Grotten
Grotten stands in Slottsparken beside Oslo’s Royal Palace, above a natural grotto on a rocky outcrop. Built in 1823, the timber house combines log construction with panelled walls. Hans Linstow designed it, as well as the nearby Royal Palace and the park’s guardhouse.
Henrik Wergeland built the house and lived there from 1841 to 1845. Beneath it, he kept collected curiosities in the grotto. A bust of the poet now stands below the building, where a visible cleft marks earlier stone quarrying for Oslo’s streets and palace square. Since 1922, the Norwegian state has used the residence to honour leading artists, including Christian Sinding, Arnulf Øverland, Arne Nordheim and Jon Fosse.
The architecture represents an early form of Norway’s Swiss style. Poets, composers and playwrights have successively made this secluded house their home. On Norway’s Constitution Day, the grotto beneath it opens for visitors, offering a close view of Wergeland’s underground retreat.
- City
- Oslo
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