Exploring Oslo - Norway - page 130

A short block from the church along Akers-
bakken (veer left outside the front of the
church and go around a corner), you'll come
to the north entrance of the city's expansive
burial ground:
@ Vår Frelsers Gravlund
(Our Savior's Cemetery)
In a section designated the “Ground
of Honor” are the graves of famous
Norwegians, including Munch, Ibsen,
and Bjørnson.
Signs don't point the way, but it's easy to
see a tall obelisk. This is the:
# Tomb of Ibsen
His wife, Susanna, whom he called
“the cat,” is buried to the playwright's
left. She died in 1914. The hammer
on the obelisk symbolizes his work
The Miner, indicating how he “dug
deep” into the soul of Norway.
To the right of Ibsen's tomb is the:
$ Tomb of Bjørnson
The literary figure Bjørnstjerne Bjørn-
son (1832-1910) once raised money
to send Ibsen to Italy. Before the birth
of their children, Ibsen and Bjørnson
agreed that one would have a son and
the other a daughter, and that they
would marry each other. Miraculously,
Ibsen had a son, Bjørnson a daughter,
and they did just that. Bjørnson wrote
the national anthem, and his tomb is
draped in a stone representation of a
Norwegian flag.
To the far right of Bjørnson's tomb is the:
% Tomb of Edvard Munch
Scandinavia's greatest painter has an
unadorned tomb. If you're visiting on
a snowy day, it will be buried, because
the marker lies close to the ground.
Munch died during the darkest days
of the Nazi occupation. His sister
turned down a request from the
German command to give Munch a
state funeral, feeling that it would be
inappropriate.
On the west side of the cemetery, you'll
come to Ullevålsveien. Turn left on this busy
street and head south toward the center of

Oslo. You'll soon see St. Olav's Church, this
time on your left. Stay on the right (west)
side of the street. At St. Olavs Gate 1, where
Ullevålsveien intersects with St. Olavs Gate,
is the:
^ Kunstindustrimuseet
(Museum of Applied Art)
Even if you don't have time to visit the
museum, you may want to go inside
to the Café Solliløkken (p. 112).
After visiting the museum, continue along
St. Olavs Gate to:
& Pilestredet
Look to the immediate right at no. 30.
A wall plaque on the decaying build-
ing commemorates the fact that
Munch lived here from 1868 to 1875.
In this building he painted, among
other masterpieces, The Sick Child. He
moved here when he was 5, and many
of his “memory paintings” were of the
interior. When demolition teams
started to raze the building in the early
1990s, a counterculture group of
activists known as “The Blitz Group”
illegally took over the premises to pre-
vent its destruction. On its brick-wall
side, his masterpiece The Scream was
re-created in spray paint. The protest-
ers are still in control of the city-
owned building, and they are viewed
as squatters on very valuable land. It's
suspected that if a more conservative
government comes into power, offi-
cials will toss out the case, throw out
the activists, and demolish the build-
ing. For the moment, however, they
remain in control.
At Pilestredet, turn left. One block later, turn
right onto Universitesgata, heading south
toward Karl Johans Gate. You'll pass a num-
ber of architecturally interesting buildings
and will eventually arrive at Universitesgata
13, the:
* National Gallery
The state museum has a large collec-
tion of Norwegian as well as foreign
art. Two rooms are devoted to master-
pieces by Munch.