Visiting the Edvard Grieg Museum, Troldhaugen
One of the most popular attractions in Bergen is the Edvard Grieg Museum, Troldhaugen, and rightly so: this charming house provides an incredible insight into the life of the famous composer, and you can fully immerse yourself in his music.
Located 10 kilometres (6 miles) south of Bergen, it may seem a little daunting to reach. Most tour companies do include a visit to the museum, as do most cruise ships. For independent travellers, it’s possible to join a tour or explore on your own.
A lot of people also don’t fully realise who Edvard Grieg is or why the museum is so important. I get those people a lot in my groups, but normally once we start exploring the museum or attend the lunchtime concert, their mind has totally changed! Even if you aren’t Grieg’s biggest fan, the museum is a lovely place to visit and essential when in Bergen.
For this guide, I’m going to focus on what you see and what you can do. I’ve included an overview of the highlights of the museum, but if you are just interested in the practicalities you can skip to the bottom of the article. My goal is to help you make the most of Troldhaugen!
In this article...
Edvard Grieg, Norway's Most Famous Composer
Even if you don’t know the name Edvard Grieg, you certainly know his music. I think it’s important to know that when you think of Edvard Grieg, you don’t try to compare him to the masters like Mozart or Beethoven. Grieg isn’t that internationally renowned. What’s important about Edvard Grieg is that his music has become part of the Norwegian identity. Whenever Norwegians want to depict something as part of their culture or identity, Grieg’s music plays in the background. When you listen to his music, you see Norwegian fjords, mountains and nature. Edvard Grieg was born on the Nordnes Peninsula in 1843, and he quickly developed a natural talent for the piano. When he was a child, the famous Norwegian violinist Ole Bull (who I’ll also cover in more depth soon) heard him play, and actively encouraged that he study in Leipzig at the conservatory, which he did. After finishing his studies in Leipzig, Grieg moved to Copenhagen – the only place in the Nordics with a real active arts scene. While in Copenhagen he met Norwegian composers and artists, including Bull, and became influenced by the national romantic movement occurring in Norway at the time. He decided to move back home.
Edvard Grieg’s music became almost instantly famous due to the way he blended European trends with Norwegian folk music.
“To paint in music Norwegian nature, Norwegian folk music, Norwegian history and Norwegian folk poetry appears to me to be the sphere where I can achieve something.” Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg became a major success when he started working with Henrik Ibsen to write music for the stage play Peer Gynt. The play debuted in Oslo on the 24th of February 1876 and became an immediate success. Grieg published the work for Peer Gynt in 1888 and 1893, and the two Peer Gynt suites are among the most played orchestral pieces in the world.
Edvard Grieg passed away in 1907 of chronic exhaustion. he was 64 years old.
Troldhaugen
The plan to build a house in Bergen came around the time Grieg was working as a conductor for the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra between 1880-1882. He and his wife, Nina Grieg, had developed a close relationship with Frants and Marie Beyer and they started considering building a house together. After the Grieg’s left Bergen, the Beyer’s built their own home in the countryside.
Originally, they had planned to build a second home on the same plot of land, but they quickly realised that it would be too crowded. The Griegs purchased a neighbouring plot of the land from a farmer for 2,300 NOK. Frants (who was a lawyer) drew up the contract, which ensured the farmer would not sell any adjoining property without informing the Griegs, and that he would prevent sheep from grazing on the property.
Designing Troldhaugen
When it came to designing the villa, Edvard and Nina wanted it to resemble a simple Norwegian farmhouse. They also travelled a lot around Europe, so they were also inspired by Victorian architecture, which was trendy at the time. The house was designed by Schak Bull, Edvard’s cousin.
The house has a base area of approx. 100m2 and is three floors. The basement has a flower room, wine cellar, larder and storage. There were two entrances on the ground floor: a kitchen entrance and the main entrance. On the top floor are the main bedroom, a guest bedroom, two walk-in wardrobes, and the stairs to the tower. There was no running water or toilet facilities; these facilities are in the small neighbouring building. The Grieg’s had to pump water to the kitchen from their well.
House-turned-museum
After Edvard passed away in 1907, Nina continued to return to the house in the summer. Often friends and family would join her so the house felt less lonely. During the first few years after his death, Nina ran something of a summer academy at Troldhaugen; inspiring composers would come to the villa to write music, and established composers would visit to help understand Grieg’s music.
