After a long winter in Norway with a lot of snow, it is finally spring again in the castle park around the palace in Oslo. All the flowers have not yet come out of their winter sleep, but gardeners and workers at the royal court and the royal gardening-team are in the process of transforming the castle park into Oslo’s most beautiful park.
The trails are restored after a hard winter. Photo: Oskar Aanmoen.
The castle palace in Oslo surrounds the Royal Palace, the home of the King and Queen of Norway. Overlooking Oslo’s parade street, it is a familiar and dear sight for all Norwegians. The castle park is divided into different sections and the majority are open to the public all year.
The old guard house against Henrik Ibsen’s gate will be restored this year. Photo: Oskar Aanmoen.
The Queen’s Park, in Norwegian Dronningparken, lies in the parks western corner and is only open for the public during daytime from 18 May to 1 October. The area that today forms the Queens park has a history dating back to 1751 and the series of trees which leads to Henrik Ibsen’s street, is more than 200 years old. The octagonal Swiss-style pavilion in this part of the park was built between 1854-57.
There are still traces of winter. Photo: Oskar Aanmoen.
The Queen Park has always had a special position in the park area around the castle because it is reserved for the royals during the time they live at the castle. The royal gardening-team is now working to recreate this part of the Castle Park as a particularly lush and flowery area.
Some of the trees did not survive winter this time. Some trees behind the castle had to be cut down. Photo: Oskar Aanmoen.
The castle park originally had about 2000 trees. Today the number is around 1200. The oldest date back to the 1700s. The work to establish the park began in 1838, but extended for a long time due to lack of money. At that time, this area was part of the Sommerro loop as Mayor Christian Henrik Støedt developed into a small rococo summer-house. The castle park is a protected cultural heritage, and is managed by the castle’s gardeners.
