The Royal Palace in Oslo sits high on Bellevue Hill. From there, it overlooks Karl Johans gate all the way into downtown Oslo.
People in the Storting first talked about needing a real royal home back in 1821. King Carl Johan, the old French marshal turned ruler of Sweden and Norway, really got behind the idea the next year. Money was tight after all those wars, but parliament finally said yes and raised funds through bonds.
Carl Johan rode out one day and chose Bellevue Hill himself. He loved the big views over Christiania, as the city was called then. They bought the land in 1823. Two years later, on a crisp October day in 1825, he laid the foundation stone exactly where the chapel altar would go.
A Danish architect named Hans Ditlev Franciscus Linstow drew up the plans. Clean neoclassical style, brick covered in stucco. Things started well enough, but the bills piled up fast, especially digging into that steep hill. By 1827, the money was gone. Parliament refused to give more. Work stopped dead for years.
It only started again in 1833 once Linstow came back with cheaper ideas. Simpler layout, no fancy wings sticking out, taller main block, less stone decoration. Finally, on July 26, 1849, King Oscar and Queen Josephine moved in after the official opening.
Before that, Swedish-Norwegian kings hardly stayed long. They popped into Paléet, just a regular townhouse downtown, whenever they visited. Most of the time, they lived in Stockholm anyway. So the palace sat pretty empty through those union decades from 1814 right up to 1905.
Independence changed everything. Norway picked Prince Carl of Denmark as king. He became King Haakon VII, arrived with Queen Maud, and made the palace their proper home. They fixed it up and added decent bathrooms, for one thing. They also started traditions that still happen, like waving to the kids from the balcony every May 17.
King Olav V kept living there later on. Money stayed short, though, so not much got repaired during his years. Then Harald V took the throne in 1991. Surveys showed the place needed serious work. A huge restoration kicked off, running through the 1990s and into the early 2000s. New wiring, plumbing, fixed-up apartments, the whole lot.
Now, as Norway looks back on 35 years with King Harald V, the palace feels like a steady marker of how far the country has come since breaking away and building its own story.
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