The study
His papers and pen in place, the wallpaper reprinted.
AnonymousUnknown author — Public domain · Frits Solvang — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Frits Solvang — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Zymurgy — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Ibsen Museum occupies the apartment where Henrik Ibsen spent the last eleven years of his life, from 1895 until his death in 1906, a few steps from the Royal Palace. The apartment has been returned to its original state with exceptional precision: the wallpaper reprinted from surviving samples, the furniture, books and paintings in place, his desk with his pen and papers. The best-known room is his study, which holds a portrait of his Swedish rival August Strindberg that Ibsen hung facing his desk so he would work under its gaze — he said he wanted to see that madman while he wrote. The museum also has a small theatre giving short performances and extracts from his work, and a section explaining how his plays moved from local scandal to a global standard. The apartment is normally seen on a guided tour because the space is tight — check the times for tours in your language.
His papers and pen in place, the wallpaper reprinted.
Extracts and short performances of his work.
Henrik Ibsens gate 26, 0255 Oslo
Karl Johan MonumentAn equestrian statue of King Carl Johan in front of the Royal Palace in Oslo, at3 minutes walk4.5
The National Museum of Art, Architecture and DesignNorway's National Museum is all Nordic Europe's largest: opened (2022) in a mass4 minutes walk4.5
Slottsparken (Palace Park)The park surrounding the Royal Palace in Oslo, an open public space with no wall4 minutes walk4.5
The National TheatreOslo's National Theatre opened in 1899, and its position halfway along Karl Joha5 minutes walk4.7
The Nobel Peace CenterThe Nobel Peace Center is the one house telling history's strangest bequest: Alf5 minutes walk4.3Three places close together: the National Theatre with his statue in front on Karl Johans gate; the Grand Café in the Grand Hotel, where he sat every day at exactly the same hour, precisely enough that people in Oslo set their watches by it, and the cafe still stands; and the Ibsen trail, marked with quotations set into the pavement between his apartment and the cafe, the route he walked daily. The whole distance is under a kilometre.