Majorstuen

Colosseum Park in Majorstua

Majorstuen (or Majorstua) is a neighbourhood in the Frogner borough in the western part of Oslo, Norway.

Majorstuen is known for its vibrant downtown, especially its shopping area. The area has several elegant townhouses circa 1880-1890. The area is also an important public transport junction in Oslo, where all metro lines, three tram lines and five bus lines operate. It is served by Majorstuen station.

The name

The neighborhood was named after a well-known public house which was located on the east side of Sørkedalsveien. Dating from the 1700s, the house was named for the Major Michael Wilhelm Sundt (dead 1759). The last element is the finite form of stue 'cabin, house with one single room'. Is has long been a quarrel about the forms Majorstuen and Majorstua - stuen is the finite form when stue is treated as a masculine, and stua is the finite form when it is treated as a feminine word. The original pronunciation was -stua (Norwegian feminine inflection)^[1], but since Danish was the only written language in Norway well into the 19th century, the name was written -stuen (Danish common gender inflection). (For a similar conflict see > Akerselva)

Majorstuen Church

Majorstuen Church

Majorstuen Church (Majorstuen kirke) was consecrated on 26 March 1926 as Priest's Church (Prestenes kirke) when it was built for the funds collected among Norwegian clergymen. Oslo Municipality took over the church in the 1960s and changed its name to Majorstuen Church. Majorstuen Church was designed by architects August Nielsen (1877-1956) and Harald Sund (1876-1940) in the style of Classicism with influences of art deco and neo-baroque. The main church has 400 seats and was built of brick. The chapel, Cappella Johannea, is decorated with frescos with themes from the Book of Revelation, executed by the artist Per Vigeland (1904-1968) in 1932. The alter picture is titled: The Christian Hope (Det kristne håp). The tapestry is by designer and textile artist, Else Marie Jakobsen.^[2]

Majorstuen School

Majorstuen school is the primary and secondary school in Majorstuen. The school was designed by architect Bredo Henrik Berntsen (1877-1957). The first phase was completed in 1908.^[3]

Majorstuen Rail Station

Majorstuen Station

Majorstuen station (Majorstuen stasjon) is the last common point for all subway lines on the western side of Oslo. The station was opened in 1898 as the terminus for Holmenkollbanen. It remained so until Smestadbanen was completed in 1912. In 1928 the tunnel to the National Theatre station (called the Underground Railway) was built. The original station building was built in 1916, when Tryvandsbanen was completed. It was designed by Erik Glosimodt who also designed a number of shelters and station buildings along Holmenkollbanen. It had two entrances, one for Holmenkollbanen, and one for Smestadbanen. When the work of underground track started, the station was destroyed. Kristoffer Lange. The current Majorstuen station darted to 1930 and was designed by Kristoffer Lange.^[4]

References

1. ^ http://www.edd.uio.no/perl/search/objectviewer.cgi?tabid=1383&primarykey=8625
2. ^ August Bendix Christofer Nielsen (Norske arkitekter)
3. ^ Bredo Henrik Berntsen (archinform.net)
4. ^ Erik Waldemar Glosimodt (Norske arkitekter)

Other sources

• Sandnes, Jørn; Ola Stemshaug (1997, 3rd edition 2007) Norsk Stadnamnleksikon (4th edition) (Det Norske Samlaget) ISBN 978-82-521-4905-0

External links

• Majorstuen
• Majorstuen Church
• Majorstuen School

Coordinates: 59°55′45″N 10°42′59″E / 59.92917°N 10.71639°E / 59.92917; 10.71639