Paléet was a monumental single storey

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...

located in the Norwegian capital

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 ...

that for a long time functioned as a residence for the Norwegian royalty.

History

Construction

The building was constructed between the years 1744-45 and was commissioned by the wealthy merchant Christian Ancher. Situated in what is present-day ''Fred.Olsens gate 6'', close to

Oslo Central Station Oslo Central Station (, abbreviated ) is the main railway station in Oslo, and the largest railway station within the entire Norwegian railway system. It connects with Jernbanetorget station, which is served by trams and the Oslo Metro. It's ...

, the building was near a public garden, ''Paléhaven'', that stretched down to the shores of Bjørvika.

Royal residence

The townhouse remained in the Anker family until the death of Bernt Anker who in 1805 bequeathed Paléet to the Norwegian government and the Norwegian royal family. King Charles XIV John expanded townhouse greatly, with the old stables being converted into residential areas, all decorated in

Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 duri ...

. Paléet was subsequently given the role as the royal residence in

during the era of the

Union between Sweden and Norway Sweden and Norway or Sweden–Norway (; ), officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and known as the United Kingdoms, was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Sweden and Norway under a common monarch and common foreign pol ...

, a role the townhouse maintained until the completion of the Royal Palace in 1848.

Later years

Paléet would later function as offices, living quarters for members of the Norwegian civil service, housed the Norwegian Supreme Court between 1898 and 1903 and was used by the

Hird The hird (also named "De Håndgangne Menn" in Norwegian), in Scandinavian history, was originally an informal retinue of personal armed companions, hirdmen or housecarls. Over time, it came to mean not only the nucleus ('Guards') of the royal arm ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The townhouse was demolished after a damaging fire in 1942 and no trace of the building can be seen today.

Kings and royalty who resided at Paléet

Christian VII of Denmark Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was King of Denmark–Norway, Denmark and Norway and Duke of Duchy of Schleswig, Schleswig and Duchy of Holstein, Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. He was affected by mental illness and ...

* Charles August, Crown Prince of Sweden *

Prince Frederik of Hesse Prince Frederik of Hesse, Landgrave Friedrich of Hesse-Cassel (24 May 1771 – 24 February 1845) was a Danish- German nobleman, field marshal and governor-general of Norway (1810–1813) and the same in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein ...

* Charles XIV John of Sweden and Norway *

Oscar I of Sweden Oscar I (born Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte; 4 July 1799 – 8 July 1859) was King of Sweden and List of Norwegian monarchs, Norway from 8 March 1844 until his death. He was the second monarch of the House of Bernadotte. The only child of Ki ...

Charles XV of Sweden Charles XV or Carl (''Carl Ludvig Eugen''; Swedish language, Swedish and Norwegian language, Norwegian officially: ''Karl''; 3 May 1826 – 18 September 1872) was King of Sweden and List of Norwegian monarchs, Norway, there often referred to as C ...

Gallery

File:Harbour of Christiania (JW Edy plate 50).jpg, Harbour of Christiania with Paléet visible in the corner File:Paléet OB.Y1501.jpg, Paléet seen from ''Paléhaven'' File:Paléet OB.Y1503.jpg, The ballroom hall File:Modell av Paleet og hagen OB.A8497.jpg, Model of Paléet File:Paléet OB.NW2449.jpg, Paléet during the devastating fire in 1942

References

Sources

* Ludvig Daae
''Det gamle Christiania 1624-1814''. Anden omarbeidede og forøgede Udgave. J.W. Cappelens Forlag. Christiania 1891
pages 253-289 * Thor Bendz Kielland
''Paléet i Oslo. Constitutionsværkets Vugge''. Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. Oslo 1939
* ''Oslo byleksikon''. Kunnskapsforlaget. Oslo 2000. * Monica Mørk and Ulf Holmene: ''Kong Christian Frederik og Paleet i Christiania og sommerresidensen på Ladegaardsøen, ''from Jørn Holme (red.): ''De kom fra alle kanter - Eidsvollsmennene og deres hus, ''Cappelen Damm 2014 {{Royal palaces in Norway Royal residences in Norway 1740s establishments in Norway History of Oslo Buildings and structures in Oslo Palaces in Norway 1745 establishments in Europe