neighborhood 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 ...

, located between the river

Alna Alna is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. It is named after the River Alna, which flows through it. The borough consists of the following neighborhoods: * Alnabru * Ellingsrud * Furuset * Haugerud * Hellerud * Lindeberg * Trosterud * Tve ...

and Strømsveien, north of Vålerenga. It was incorporated into Oslo in 1946, two years before the merger of Oslo and Aker. The area is mainly residential.

History

The area takes its name from Etterstad Farm, that was located close to the present

Helsfyr Helsfyr () is a residential and industrial neighborhood in Oslo. It is located in Oslo's East End, in the administrative borough of Gamle Oslo. The neighborhood is named after ''Helsfyr gård'', which name is possibly originating from Low Saxon ...

area, about where the current Helsfyr T-bane station is located. The farm name is

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

and is a contraction of ''Eitill'' (a person's name) and ''stad'' (meaning "place"). Records of the farm are recorded back to 1396 as an estate of the bishop. It remained church property until 1795 when it was taken over by the city and made a military training field, in exchange for a rent paid by the city to the bishop. At the time the city was obliged to provide ground for the military. The military gave the area the name ''Etterstadsletta'', and was in use as a training field until 1881. In 1821, King

Charles XIV John Charles XIV John ( sv, Karl XIV Johan; born Jean Bernadotte; 26 January 1763 – 8 March 1844) was King of Sweden and Norway from 1818 until his death in 1844. Before his reign he was a Marshal of France during the Napoleonic Wars and participat ...

ordered an exercise with 6,000 soldiers as a political power demonstration aimed at the newly formed

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. Th ...

. The field was also the site of

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

s, the

last A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, an ...

performed on 19 April 1864 on the Prussian Friedrich Wilhelm Priess and the Dane Knud Fredrik Christian Simonsen by Samson Isberg with an audience of 5,000 people. The field was also used for Harness racing until 1928. The first demonstration of aviation in the country was performed by the Swedish aristocrat Carl Cederström from 14 to 23 October 1910. After many successful demonstrations, on the final day Cederström lost control of the aircraft at take-off; two people were hurt and the plane had to be sent to France for repairs. The government took over the cost of the military in 1840, but city pressed to be allowed to build housing in the area. This was permitted in 1922, and Oslo Bolig- og Sparelag started construction in the 1930s in a large reconstruction of all property down to the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

. The plans were abandoned due to

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 opposing ...

, and changed afterwards. In 1967 the Oslo T-bane replaced 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 ...

References

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