Grünerløkka () is a
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, 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
...
but also a neighborhood of the city of
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 ...
. Grünerløkka became part of the city of Oslo (then
Christiania) in 1858. Grünerløkka was traditionally a
working class district; since the late 20th century the area has increasingly undergone
gentrification
Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
. Especially in the core neighborhood of Grünerløkka, property prices tend to be higher than is typical of other Oslo
East End boroughs.
The borough consists of the following neighborhoods:
* Grünerløkka vest (West)
* Grünerløkka øst (East)
*
Dælenenga
*
Rodeløkka
*
Sinsen
*
Sofienberg
*
Hasle
*
In the Oslo borough reform on 1 January 2004, the borough
Helsfyr-Sinsen was removed, and the neighborhoods Sinsen, Løren, Lille Tøyen and Hasle were included in Grünerløkka.
Etymology
The first element was derived from the surname ''Grüner''. The last element is the
definite form of ''løkke'', meaning "
paddock".
Grünerløkka was named after Friedrich Grüner (1628-1674) who served as chief administrator (''Oberhauptmann'') and the master of the mint (''myntmester'') at Christiania from 1651 until his death in 1674. Grüner purchased the Kings Mill (''Kongens mølle'') and surrounding acreage in the area from King
Christian V of Denmark
Christian V (15 April 1646 – 25 August 1699) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1699.
Well-regarded by the common people, he was the first king anointed at Frederiksborg Castle chapel as absolute monarch since the dec ...
in 1672.
History
Thorvald Meyer (1818–1909) bought parts of the Grünerløkka area in 1861. The industrialist built the main street of the neighborhood Grünerløkka, now named Thorvald Meyers gate. During the 19th century, Grünerløkka became a working-class area. Several factories were placed here because of the advantages of being located close to the
Akerselva River. Christiania Seildugsfabrikk from 1856 and Aktieselskapet Herkules from 1898 were two of the factories established.
Grünerløkka is located with the parish of
Paulus Church (''Paulus kirke''). In 1866, Paulus parish had a total population of 13,600. By 1900, the parish population had risen to 22,000. At that time, only five streets in Oslo had a population above 3000. Of these, three were located in Grünerløkka: Markveien, Thorvald Meyers gate and Toftes gate. In 1864, a square meter had been priced at about 30
Norwegian shilling Active selling of property started in 1865. However, even as Thorvald Meyer offered low-priced land, almost no one bought any of it until after 1868.
The park square called
Olaf Ryes plass has its name from Norwegian-Danish General
Olaf Rye (1791–1849). It was an open field well into the 1880s. The property was bought by
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 ...
kommune from members of the Grüner family in 1883. A narrow diagonal street was built which led from Markveien to Thorvald Meyers gate. It had a stopping spot for horses and carriages at the middle point. This section is now a pedestrian park square. The district's previous logo showed Mangelsgården, a listed building in Storgata 36 that is part of Prinds Christian Augusts Minde. From 2019, the district has used a common logo for Oslo.
Politics
As a borough of Oslo, Grünerløkka is governed by the city council of Oslo as well as its own borough council. The council leader is Geir Jensen from the
Green Party and the deputy leader is Vemund Rundberget, of the
Labour Party. The Green 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 area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
for the 2019-2023 term:
* 4 from the
Green Party (Miljøpartiet de Grønne)
* 3 from the
Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)
* 3 from the
Conservative Party (Høyre)
* 2 from the
Red Party (Rødt)
* 2 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. For example, while the political systems ...
(Venstre)
Sports
The neighbourhood has its own sports club,
Grüner, which was founded in 1914 with
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
and
football as the most important activities. Grüner Fotball plays its home games at
Dælenenga idrettspark and currently is part of the third division of the Norwegian football system. The ice hockey team plays the home games at
Grünerhallen.
Notable landmarks
*
Sportsklubben av 1909
*
Alexander Kiellands plass (Oslo)
*
Ã…modt bro
*
Ankerbrua
*
Ankertorget
*
Birkelunden
*
Blå
*
Carl Berners plass
*
Foss Brewery
*
Foss videregående skole
*
Freia
*
Grünerhallen
*
Keyserløkka
*
Kulturkirken Jakob
*
Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo
*
Olaf Ryes plass
*
Parkteatret
*
Paulus kirke
*
Prinds Christian Augusts Minde
*
Ring 2
*
Rodeløkka
*
Sagene ring
*
Schou Brewery
*
Sinsenkrysset
*
Sinsenparken
*
Sofienberg
*
Sofienberg kirke
*
Sofienberg Park
Gallery
Olaf Ryes plass sommer.JPG, The park at Olaf Ryes plass
View from siloen.jpg, View from "silo" (Marselis gate 24) to the northeast of Grünerløkka
Thvmeyersgt 2005.jpg, Tram at market day in Thorvald Meyers gate
Markveien.jpg, Markveien
References
Other sources
* Knut Are Tvedt (editor) (2000) "Grünerløkka" in ''Oslo byleksikon'' (Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. 4th ed. pp. 170–171)
External links
Grünerløkka, official website(City of Oslo)
Guide to Grünerløkkavisitoslo.com
Munch's Grünerløkka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grunerlokka
Boroughs of Oslo
Working class in Europe