Grieg’s music publisher in Germany had been Nina’s main source of income, but when World War I began contact was severed. She had planned to donate Troldhaugen to the municipality, but they declined the offer. At the age of 74, Nina saw selling Troldhaugen as her only option. The most valuable objects were placed for safekeeping at the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bergen Museum of Art, and the West Norway Museum of Decorative Art. Everything else was sold off at auction. In 1918, the house was sold to Joachim Grieg, a relative of Edvard Grieg.
Many people in Bergen wanted to turn Troldhaugen into a memorial. A few years after purchasing the villa, Joachim Grieg had documents drawn up giving Troldhaugen to the municipality. The condition was that Troldhaugen was to be used “for purposes in harmony with Edvard Grieg’s intentions and worthy of Troldhaugen’s traditions.” The municipality accepted the gift and established a committee that would restore the villa and collect the objects. They had Nina’s approval.
Recreating the museum
For the next 10 years, the committee worked to collect the objects that had been auctioned off and had the objects that were in safekeeping returned. They wanted to re-create the Grieg home, putting everything back in its place. One of the most important returns was the composer’s hut, which was shipped back from the Folk Museum in Oslo.
Troldhaugen opened to the public in 1928 and was an instant success. Nina was there on opening day. She brought the Moscheles edition of Beethoven’s sonatas that Edvard used as a seat. She took it down to the composer’s hut and placed it on his piano seat.
The last time Nina visited Troldhaugen was when the Norwegian Radio recorded a concert there in 1932. Nina listened to the music of her husband as she sat on the sofa under her family portraits. Afterwards, she shared some thoughts with the audience, about how Edvard’s music took form at Troldhaugen. Nina passed away three years later.
The property has been expanded since it first opened; the concert hall, Troldsalen, opened in 1985 with the Norwegian royal family attending, and then in 1995 a museum building was added.
Now it’s time for you to visit Troldhaugen.
What to see at Troldhaugen
When you first arrive at the property, you will be about 400m away from the main museum building. To get there, you walk along the same unpaved road the Grieg’s took when they returned home. Along the way, you’ll see beautiful twisted beech trees, the old house that belonged to the farmer who owned the land, and a massive villa built by shipbroker Alexander Grieg in 1917.
Before reaching the main museum building, you’ll see Gunnar Torvund’s Grieg monument ‘Open 1’. It was unveiled by King Harald when the museum building opened in 1995.
The Main Building
The main building has the ticket counter, cafe, shop & a film room. I really recommend the film room – it’s a hit with my groups – as it plays a 25-minute movie of Edvard Grieg’s ‘greatest hits’ with images of Norway as the background.
Indoor Exhibition
In the main building, you can also find an exhibition with some items from the Grieg’s life and travels. Items include artworks, clips of his hair (!), his travel trunk, and much more.
Concert Hall
Once you leave the main building, you’ll start walking to the house. Along the way you pass the concert hall, Troldsalen, a contemporary building with a grass roof. Troldsalen was completed in 1985 and is renowned for its acoustics for chamber music. The building was designed to blend into the environment, and it looks out over the composer’s hut. There is seating for 200 people, and between May and September, it’s possible to attend a lunchtime concert there. More on that below.
The house
Once you are standing on the bridge, the house comes into plain sight. This is one of the best places to take a photo!
To get to the entrance, you walk to the left of the house and up the stairs. I’m not going to cover every object in the house, but I’ll provide a short overview of some of the interior highlights.
- The Memory Room: The ‘memory room’ was originally the kitchen. When the Bergen Festival began in 1953, Sigmund Torsteinson, the first director of Troldhaugen, wanted to give visitors a richer experience of Edvard Grieg. So, they turned the kitchen into a memory room. The room has been filled with objects that belonged to Troldhaugen and provide an insight into the Grieg’s life. Here are some highlights.
- The Dining Room: This room is completely authentic, with all the original furniture. You can also see the original ceiling height in this room.
- The Sitting Room: This room has Grieg’s Steinway piano, the family portraits, and some lovely furniture.
