Art Oslo
Museums
A museum of the deep past
Part of the University of Oslo's Museum of Cultural History, the Historical Museum holds the national collections of archaeology and ethnography. Its Art Nouveau building of 1904, by Henrik Bull, is itself a work of art, with a sculpted entrance and richly decorated halls.
The Viking inheritance
Here are the gold and silver of the Viking age, runestones, and the medieval art rescued from Norway's stave churches — including painted altar frontals and carved portals. With the nearby Viking Ship Museum closed for its long rebuilding, the Historical Museum is the essential place to encounter early Norway.
The wider world
Beyond Norway, the museum's ethnographic galleries range across the Arctic, Africa, Asia and the Americas, and it holds the country's principal collection of coins and medals. A single visit moves from an Egyptian mummy to a Sami drum to a hoard of hacksilver.
What to see
- Viking-age gold and silver hoards
- Medieval stave-church portals and altar art
- The Art Nouveau entrance hall
- World cultures in the ethnographic galleries
The deep history of Norway, in the heart of the city.
