The Palace Park

The Palace Park was developed simultaneously with the construction of the new Royal Palace. The palace architect, Hans Ditlev Franciscus Linstow, took active part in the planning of the park. Over time the first palace gardener, Martin Mortensen, played an increasingly important role in the design of the park landscape. Several plans for the park were developed, all of which differed from the final result.

Land allotments purchased

In 1823, permission was granted to purchase land for the Royal Palace and surrounding park area. The purchase of garden and land allotments began, but it took many years before the park area extended completely around the Royal Palace. The plot of land known as Sommerro was acquired in 1840. It had been a private park since 1751 and today comprises the section of the park known as the Queen’s Park. The purchases of the Abelhaugen and Nisseberget plots in 1845 gave the Palace Park the dimensions it has today.

Although the Royal Palace was completed in 1849, the Palace Park did not assume its final form until the 1850s.

A Romantic park

The park is based on the ideal model of nature which prevailed in the mid-1800s and which set the tone for European horticulture of the era. The park was constructed in the Romantic style, in which the “line of beauty” can be seen in the ponds’ undulating forms and the winding gravel paths.

An open park

The park was open to the public from the outset, and as the city expanded to the west, the park came to lie at the centre of the capital city. It covers an area of 220 decares and contains about 1 000 trees, of which many were planted in the first phase of the park’s history.

The Palace Park is a valuable, protected cultural monument which the gardeners of the Royal Court work to maintain in the best possible manner for everyone’s enjoyment.

There are several statues in the park. Please find information about the statues via the link list.

The Palace Square

The Palace Park also encompasses the Palace Square – Norway’s largest ceremonial square. Every year on 17 May, Norway’s national day, the Royal Family stand on the Palace Balcony and wave to the Children’s Parade as it crosses the square. When foreign heads of state visit Norway, they are greeted by the King and Queen in the Palace Square.

On one side of the Royal Palace is the Guardhouse. Erected in 1845-1849, the Guardhouse is believed to be the oldest building in Norway in the Swiss style.