Prehistory and foundation

Archaeological excavations in the Oslo area have resulted in finds in the form of Christian burials, which are believed to date to the years before the year 1000. The finds do not have a clear knowledge of the city’s start, which is set for year 1000, where It is believed that the first church was erected. However, Oslo is considered to be founded as an actual city with Harald Hardrådes first major facility in Oslo in 1049.

The early construction took place at the outlet of the Alna River, which was central to transport across the sea and inland. Harald Hardråde had a royal estate and a church built.

The first centuries

Oslo quickly developed into an important trading town in the area. This happened at the same time as the production of ships and agricultural products took place. During this time, for example through the 12th century, several institutions were also established. These talked the cathedral school as the city’s premier education site.

Oslo’s status in the Norwegian area was elevated to the capital from 1299. It happened to King Haakon V Magnusson, who as the first of the country’s kings took permanent residence here.

The time had also come for the city to be fortified. It happened from the year 1300 with Håkon V Magnusson’s construction of the castle of Akershus, which continues to throne on the Oslo Fjord. The fortress was primarily built to protect the threat from the Swedes to the east, but Akershus also became the king’s residence castle.

A long decline

The 1300s had started with the construction of Akershus, and it made clear to Oslo’s development that the city was the capital. However, it wasn’t many years before optimism disappeared. In 1349, Oslo and Norway were affected by a plague epidemic, with half to three-quarters of the population perished. The city was for many years after the plague devastation. Trade fell while churches and royal buildings decayed.

In 1380, weakened Norway became part of the Kalmar Union and thus entered into a federal union with Denmark, from which the country was ruled. The Danish kings were also kings of Norway, and for many centuries the country was ruled from Copenhagen, which established itself as the leading city in Scandinavia.

With this form of government, Oslo was not developed in the same way as if the city had been the capital of an independent Norway. A number of institutions, such as higher education institutions, were located in Copenhagen, where some Norwegians went to study.

17th century Christiania

Over the following centuries, Oslo burned down several times. The houses were often made of wood with peat roofs, which gave the fire good conditions. After the great fire in 1624, King Christian IV decided to move the city to the area at Akershus Fortress and thus effectively establish a new city.

It was a modern city that Christian IV wanted to build, and he was involved in its planning. The city changed its name to Christiania, and to avoid fires the buildings had to be of stone. It was a change for Oslo, which with Christiania saw a new beginning.

Christiania was created with European cities as role models. The streets were perpendicular to each other and should be 15 meters wide. High defenses were also erected around the city center, which was accessed through the city’s three gates. The Christiania of the 17th century can be found in today’s district of Kvadraturen, and here, among other things, lies the city’s oldest town hall, built under Christian IV in 1641.

Oslo in the 1700-1800s

International trade of the 17th-18th century, especially with England and the Netherlands, developed in the time after Christiania’s founding, and increasing prosperity characterized the 18th century.

It was also the century when the Thirty Years War raged in the North, and in isolation, the Norwegian economy caused a boom through the country’s considerable shipbuilding. In 1716, the city was attacked by Sweden, which besieged Akershus, but did not fall.

Throughout the 19th century, there was a boom in Oslo. The city’s university was founded in 1813, and the following year the union with Denmark was dissolved as a result of the Napoleonic wars, and Christiania became Norway’s capital after Copenhagen. The city was not yet big, but it was developing rapidly through the 19th century. In 1830, Oslo became larger than Bergen, making it the largest city in the country.

The new Norwegian capital became the seat of government and one of the Swedish king Oscar Is residence cities. In 1825, the construction of Oslo’s royal palace was begun, it was completed in 1848. Other institutions were also established; for example Norges Bank, Stock Exchange and in 1866 Parliament.

From the mid-1800s, there was great economic progress in Christiania, and it attracted people from all over the country who hoped for better times for a life in the capital. Industrialization started from the area around the Akerselven, and it gave the economy a real boom. Many facilities and institutions were built in the city, which could eventually be called a larger city. Oslo as a city was expanded in 1859 and again in 1878.

1900s to today

The population of the city grew from 30,000 in 1850 to 230,000 in 1900. Many worked on the countless factories that were built during the industrialization that had also brought the railway to the capital.

In 1905, the union with Sweden was abolished. Christiania again became a royal residence when the Danish prince Carl became Norway’s King Håkon VII.

Economically, things went well in Oslo until the outbreak of World War I, which put a damper on developments across Europe. In 1925, the city’s name was changed from Christian IV’s Christiania to the original name Oslo.

Norway was occupied by Germany in 1940, and the king and the government of Oslo settled during the war years in London. During those years, the Germans and the Norwegian Nazis align themselves with the Akershus Fortress. It was also here that Commander Josef Nichterlein finally returned the city to the Norwegian home front on May 11, 1945.

After World War II, there was a large housing shortage in Oslo, and large-scale housing construction was started in the suburbs. In 1952, the Norwegian capital came on the world map as host of the Winter Olympics, which took place on Holmenkollen’s famous ski slope. However, Norway continued to not count as the economic superpower that it is today.

It was in the 1970s that the extraction of Norway’s large oil deposits in the North Sea started, and this has resulted in a very solid economy in Norwegian society, which is seen and experienced in the modern capital Oslo. Since the 1980s, Oslo has experienced a great cultural boost, which has created a wide range of opportunities for visitors. This applies, among other things, to the city’s opera house, which in modern architecture lies towards the Oslo Fjord.