Oslo City Hall: Philanthropic Legacy of Alfred Nobel
Oslo City Hall on the Rådhusplassen road is the venue where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year.
Alfred Nobel, a 19th-century Swedish chemist, once said, “If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I’m satisfied.” Even though he had a plethora of great ideas, his raging success led to many discomforts with the Press christening him as the “Angel of Death.” He passed away on December 10th 1896 and on the same day, in 1901, “Nobel Prize Awards,” were constituted to make mortals disremember his past and instead, focus on his philanthropic legacy. Today, regarded as the world’s most prestigious award, the Nobel Prize is bestowed upon a Laureate who deliberates a prominent exhibit in the fields of chemistry, peace, literature, physics or medicine.
An idea excellently commanding nobel competition and recompenses at its behest! Even though the journey of a Nobel Prize may have begun with a journalistic error, it sure pulled the attention of people like no other scientific award. Hailing from a family that keeps a keen interest in literature, I may have readily acquired a curiosity towards the Nobel Prize Awards and venues. A belief that manifested into reality as I took a trip to Scandinavia while ensuring to nobly-discover both the award venues. Although the theory for the literary prize remained cryptic for many years, causing much consternation.
For a very long time, Swedish Academy deciphered “ideal” as “idealistic,” and refrained from giving the prize to less romantic authors, such as Leo Tolstoy and Henrik Ibsen. This idea has since been corrected, by awarding the prize to José Saramago and Dario Fo, who did not fit into the wigwams of literary transcendentalism. Heralding Alfred Nobel’s will, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, to the person who has performed the best to strengthen brotherhood between countries or has contributed towards the eradication of opposing armies or has held and encouraged peace committees.
Oslo City Hall on the Rådhusplassen road is the venue where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded. The entrance to this site stands out distinctively, as it is characterised by a large Swan sculpture in bronze and the astronomical clock right behind it. Despite its copper-ish look, this Swan sculpture is much cherished as it was constructed to pay homage to Saint Hallvard.
The City Hall, otherwise known as Oslo Kommune, is a rectangular red-bricked edifice, ardourly built near the Pipervika harbour. Its side wing was once, a restaurant in 1926. Later in 1930, the Norweigan government bought this land to turn it into a City Hall for hosting political parties and theatrical performances. This majestic building was designed by renowned Norweigan architects, Arnstein Arneberg and Magnus Poulsson, and it was inaugurated in 1931 on Oslo’s 900th anniversary.
In the present times, Oslo City Hall is where the city council meets and discusses administrative affairs. On the inside, the Oslo City Hall is draped in minimalistic designs. Simple yet impressive. The interiors star marble clad flooring and walls decorated with bright paintings built from the local materials. Two of these paintings depict local festivals. These are the Folket-I-Arbeid-Og-Solid and the Arbeid-Administrasjon edged in vintage frames, describing a singular era.
As a matter of fact, the entire Oslo City Hall is steeped in Norwegian antiquity reproducing Nordic mythology through an excellent art collection. The venue is adorned with multifarious paintings, frescoes, and tapestries. A series of wall paintings also, picture Norway amidst the wars. While a few others depict Norway’s monarchs, trading activities, and labour movement. In an interesting manner, a series of contests were carried in 1937 to determine who would illuminate City Hall. Superseding the competition, 8 painters and 17 sculptors were chosen.
By and by, the decoration work of the Hall was completed in 1950. The Main Hall, that is 102 ft wide, 128 ft long and 69 ft tall was decorated by architects Alf Rolfsen and Henrik Sørensen. The semi-circular room where the City Council convenes is garbed in oak and unique tapestries. One of these tapestries was handwoven by Else Halling, portraying Oslo’s patron saint, St. Hallvard and his seven virtues.
On December 10th each year, Oslo City hall celebrates Alfred Nobel by awarding Nobel Peace Prize, in the presence of Royal family and the Prime Minister of Norway. Come to Oslo City Hall to pay homage to Alfred Nobel but don’t leave the city without discovering its cultural life. Oslo is a beautiful city, surrounded by cliffs and fjords. It’s compact, sophisticated, and amusing and carries an unmistakable spirit of reinvention. When here, explore its contemporary-art scene, museums, and rapidly growing neighbourhoods.
