Ekeberg

Ekeberg is a suburb of the city of Oslo, Norway. The Norway Cup soccer tournament takes place at Ekebergsletta every summer. The painting "the Scream" by Edvard Munch is painted from Utsikten (means "the view") a part of Ekeberg.

In the area are a number of old Iron Age grave mounds and Bronze Age ritual sites. This establish the area of Ekeberg as one of the oldest habited places around Oslo. During the middle ages, the farm of Ekeberg belonged to the monastery of Hovedøya. The area was later taken by the crown.

From 1760, the farm of Ekeberg was run by an appointed owner, and his relatives owned the farm thereafter. In the area, a number of small homesteads under the main farm was erected the following century. The first suburban settlement came around 1900, and the early suburb was raised in the years prior to 1935. Many of the early houses are still present in the area. Ekeberg belonged to Oslo from 1947.

The farm land (Ekebergsletta) cultivated crops until 1950, and the farm still had goats and small cattle up to 1965. There had been som discussion of how to use the area, and the idea of an airport for Oslo was discussed. This was rejected, and the politician Rolf Hofmo proposed the idea of a free area for sport and other activities.

Ekeberg-Bekkelaget was a borough of Oslo up to January 1 2004, when it became part of the Gamle Oslo and Nordstrand boroughs.

Ekeberg as a geographical area was mentioned by Snorre Sturlason in his Saga of the Kings. In the northern part of the area the farm "Ekeberg Hovedgård" is located. The fields of the farm are now a part of Ekebergsletta and the camp ground where the main building still stands.

The name: Norse "Eikaberg" - the first element is the genitive plural case of "eik" f 'oak', the last element is "berg" n 'mountain'.