Oslo - Karl Johans Gate and District

Southwest of the landing-stage in Oslo, on the west side of the Pipervika dock, is the Aker Brygge, a shopping and cultural center in the former Aker shipyard (restored), with numerous restaurants. Near here is the old West Station, in which the Norwegian Information Center was established in 1991. Art and other exhibitions are also held here.

Behind Oslo's Cathedral, along the old church walls, are the Bazaar Halls (1841-42, enlarged 1858), now occupied by craftsmen, antique-dealers and green grocers.

The busiest part of Oslo's Karl Johansgate begins to the south of Stortorget. To the west is Egertorget, an important junction point on the city's subway system (T-Banen).

Northwest of Eidsvollplass is the National Theater, a neo-Classical building designed by H. Bull (1895-99). The interior is partly in art nouveau style, with fine ceiling paintings in the auditorium. In front of the building are bronze statues (by S. Sinding) of Ibsen and Bjørnson; to the rear is a statue of the actor J. Brun. Northeast of the National Theater, in the gardens on Karl Johansgate, is a statue of the playwright Ludvig Holberg, a native of Bergen, who created the Danish-Norwegian comedy.

In Rosenkrantzgate (No. 10), which crosses Karl Johansgatet, is the Nye Teater (New Theater: modern plays, revues, etc.), which opened in 1929 with a performance of Knut Hamsun's play "At the Gates of the Kingdom".

To the east of Oslo's Old University, in Kristian IVs Gate, is the Norske Teater, Oslo's largest theater, famed for its musicals and productions of modern works by Norwegian and foreign playwrights.

Northeast of the National Theater in Oslo, on the other side of Karl Johansgate, is the University, founded by Frederick VI of Denmark in 1811 and built between 1839 and 1854. The new University buildings are in the northwestern district of Blindern, and the old building is now occupied mainly by the Faculty of Law. In front of the central block are statues of the legal scholar A. M. Schweigaard (1808-70; on left) and the historian P. A. Munch (1810-63). The Great Hall (1911) has paintings by Edvard Munch (1926).

Beyond the intersection of Oslo's Karl Johansgate with Akersgate, on the left, is the Parliament Building (Storting; 1861-66). In the Chamber is a large picture by O. Wergeland of the constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814.

Half way between Oslo's train station and Eidsvollplass, to the right, is the old market square, Stortorget, originally laid out in the late 17th century. In the center of the square can be seen a statue of Christian IV (by C. L. Jacobsen, 1874).