The gardens
The composer’s hut is located down by the water, a few minutes walk from the house. You can look through the window (but not go in) and see where Grieg would write his music. He used the composer’s hut frequently when he stayed at Troldhaugen, and whenever he left he would leave a note on his desk saying:
“If anyone should break in here, please leave the musical scores, since they have no value to anyone except Edvard Grieg” Edvard Grieg
The hut was built in 1891 and includes a piano built by Brødrene Hals in Kristiania. A thick book lay by the piano stool, containing 32 sonatas of Ludwig von Beethoven, edited by Grieg’s piano teacher in Leipzig, Ignaz Moscheles. It provided the small composer with added height so he could reach the keyboard.
When the house was sold, the composer’s hut was moved to the Norwegian Folk Museum in Oslo. However, a clause was included that reserved the right to move it back to the original location at Troldhaugen should it ever be made into a museum, which happened in 1928.
The grave site
The gravesite is located on the other side of the hill from the composer’s hut, down by the lake. When you reach the lake, the gravesite is up on the side of the cliff. The spot was chosen by Edvard; when he was out fishing with Frants Beyer one day, the last rays of the sunset hit that spot on the rock. “There I would like to rest forever,” said Edvard. The funeral was held on 9 September 1907, and over 40,000 people came to pay their respects.
The cove where Frants Beyer’s house used to be is visible from this spot; it is no longer there but the street has been named after him.
Practical Information
If you are planning on visiting Troldhaugen, I strongly recommend making the most of it. You can’t just have a quick visit to Troldhaugen; you need to do everything the museum offers. Go for walks around the cove, watch the movie in the film room, have a coffee, attend the lunch-time concert, and so on. Visiting the house along doesn’t do it justice; you have to immerse yourself in his music. That’s when Troldhaugen comes to life!
Groups & Tours
- Tour Companies & Cruise Ships: If you are visiting Bergen with a tour company or cruise ship, it is very likely they will offer a tour to Troldhaugen with a concert. Some companies have private concerts, while some attend the lunchtime concert. While the prices for cruise ships can be steep, I highly recommend doing their tours. The Troldhaugen public tour (see below) is cheaper, but you are mixed in with a lot of people and you lose the personal experience.
- Guided Tour with the Museum: The museum offers its own tour of Troldhaugen, starting every day at 11am from the tourist information centre in Bergen. A bus transports you to do the house, you have a guided tour of the villa followed by some free time to explore on your own, and then you attend the 1pm lunchtime concert. You arrive back in the city centre at 2:30pm. The cost is 290 NOK per person.To read more about the tour, click here.
On Your Own
- Driving: Troldhaugen is fairly easy to reach if you have a car. There is free parking at the museum, but keep in mind during summer there will be many tour buses there. Simply put “Troldhaugen” into the GPS or Google Maps.Time: 15-20 minutes Cost: A couple of toll booths, petrol. Parking is free.
- Taxis: You can take a taxi to/from Bergen, but it will cost a bit of money. Expect it to cost at least 200 NOK from the city centre one way. You can find taxis all around the city centre, but you will have to order one from the museum as there’s no taxi rank.Time: 20 minutes Cost: At least 200 NOK, more for ordering a taxi
- Public Transport: Public transport is certainly possible, but be prepared to walk for 20-30 minutes through hilly suburbia. To get there, you take the Bergen Light Rail from the city centre (Byparken) to the station ‘Hop’. Follow signs to Troldhaugen from there.Time: 45-60 minutes Cost: 39 NOK for a public transport ticket. Machines at the Light Rail stop.
Lunchtime Concert
I 100% recommend attending the lunchtime concert, but keep in mind that you should probably book it in advance.
The concerts involves a Norwegian or international pianist performing Edvard Grieg’s music on a piano for 30 minutes. Sometimes the pianists explain each piece in between or some just play for the full 30 minutes.
You can find a schedule of pianists here: http://griegmuseum.no/en/concerts/lunchtime-concerts
Facilities at the Museum
- Souvenir Shop: I love a good souvenir shop. Here are some highlights at the Troldhaugen shop:
- The movie that plays in the film room (not region locked)
- A wide selection of CDs
- A lot of stationary
- Many books in many different languages. Most are biographies of Edvard Grieg
- Sheet music
- Umbrellas
- T-shirts
- Puzzles
- Grieg’s lucky frog
- Troll plush toys
- Cafe: The cafe has a small but good selection often including wraps, soup of the day, waffles, ice cream, coffee, tea, and cold drinks.
Opening Hours & Tickets
For all the up-to-date information regarding opening hours and tickets, check out the Troldhaugen website. https://griegmuseum.no/en
