Visiting the Vigeland Park in Oslo
No trip to Oslo is complete without a visit to the Vigeland Sculpture Park. After all, it is the most visited attraction in Norway, attracting up to two million visitors a year. The images of the various sculptures under different light and different seasons cover the tourist brochures, and Instagram is full of people posing outside their favourite statue.
But what is the park? Is it worth visiting? Let’s discuss the history of importance of the park first, and then we’ll look into the practical information.
In this article...
What is the Vigeland Park?
The Vigeland Sculpture Park is a permanent collection of sculptures made by Gustav Vigeland between 1924 and 1943. The park is around 43 hectares and the sculpture garden is the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist. It is listed on the Heritage Act as the first park in Norway.
History of the Park
Frogner Park
The name of the park is not Vigeland park but Frogner Park; the name Vigeland Park is commonly used by tourists, while the correct name Frogner Park is used by locals.
In the 18th century this was the private property of General Hans Jacob Scheel, who lived at Frogner Manor. He had the land landscaped into a baroque park. In the 19th century, industrialist Benjamin Wegner took over and landscaped it into a romantic park.
Frogner Manor still stands today and is now the Oslo City Museum. The building is impressive and worth taking a look at; it is in the Danish country house style and goes back to the 1750s.
Wegner also had some buildings built around the property. The pavilion was built on the nearby height ‘Utsikten’ (The View) and he also had the coachman house built at the main gate in front of the manor house. The pavilion is worth seeing; the ceiling is impressively painted to resemble the Pantheon in Rome.
Becoming Vigeland's Park
After Norway’s independence in 1905, Oslo underwent major expansion and many farms were bought so apartments could be built. Large parts of Frogner Estate were sold so the city could expand. The remaining estate was bought by the municipality so it could be made into a public park for sports and recreation.
The land was given to Gustav Vigeland in the 1920s and has been known as the Vigeland Park ever since it became open to the public in the 1940s.
Who Was Gustav Vigeland?
Gustav Vigeland (1869 – 1943) was born as Adolf Gustav Thorsen into a family of craftsmen. While he initially went to school in Oslo to learn wood carving, the sudden death of his father meant that he had to go and live with his grandparents in the south of Norway. They lived on a farm called Mjunebrokka in Vigeland parish, and Gustav decided to change his name to represent this farm.
Fun fact – Gustav Vigeland’s brother, Emanuel Vigeland, is a well-known artist and has a number of works around the city, including inside Oslo Cathedral.
As an adult, Gustav returned to Oslo with the goal of becoming a sculptor. He got the attention of Brynjulf Bergslien and then spent several years travelling through Copenhagen, Paris, Berlin and Florence. In Paris he became greatly inspired by Auguste Rodin and frequented his workshop, while in Italy he experimented with ancient and Renaissance works. During this time the themes that would later dominate his inspiration – death and relationships – first appeared.
Gustav returned to Norway and participated in the restoration of Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. There he became inspired by medieval works, especially the dragon as a symbol of sin but also as a nature force, fighting against man.
Establishing his studio in Oslo
Once back in Oslo, he settled in an abandoned studio and began working. After Norway’s independence in 1905, he was regarded as Norway’s best sculptor and began creating various statues and busts of renowned Norwegians like Henrik Ibsen.
In 1921 the city of Oslo decided to demolish the studio where Vigeland was working. After some negotiations, Vigeland was granted a new building from where he could work. In return, he promised to donate all of his subsequent works to the city. Vigeland moved into his new studio in Frogner and spent the rest of his life dedicated to building the public park.
Gustav lived and worked in his studio until his death in 1942. His ashes are still in the belfry of the building, which is on Nobels gate. The building where he worked became the Vigeland Museum, and his apartment on the third floor is still preserved.
What to see in Vigeland Park
The Main Gate
The Main Gate consists of five large gates, two small pedestrian gates and two copper-roofed gates, both adorned with weather vanes. The gate was designed in 1926 and was financed by a Norwegian bank.
The Bridge
The Bridge was the first part to open to the public in the 1940s. The bridge is 100m (328ft) long, 15m (49ft) wide and connects the Main Gate to the Fountain. Along the bridge are 58 sculptures. The most famous sculpture, Angry Boy, is located here. At the end of the bridge you’ll find a woman being embraced by a dragon, while the man is fighting it. Vigeland wasn’t exactly a feminist; these sculptures represent a woman giving into sin while a man fighting against it.
The Fountain
The fountain was originally supposed to be at Eidsvolls Plass in front of the parliament of Norway. There are 60 bronze reliefs around the lower part of the fountain, and these follow the circle of life. If you look at the fountain, you’ll see that the men are holding up the bowl at various difficulties, i.e. some are doing a lot of work while others are doing not much at all. This represents that life can be unfair and not everyone shares equal responsibility.
Be sure to look down – the ground is black and white granite designed as a maze. It’s very popular with kids.
The Rose Garden
Vigeland Park has the largest collection of roses in Norway, with 14,000 plants and 150 species. Many of them can be seen here.
The Monolith
The Monolith Plateau is a platform north of the park. There are 36 groups of figures around the monolith, representing a ‘circle of life’ theme.
Around the plateau you’ll find eight wrought iron gates; on one side all the figures are men, while on the other side they are women.
The Monolith is the highest point in the park. Construction began in 1924 when Gustav Vigeland modelled it in clay inside his studio. The design process took ten months, after which the model was cast in plaster.
In 1927, a singular block of granite from Halden was delivered to the studio. It took three masons fourteen years to carve the granite. The Monolith is 14.12 metres (46.32ft) high and is composed of 121 human figures rising slowly towards the sky.
The Sundial
At the end of the installation is a sundial, forged in 1930, and the Wheel of Life sculpture.
The Sculptures
Gustav Vigeland famously said “it’s only when you put clothes on people that you start defining their religion or where they are from. When you are naked you can be anyone, anywhere at any time”. For this reason, all the statues are naked.
The goal of the sculptures is to depict life in all its strange and wonderful forms. They depict people engaging in various typically human pursuits, such as wrestling, dancing, hugging and holding hands. They reveal a full range of human emotions, including anger and violence.
Practical Information
When is the best time to go?
The park gets very busy between around 11am and 3pm, so if you want a bit more peace and quiet I recommend going outside of these hours.
How long should I spend there?
You’ll need at least one hour to walk around the Vigeland portion of the park; more time if you want to see Frogner Park. If you want to visit the museums as well, I recommend 2-3 hours here.
Do I need a tour guide?
In a way, yes. There is no written information about the sculptures, and while the sculptures are meant to be interpreted by the viewer, the tour guides do an excellent job of explaining the thought process behind the sculptures, the troubled life of Gustav Vigeland, and why the park is laid out like this.
How do I get there?
- Take Tram 12 from Dronningens gate (or whichever stop is closest to you). Follow the tram towards Majorstuen and ride for 12 minutes (8 stops) until you reach Vigelandsparken. The stop is right outside the park.
- To get back to the city, take Tram 12 towards Kjelås
- You can take the metro lines 1, 2, or 5 from Central Station to the stop ‘Majorstuen’, and from there it’s a 15 minute walk to the park.