Walks around Drøbak: The whisper of history, the rumble of war

Tour number 1

Time: Approx. 1 hour

On our first tour, we walk from the harbour, which was established early in the 1920’s, passing through «Fiskerkroken», between small wooden houses from 1700-1800’s. We now arrive at the market, the centre point of Drøbak, which was renewed by the world renowned architects, Snøhetta, in 1997. Life in the market square is often very active with everything from market stalls, charity lotteries (for home-made cakes, etc.) concerts and political meetings. Looking west, towards the fjord, to the left we can see Storgaten 1 (2), a Merchant house from 1800, which was a secondary school for many years and, prior to that, a hotel. It has been in the possession of ship owners, timber merchants and exporters of ice as well as the Consul for the Netherlands, Henry Parr Samuelsen.

Behind the tiny park with the statue of a fisherman catching the famous Drøbak cod is Tregaardens Julehus (3), this was originally a chapel, it is now the House of Christmas where the festive season of Christmas can be experienced all year round.

The next houses are «Julenissens postkontor» (4) (the post-office of Santa Claus) and the library (5). The library is built in the style of the late 1700s, with a rococo curve to the roofline and with a Louis XVI main door opening to the market place. Earlier, both buildings have been used as schools and prior to that they were the private homes of the town’s wealthy tradesmen together with their families and servants.

The large timber-merchant’s house on the right is a good example of how Drøbak was built; a centrally placed main house surrounded by smaller buildings for the labourers, the sawmill staff and the sea-farers. We know that in 1800 this property comprised several buildings. In addition to the main house there was an outhouse for the stable boys and there were stalls, pigsties and boatsheds, in all, some (12) buildings. Bankløkka, the large open area towards the church, was pasture and gardens belonging to the property. According to the people of Drøbak, Christian Magnus Falsen drafted the Norwegian Constitution in this house.
The two yellowish (ochre) coloured buildings towards the east, on either side of Torggata (Market Street), are both well-preserved merchants’ houses from 1700 (6).

Kirkegatan (Church Street) with its avenue of trees which, when they were cut down provoked a public outcry but fortunately they were re-planted again in 2013. The avenue leads to the town’s church, built in 1776 (7). The writing above the door informs us that the entire building was a gift from Niels Carlsen (a merchant and shipowner) and his wife, Martha Zachariasdatter. This is one of the only churches in Norway donated to a community by a husband and wife. The interior is very interesting. The altar board has the same motive as the altar board in Our Saviour’s Church in Oslo. A curiosity worth noting is that the church clock has only one hand.

A bust of Niels Carlsen is situated close-by, in the garden, by the path 8. Niels Carlsen (1734-1809) was a rich businessman and one of the country’s most powerful shipowners at the end of the 1700s. He owned a large part of the property along the seafront as well as the small islands where Oscarsborg fort is now situated. He was the district’s most powerful and important citizen and benefactor, and demonstrated this by, among other things, his donation of the church. The inscriptions over both the main door and the entrance to the north door tell us much about the spirit of the times. The Carlsen family grave is a plot raised above the other graves in the churchyard. By the church is an entrance to Badeparken (Bathing Park), an area of smooth rocks, paths and beaches for swimming and walking. In the park we can see the old bath-house from the time when there was a very active spa situated in the park. It was then possible to have a Roman bath or a mud bath and other beneficial water treatments. Here, as in other places along the coast, efforts were made to attract visitors and develop tourism at the time when sailing ships had to give way to steam-driven vessels and the timber trade and export of ice were no longer of the same importance.

In the middle of the park is a bust of Colonel Birger Eriksen (9). It was he who gave the order to open fire on the German cruiser, “Blucher” 9th April, 1940. The statue of the Colonel shows him gazing out across the fjord to his fortress from where the cruiser was sunk. This action helped to delay the German occupation of Norway by one whole day, making it possible for members of the government and the king himself to escape from Oslo and avoid being taken prisoner by the Germans.

