The bronze tiger
The first thing anyone arriving by train sees.
Pudelek — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Unknown authorUnknown author — Public domain · Unknown authorUnknown author — Public domain · Unknown authorUnknown author — Public domain
Generally yes — Oslo is among Europe's safest capitals and violent crime is rare. But the square and the streets east of the station, particularly towards Vaterland and Plata, are where the city's drug users gather, and you may see distressing scenes, especially in the evening. That is a visual discomfort rather than usually a danger, and it is no reason to avoid the area, but watch your belongings in the crowds as at any big station, and do not linger there late at night with children.
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The square directly in front of Oslo Central Station carries the sculpture every arrival in the city sees: a **bronze tiger four and a half metres long**, walking towards the station. The tiger has a reason. Oslo has been nicknamed Tigerstaden — the tiger city — since the nineteenth century, and the nickname comes from a poem by the writer Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson that cast the city as a dangerous predator preying on those who came in from the countryside. It was an insult in its time; the city then adopted it and turned it into an emblem. The statue was placed in 2000 for the thousandth anniversary of Oslo's founding. The square itself is a crowded crossing point rather than a place to sit, but it is the city's agreed meeting place — "at the tiger" is understood by everyone. It is named after Christian Frederik, the Danish prince elected king of Norway for a few months in 1814.
The first thing anyone arriving by train sees.
"At the tiger" is understood by everyone here.
In front of Oslo Central Station, 0154 Oslo