Museum Alley

Oseberg Viking Ship

One thing we've learned very quickly is that Norwegians are very proud of their culture and history.  Oslo has wonderful museums that capture this history and present it in unique ways.  Some of the museums aren't very large, but they still pack an educational and historical punch.

Several of the museums are clustered together in the Bygdøy peninsula just a short ferry ride away from the center of Oslo.  Because we have a car, we drove over rather than catching the ferry which saved Mom and Pop from too much walking.

Our first stop was the Viking Ship Museum.  The museum houses three original viking ships that date back over 1000 years.  Because these are wooden ships still intact, scientists can accurately date them using dendrochronology (tree ring dating).  The oldest of the three was built in 820AD.  It was found on a farm in the Oseberg region in 1903.  All three were used as grave ships for prominent vikings.  A burial chamber would be placed in the center of the ship and a myriad of valuable items would be placed with the bodies.  The entire ship would then be buried.

Two of the three ships are in such good condition they're probably still seaworthy.  It's difficult to fathom the quality of construction and durability of these ships considering the available tools and technology from the time period.

Stave Church at Norwegian Folk Museum

After touring the viking ship museum, we walked over to the Norwegian Folk Museum.  Similar to the Skansen museum in Stockholm, the folk museum is an outdoor, open air museum featuring a collection of buildings from around the country representing various periods of Norwegian history.  Probably the most popular building there is the Stave Church that was moved here from Gol.  See my other entry HERE about Stave Churches.  Skansen is larger and has more variety of buildings, but the Norwegian Folk Museum also has more modern buildings including an apartment building that shows different eras of city living over the past 100 years.

Kon-Tiki

Kon-Tiki

Our final two stops were also maritime-related -- the Kon-Tiki Museum and the Fram Museum.  Thor Heyerdahl was a well-known 20th century Norwegian explorer and the Kon-Tiki museum documents his travels.  His most famous expedition was sailing the Pacific Ocean on a balsa wood raft named Kon-Tiki to prove that it was possible for South Americans to have reached and settled in Polynesia.  Using native balsa wood and construction techniques that would have been available centuries ago, Heyerdahl set off for Polynesia in 1947 and successfully completed his voyage in a little more than 100 days.  His expedition was captured on film and would win the 1951 Academy Award for best documentary.

Ra II

Fram

Heyerdahl would later cross the Atlantic Ocean on a boat made from papyrus sailing from the coast of Africa to Barbados on the Ra II to prove once again that it was possible for ancient civilizations to undertake long sea voyages and have contact with other cultures.

The Fram Museum houses the wooden ship Fram which was built specifically for arctic exploration.  Not only that, the mission was to intentionally have the ship freeze in the ice.  The ship was designed so that rather than the frozen ice crushing the hull of the ship, the ice would push the ship upwards so the hull was not damaged.  Besides conducting numerous scientific experiments, the goal was to make it all the way to the north pole.  It made it as far north as 85° 57' N which was the furthest north a wooden ship had ever been.  This was accomplished on October 16, 1895.  The best part of the museum is that you can walk on the ship itself and explore all of the decks below.

Our brief time exploring these museums gave us a glimpse of the illustrious seafaring heritage and engineering skill of the Norwegian people.  As someone who has little to no boating experience, I really have a newfound appreciation as to both the craft of boatbuilding as well as the knowledge and ability needed to undertake such lengthy expeditions.