Some small distance to the east of the church is a characteristic square, wooden building that was also a donation to the community from the Carlsen family (10). It is called ‘Drøbak Hospital,’ and a board over the main entrance (facing east) tells us of the donor’s intentions for the house (for the benefit of impoverished widows). This became the town’s first Old Peoples’ Home, but today it is used by the church and for Senior Citizen activities such as a canteen, a hairdresser, a chiropodist and numerous hobby activities and contact personnel for senior citizens. Immediately to the south of the ‘hospital’ is yet another plank-boarded building from the 1800s (11). This house was the first school building in the district and was also a gift from the Carlsen family. Later, the building was used as an apothecary or chemist’s shop as can be seen from the building’s façade and from the wrought iron gate. In front of this gate there is a commemoration stone where the monogram of King Haakon VII and the year 1905 can be seen.

The tour continues north along Niels Carlsens Street, and we see a large manor house at the point where the road divides (12). This house was originally Drøbak Manor and Carlsen purchased it around 1750 and built on to it. There have been several other buildings in the area, amongst others, an outhouse. After Niels Carlsen`s time the building became the property of the Magistrate, Hans Petter Ellefsen. The building is still referred to as, “Skrivergården” and is today owned by The Salvation Army.

We follow the road to the right up along Sorenskriver Ellefsens Road where, at the top of the hill, we pass one of the present Homes for the Aged and Infirm, ‘Grande’ (13), a large red brick building situated on the left-hand side of the road. We turn left at the roundabout and walk down Hagenbakken. At the first junction we turn right and then walk down the steps of «Bentsebakken», towards «Sundbrygga». Here there is an excellent view of the Oscarsborg fortress (14). The fortress was instrumental in delaying the German invasion forces from reaching Oslo, an important event in Norway’s history. After this action, the cruiser, Blucher, finally sank at Askholmene which we can see further north in the middle of the ship’s channel towards Oslo.
Since the autumn of 2002 there is no longer any military activity at Oscarsborg. If you would like to visit the old fortress, it is possible to board the ferry from Sundbrygga.

We return to Husvikveien and turn right. The walls and the reddish-brown out-houses belonging to Ringgården obstruct our view of the main house from 1800 (15). The property comprises the main house, numerous outhouses, a park and a garden pavilion. This property together with the collection of smaller houses is another example of how village groups sprang up in Drøbak, the influential and wealthy citizen occupied the large house which was surrounded by the more modest buildings of ordinary working people.

Some few hundred metres further south along the road, opposite ‘Skrivergården’ is “Villa Parr” (16). Søren Parr owned the house from 1850 and he was one of the leading exporters of fresh water ice in blocks. Norwegian fresh water ice, was an important industry in this area from 1850 until the First World War (1914–18). The ice was shipped to Great Britain and Holland.
On the grass lawn that reaches down to the sea there used to be a row of several ice houses used for storage of ice. It is still possible to find some of the sailing ship mooring rings scattered throughout the area.
We walk down the hill to the right, and reach the public beach that continues all the way to the harbour. We pass Varmbadet (17) (Hot and cold baths), where mud baths and massage were also available as early as 1902. Nowadays the building is used all year as a gallery for art and others activities by The Old Drøbak Preservation Society and The Drøbak Art Society. Adjoining this building is the area that was used for swimming in the sea with separate bathing areas for men and women. Only a small section of the buildings still stand.

We continue past the ‘Park-Cafe’ and the Bathing Park amphi-theatre with its stage, used for entertainment during the summer. Staying on the path in the park and walking south over the rise in the hill we can see to the right, close to the sea, a large building in Swiss style; this is the Oslo University’s marine biological station (18), built in 1894.

We now come to the harbour. On the left hand side there is a collection of cement-faced buildings, which has previously been a boat-builder’s yard, an electrical power station, a chemical factory and a factory producing wallpaper. The buildings have now been converted into flats or apartments. The large wooden building facing the harbour was once one of the many residences occupied by the painter Christian Krohg when he lived in Drøbak. If we continue walking south we arrive at «Skipperstuen» (19) (The Captain’s Lounge) a popular restaurant, which is aptly named, as the house once belonged to a captain of sailing ships, Søren Hagbarth Haagensen. We continue south along the harbour and arrive back at the Tourist Information Office (1).

Source: Verneforeningen Gamle Drøbak