Fatherland (Oslo)

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Map excerpt from inner eastern Oslo with an approximate area of ​​the Fatherland district.

Fatherland is a neighborhood east of the Sentrum district in Oslo , the center of the Norwegian capital.

location

The Fatherland district borders the Storgata to the west and the Brugata and the Akerselva River to the north . In the east it borders on the Nylandsveien , where the Akerselva River continues to flow underground, and in the south the railway tracks of the Oslo Central Station connect . Furthermore, Vaterland borders the district of Fjerdingen in the north, in the east on Grønland , in the south there are the railway tracks of the Oslo Sentralstasjon , in the west the Youngstorget area and in the north-west the Hausmannsområdet (only in the direct area of ​​the intersection Hammersborggata / Brugata and Storgata).

history

Fatherland with Stenersgata opposite Lilletorget, 1903
The Vaterland district around 1860 on an old city map
Demolition work on Rødfyllgata in 1953
The Vaterland Småkirke around 1899, built by the architect Heinrich Jürgensen , was demolished in 1959 when the district was being rebuilt
Houses on the Brugata
A courtyard at Brugata 6, 2012
Oslo Plaza and the Oslo Spectrum
The Vaterland district with Vaterland Park and Oslo Plaza (left) and Posthuset and the Akerselva River in the foreground

The name Vaterland is derived from the Dutch word Waterland , which means something like Wattland or waterland, an area that was characterized by periodic water movements of the Akerselva River. Dutch ships docked here to buy wood in Norway in the 1600s.

The first settlement on the site was older than the city of Christiania , but the suburb was set on fire by the governor in 1658 and burned down completely. The neighborhood was then rebuilt and has grown considerably since the 1670s, mainly repopulated by the steadily growing northwestern part of Bjørvika . After the construction of the first Fatherland bro in 1654, an important connection from Fatherland to the city of Christiania was created. The suburb Vaterland was ultimately endowed with privileges for the limited timber trade, from which the latter benefited considerably.

Until the construction of the Nybrua bridge in Oslo in 1827, the streets Storgata and Brugata were the most important main roads leading to Christiania, as well as the main connection to the eastern fatherland Storgade . Traders were able to make large profits in the timber trade through these trade routes. The suburbs were incorporated into Christiania in 1839.

Located on the southern edge of Vaterland at the mouth of the Akerleva River, large timber merchants bought a larger area from King Frederick V in 1765 and set it up as a wood storage area. Large areas of felled wood were stored in this area.

After a fire at this location in 1819, the entire wood storage area burned down, which meant ruin for many of the wealthy Christiania families who owned it. Oslo's first train station, Østbanestasjonen , was built here in the 1850s.

The center of Vaterland was built up with many residential and commercial buildings, as well as a bar and entertainment district with brothels, and had a notorious reputation as a place of catching farmers . The hustle and bustle of Abelone Fall , a wealthy innkeeper and pimp based in Vaterland, led to a spectacular trial in Oslo in 1893. In the Abelone case, all the scams, like robbing customers and murdering, came to light. The discovery of these crimes during the trial led to large demonstrations in the Fatherland against the "entrepreneur". In contemporary literature, the fatherland was regarded as a wicked place of organized crime and the demi-world as well as the underworld milieu until well into the 1900s.

Some of the old buildings in Vaterland have been refurbished since the late 1950s, mainly in connection with the construction of the Oslo T-banen and the simultaneously built Tøyen T-banestasjon and the Jernbanetorget stasjon , which were completed in 1966. Likewise, many buildings were demolished in the post-war years in line with the zeitgeist of the time, and entire streets and squares were redesigned to make room for new, ambitious buildings. Some houses, such as those at Rødfyllgata 12 and 21, were rebuilt after their demolition on the site of the Norsk Folkemuseum on Bygdøy .

Fatherland today

Only a few remains of the old fatherland still exist along the Brugata (for example some former farms and residential and commercial buildings, such as today's restaurant Teddy's Soft Bar ).

Otherwise, the district is now more dominated by newer, large building complexes:

The Vaterlandsparken (Vaterland-Park), which opened in 1994, is located along the Akerselva River and the Vaterland bro located to the south .

People connected to the Fatherland district

  • Charles XII. lived in the fatherland during the siege of Akershus fortress in 1716.
  • Arne Garborg , Norwegian writer, lived in Vaterland for a while while studying in Christiania, today's Oslo.
  • Axel Paulsen , Norwegian figure skater, was the son of a merchant from the Vaterland district who was active in this area.
  • Knut Hamsun , Norwegian writer, lived in the fatherland for a long time before his breakthrough as a writer.
  • Ólafía Jóhannesdóttir - an Icelandic woman who took care of the poor in Oslo's slums.
  • As a child, Tilla Valstad went to the Vaterland Skole from 1898 to 1920 .
  • Oscar Mathisen , a Norwegian speed skater, lived in the fatherland for some time as a child.

Web links

Commons : Vaterland, Oslo  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Crystal Clear

Coordinates: 59 ° 55 '  N , 10 ° 45'  E