OSLO

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25849, 21 May 1945, Page 7

OSLO

CAPITAL OF NORWAY MODERN CITY IN ANCIENT COUNTRY By S. K. Things rarely are what one imagines they should be. Of all places in the world, the capital of Norway ought to conform to a definte pattern—a northern atmosphere with high Gothic spires, ancient grey buildings, and gabled roofs, the fierce descendants of the Vikings striding narrow streets. Well, that is just what Oslo is not like. The present-day Norwegians are charming and polite, soft-spoken, and easy-going. Their capital, Oslo, is a very modern city; gardens and villacolonies crowd out the few old buildings that survived the centuries. Only in one respect does she come up to expectation; the sharp tang of the sea pervades her, the northern waters are ever present.

Founded in the dim past on the banks of the Aker River, where it enters Oslo fiord, the settlement progressed fast. In the fourteenth century it became the chief city of the kingdom, a busy port and trading centre. The powerful Hanseatic League dominated it for a while. The warehouses of this §reat merchant company attracted usiness from far and wide. The sea was Oslo’s livelihood; her export of dried fish brought wealth and renown to her sailors. As most Norwegian cities, she was built almost entirely of wood, so that fires destroyed her time after time. After one particularly disastrous fire King Christian IV of Denmark sand Norway rebuilt her in 1624,-and in his honour Oslo changed her name to Christiania. Only 20 years ago did the ancient city resume her original name again. When another vast fire wiped out Oslo last century it was finally decided to build from then on in stone, wooden houses were banned, and she became an essentially modern city. It is a good rule for travellers to admire places from the outside, restaurants from the inside, and mountains from their foot. The hills behind Oslo are, however, easy to climb, a little cable railway does it for one, so it is safe to break the golden rule for once. Up it goes, higher and higher, and at last the goal is reached, Holmenkollern, the skiers’ paradise. The famous skijump where world champions trained is best left to them, life above Oslo is too sweet to throw it away from this incredible height. The ski-museum is interesting, with all types of skis and trophies and the gear of northern expeditions, but the restaurant with its gay orange umbrellas on the terrace seems more inviting. And what does one eat in Norway? Fish, of course, in hundreds of \different dishes, and one drinks rum-punch with it, that goes down like velvet. And what does one see then? Purple snakes and pink lizards? No, one see Oslo spread out below, the deep blue fiord studded with islands, the hills around the wide plain dark with firs, the city gleaming with its light buildings. Life in Oslo centres on the KarlJohans street, running right through the town from the palace on the rise to the railway station near the harbour. Norway is a progressive and a democratic country; the grouping of the buildings along the main street of Oslo shows it well. The unpretentious palace with its park stands close to the Storthing, the Houses of Parliament. The National Theatre with the statues of Henrik Ibsen and Bjornstjerne Bjornsen looks across to the Fredericiana University, the only one in Norway. The restaur, ant of the Grand Hotel, quite apart from good food and a good orchestra, makes one realise that there are. no class distinctions in the country. Soldiers in dark peace-time uniforms with green badges mingled there with their officers, students and professors, lovely girls from offices and from wealthy homes; company directors and sailors all assembled for their afternoon coffee. The Old Town across the Aker River has a few old buildings. The episcopal palace in which James VI of Scotland, the first Stuart king of England, was bethrothed to Anne of Denmark still stands, but the new residence of the bishop overshadows it. The huddle of houses might be romantic to observe from the outside, yet the garden suburb of Ullevaal is certainly more comfortable. With its 250,000 people Oslo had few housing problems; the valley was spacious enough to allow the city to expand in a nice, orderly manner. The two large shipbuilding yards by the harbour gave employment to thousands: the many shipping lines that had their headquarters in Oslo served to enliven her with a compolitan mixture of people, and the large industries in nearby Sagene augmented her imports from England. Trade between England and Norway was quite extensive before the war, and was certainly conducted on a sounder basis than when the Vikings ravaged the British coasts and carved out their little kingdoms. The ships on which they swooped down on peaceful Britain have not all perished —a few have been found excellently preserved near Oslo.. In the open-air museum near the city these viking-ships are the finest exhibits. The Oseberg ship was unearthed from a burial mound not far from the Aker River. A covering of peat blocks had sealed off this ancient tomb so well that the bodies of a queen and her bondwoman were recovered after having lain in their chambers on the ship since about the year 850. It was the pleasure-yacht of this queen, probably Queen Asa, fiat-bottomed and used for sport on inland waters. Jewels and household goods, animals and crops were piled high on it when the queen took her last voyage to Valhalla, even a slave accompanying her in death. The Gokstad ship, at the university, was built at the same time; its sleek lines emphasised its power the dragon-headed prow must have brought fear to many peaceful settlers on foreign shores. It was small for a war-ship-taking only some 30 men, whereas the large vessels shipped up to 300. A Norwegian of our age, Magnus Anderson, built a replica of it and sailed it to America in 1893. He followed the tradition of his forebears who first discovered this continent and planted their colonies across the Atlantic centuries before Columbus claimed America for his master. Another ship in the openair museum was built for one of the greatest of mankind, Fridtjof Nansen, the explorer, the man of letters, the humanitarian who fought suffering, who fought for freedom. The Fram sailed to the poles under Nansen, and later under Amundsen, who gave his life trying to rescue another pxplorer, the Italian Nobile, who meant to fly over the pole in a Zeppelin. Now the Fram is laid up, on her last voyage 1 saw her in her own element when she called on a small island in the Baltic. She looked more impressive then; a ship on shore seems rather pitiful, even though' she rests in this fine museum of Oslo.

Ships and sailors, clean, windswept streets in an unpretentious town, modern buildings and a democratic people—that is the essence of Oslo. Norway has been freed from the Nazis and from her own fanatical quislings, her merchant navy sailed for the Allies during the long war; at last she has been rewarded for her steadfastness. Nature is not kind to Norway. What she achieved she has gained only by the labours of her people. Parliament has assembled now in Oslo, the King has returned to his capital. Oslo, as before the great tragedy, directs again the destinies of proud Norway.