Bjølsen is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in the

Sagene Sagene is a List of boroughs of Oslo, borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. The area became part of the city of Oslo (then Oslo, Christiania) in 1859. The name Sagene itself is the plural of the Norwegian language, Norwegian word for "saw", reflec ...

borough in central-northern

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Originally a farm in the former Aker municipality, it was incorporated into Christiania (now Oslo) in 1878. It has been sawmill and mill operation as far back as the 17th century. Later came the textile industry to Bjølsen, and also a

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

. After most of Bjølsen was incorporated in Christiania (Oslo) in 1878 and much of the farm land was purchased by the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

it became regulated park, Bjølsen park, which is still a green lung in the area. It adjoins a colonial garden where the children's television series

Portveien 2 ''Portveien 2'' was a children's TV-show produced by NRK, which premiered on 19 March 1985. It has had many reruns, and has become a part of Norwegian TV history. The show produced 140 episodes. The outdoor footage for the series was filmed in ...

was recorded.

Notable sites

Aker River The Akerselva or Akerselven () is a river which flows through Oslo, Norway. It starts at Maridalsvannet in Oslomarka, and traverses the boroughs of Nordre Aker, Sagene, Grünerløkka, central Oslo and Grønland, finally ending at Paulsenkaien ...

: Oslo's green lung. The river historically has given

power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

to numerous industry

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

in Oslo * Bjølsen park: 34 acre park that is known for a beautiful linden tree-lined street which runs north-south along the park's highest point * Margarinfabrikken (Margarine Factory): Historic margarine factory that was in operation until 1929; now Norway's largest kindergarten. * Bjølsenveggen (Bjølsen wall): 50+ meter street

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

completed in 2020 * Bjølsenhallen (Bjølsen hall): sports and business center that includes large indoor sports hall, pharmacy and a large grocery store. The sports hall consists of a handball court with grandstand, a

floorball Floorball (also known by other names) is a sport played with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. It is played indoors with sticks and a hollow plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three periods. The sport of bandy also playe ...

court and a number of smaller halls. Hall was a historic site to a

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

act by

Max Manus Maximo Guillermo Manus DSO, MC & Bar (9 December 1914 – 20 September 1996) was a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II, specialising in sabotage in occupied Norway. After the war he wrote several books about his adventures and ...

and others during World War II. * Oslo skatepark: Norway's largest and only sports center built exclusively for skateboarders

References

Neighbourhoods of Oslo {{Oslo-geo-stub