Bygdøy Royal Estate occupies a large part of the northwestern part of the Bygdøy peninsula in
OsloOslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. It is the official summer residence of the King of Norway.
History
The estate originally belonged to the
Cistercian monastery on
HovedøyaHovedøya or Hovedøen is one of several small islands off the coast of Oslo, Norway in the Oslofjord. The island is quite small, no more than 800 metres across in any direction, the total area is 0,4 square kilometre. It is well known for its lush and green nature, with a wide variety of trees,...
. At the end of the thirteenth century, Bygdøy was purchased from the Hovedøya monastery by King
Haakon V of NorwayHaakon V Magnusson was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319.-Biography:Haakon was the younger surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, King of Norway, and his wife Ingeborg of Denmark. Haakon was descended from king Saint Olav and is considered to have been the last Norwegian king in the Fairhair...
as a gift for his wife, Queen Euphemia of Rügen. Their daughter,
Ingeborg of NorwayIngeborg of Norway , was a Norwegian and by marriage Swedish princess and royal duchess with a position in the regency governments in Norway and Sweden...
, later returned the island to the monastery.
It was acquired by the king during the
Protestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
to supply
Akershus FortressAkershus Fortress or Akershus Castle is a medieval castle that was built to protect Oslo, the capital of Norway. It has also been used as a prison.- Construction :...
and garrison. The King would also use the estate for hunting and a hunting lodge. A zoological garden was set up by King
Christian IV of Denmark-NorwayChristian IV was the king of Denmark-Norway from 1588 until his death. With a reign of more than 59 years, he is the longest-reigning monarch of Denmark, and he is frequently remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious and proactive Danish kings, having initiated many reforms and projects...
.
The current main building was erected in 1733 as a summer residence for Danish official and Governor of Norway, Christian Rantzau (1684-1771). King
Christian FrederickChristian VIII , was king of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, king of Norway in 1814. He was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, born in 1786 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen...
lived on the estate in 1814 after he was
forced to give up the throneThe Convention of Moss was a cease fire agreement, signed August 14, 1814, between the Swedish King and the Norwegian Storting. It followed the Swedish-Norwegian War due to Norway's claim to sovereignty...
and before he left for Denmark. Kings
Haakon VIIHaakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
and
Olav VOlav V was the king of Norway from 1957 until his death. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Olav was born in the United Kingdom as the son of King Haakon VII of Norway and Queen Maud of Norway...
also used the estate as a summer residence.
A comprehensive restoration of the main building and gardens began in 2004. The buildings and gardens have undergone extensive refurbishments and the estate is again set to be the regular summer residence of
Harald VHarald V is the king of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991...
and
Queen SonjaQueen Sonja of Norway is the wife of King Harald V of Norway.-Prior to marriage:Sonja was born in Oslo on 4 July 1937 as the daughter of clothing merchant Karl August Haraldsen and Dagny Ulrichsen .Queen Sonja grew up in the district of Vinderen in Oslo and completed her lower secondary schooling...
.
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