Norsk Folkemuseum

Old Stave Church

We made use of our second day in Oslo by going to the NorskFolkemuseum. Here they have collected over 150 buildings from the various regions and times of Norway. Most plentiful were farm buildings from 1300 up to 1959. It was interesting to see how the heating and cooking sources changed through the years: fire pits with a smoke hole in the roof to fire places to fire stoves. Many of these buildings including the storage sheds had intricate carvings on their exterior beams. A highlight was the Old Stave Church built in 1300 with artwork from 1652.

17th Century Interior

Another part of the museum was dedicated to urban and suburban living from 1700 til now. They had interesting exhibits on how cigarette smoking was considered good for your health until the 1950s. Oh, and beer used to be a way to connect to the gods. The highlight here was an apartment building where each apartment was furnished like it would be from the 1800s until the 1970s. What intrigued me was some cribs or youth beds that had a slider to make them longer as the child grew. There were also indoor exhibits on the decorative arts, but we just gave them a quick look over since we had spent over four hours walking in the heat.

Expandable Crib

Tonight we met up with our guide and tour group and had a fine dinner on the harbor.

Oslo Harbor