Lysøen
Encyclopedia
Os, Hordaland
Os is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Due to its proximity to Bergen, Os is experiencing strong population growth. -History:...
, Hordaland
Hordaland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark and Rogaland. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county administration is located in Bergen...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , 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...
.
Lysøen is also the site of Villa Lysøen (Ole Bulls villa på Lysøen), the home of Norwegian violin-virtuoso and composer Ole Bull
Ole Bull
Ole Bornemann Bull was a Norwegian violinist and composer.-Background:Bull was born in Bergen. He was the eldest of ten children of Johan Storm Bull and Anna Dorothea Borse Geelmuyden . His brother, Georg Andreas Bull became a noted Norwegian architect...
until his death in 1880.
Villa Lysøen
The island was originally the site of a farm established around 1670. The island was bought by Ole Bull in 1872 who constructed the villa. Ole Bull drew the plans for the villa himself, under the supervision of renowned Norwegian architect Conrad Fredrik von der LippeConrad Fredrik von der Lippe
Conrad Fredrik "Fritz" von der Lippe was a Norwegian architect.He was born in Christianssand as a son of bishop Jacob von der Lippe, a grandfather of the three brothers Frits von der Lippe, Just Lippe and Jens von der Lippe, and uncle of the half-brothers, admiral Jakob von der Lippe and whaler...
(1833 - 1901). Ole Bull had a large villa built on the island, inspired by numerous architectural styles, including the Swiss chalet style
Swiss chalet style
Swiss chalet style is an architectural style inspired by the chalets of Switzerland. The style originated in Germany in the early 19th century and was popular in parts of Europe and North America, notably in the architecture of Norway, the country house architecture of Sweden, Cincinnati, Ohio,...
and Moorish
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
architecture. The architecture of the wooden building is inspired by many different architectural styles. It has a tower formed as an onion dome
Onion dome
An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles the onion, after which they are named. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the drum upon which they are set, and their height usually exceeds their width...
, common in Russian architecture, and many wooden carvings.
Ole Bull transformed his 175 acre (0.7082005 km²) island property into a fairy-tale kingdom by having romantic paths, ponds and gazebos made by planting exotic trees and bushes in the native pine forest. The island has 13 km of walkways and paths. His second wife Sara Chapman Thorp (1850-1911) accompanied him to their summer villa on Lysøen.
The highest point on the island, 76 meters above sea level, is the site of a lookout tower which was built in 1903 by Ole Bull's American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
descendants. In 1974, Bull's granddaughter Sylvea Bull Curtis of Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
donated the island to the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments. Lysøen granted status as a museum in 1984 and has since been open to the public. Guided tours are conducted from early May to August. The villa serves as a museum in the summer and is used for concerts during the annual Bergen International Festival
Bergen International Festival
Bergen International Festival is an annual international music and cultural festival in Bergen, Norway. The festival is the largest in the Nordic countries in its genre and has a large number of activities in music, dance, literature, visual arts, folklore etc...
.
Other sources
- Indahl, Trond (2010) Ole Bull’s Villa (Bergen: Bodoni forlag)
- Brekke, Nils Georg (1993) Kulturhistorisk vegbok Hordaland (Bergen: Hordaland Fylkeskommune) ISBN 82-7326-026-7
- Bull, Sara C. (1981) Ole Bull: A Memoir (New York: Da Capo Press)