My latest article: The Royal Palace, Sweden and Russia

It is commonly stated in the literature on the Royal Palace in Oslo that its architect, Hans D. F. Linstow, was primarily influenced by Danish and German architecture. However, in her interesting book Monumentalarkitektur i Oslo (2008), Kari Hoel, professor of art history at the University of Oslo, argued that Swedish architecture had also been an inspiration and pointed towards Elghammar Manor in Sudermania, Sweden, as a building with a strong resemblance to the original designs for the Royal Palace (which were altered before completion). Professor Hoel is convinced that Linstow during one of his visits to King Carl Johan had seen the book Elghammar’s architect Giacomo Quarenghi had published about his works and drawn inspiration from it.
In an article in the latest issue of Kunst og Kultur (no 3-2010), the leading Norwegian art journal published by the National Museum, I investigate the theory further. While Kari Hoel only considered the façade I have also looked at the interiors and am thus able to point out that the Ceremonial Hall at the Royal Palace, which was one of the first interiors designed by Linstow, is almost an exact replica of the Grand Gallery at Elghammar. Obviously this strengthens the assumption that Linstow was familiar with Elghammar.
However, Elghammar, which was commissioned from Quarenghi by Curt von Stedingk when the latter was Sweden’s ambassador in Russia, is quite untypical of contemporary Swedish architecture. The Swedish building closest to Elghammar in style was the Bonde Mansion in Stockholm, which has been attributed to Erik Palmstedt (demolished in 1899). I point out some similarities between the Bonde Mansion and the Royal Palace which speak of another connection.
Also very interesting is Krontorp Manor in Wermlandia, which is almost a miniature version of Elghammar. It stands out clearly from Swedish manor architecture and has more in common with Norwegian manors of the early 19th century. Krontorp was commissioned by a courtier to house King Carl Johan on his travels between his two capitals and the interesting thing is that the building, which was erected at the same time as the Royal Palace in Oslo was begun, traditionally has been attributed to none other than Linstow.
Some art historians have in recent years argued that Krontorp’s architect might rather have been Fredrik Blom, Carl Johan’s favourite Swedish architect, but I point out several factors speaking against Blom and in favour of Linstow. If the Linstow attribution is correct, Krontorp could be seen as the “missing link” between Elghammar and the Palace.
I also look at some other relevant buildings of interest – among them the Palladian Villa Pisani in Stra, which may well have inspired Quarenghi – and reach the conclusion that while Elghammar and Krontorp are certainly related to the Royal Palace in Oslo, they are untypical of Swedish architecture of the time in the same way as Quarenghi’s works are in many ways untypical of Russian architecture of the epoch – however, Linstow’s architecture certainly has things in common with Quarenghi’s. Any architectural influences from Sweden and Russia on the Royal Palace should therefore be seen as coming from individual buildings rather than larger national trends.
The article includes twelve illustrations of altogether nine buildings. Among them are the façades of, from the top, Elghammar Manor, the Royal Palace as it was projected, and Krontorp Manor.

What to see: Fossum Manor, Skien

The county of Telemark boasts two of Norway’s most important Empire style buildings. The wealthy merchant and politician Niels Aall had Ulefos Manor built in 1800-1807, and in 1811-1818 an even grander manor house was built for his first cousin Severin Løvenskiold at Fossum in Gjerpen (now part of Skien). At 2,418 square metres it is today the second largest private home in Norway, second only to Fritzøehus Manor outside Larvik with its 4,510 square metres. It was said that Løvenskiold by building such a grand manor hoped that Fossum, like nearby Jarlsberg, would be elevated to comital status, but before the house was finished Norway had become independent from Denmark with a constitution which forbade the creation of new nobility.
Although he never became a count, Severin Løvenskiold was not just anybody. He was a member of the Constituent Assembly of 1814 and went on to become Prime Minister of Norway in 1828 and Governor-General of Norway in 1841. He was one of King Carl XIV Johan’s most important supporters in Norway and ended up being such a reactionary anti-democrat that the position of Governor-General was left vacant after his resignation a few months before his death in 1856.
At the time Fossum Manor was begun, Norway was still a part of the Danish kingdom. The estate had been bought by Løvenskiold’s grandfather Herman Leopoldus in 1739, the same year he was ennobled with the name Løvenskiold. His son Herman Løvenskiold made it his permanent home in 1759, but it was when his nephew, Severin, took over the estate in 1803 that a new era began. He demolished the old main house and replaced it with a grand new one. The surviving drawing of the new Fossum’s main façade has been attributed to Denmark’s greatest neoclassical architect Christian Frederik Hansen (1756-1845), the architect of buildings such as the second Christiansborg Palace, Christianborg Palace Church and the Cathedral of Copenhagen, or his studio. The rest of the house is the work of Johan Godtfried Boydtler, a master bricklayer and timber man of Dano-German origins.
The estate’s name derives from the waterfall (“foss” in Norwegian) at the entrance to the grounds. From the bridge across the water a long alley of trees leads to the manor house and the main façade’s columned portico. A notable difference from the Royal Palace and the University in Oslo, the two most important neoclassical buildings in the country, is that the portico does not denote the main entrance. It is in fact the garden side, while the main entrance from the courtyard is a relatively simple door, although guarded by two cast-iron lions. The difference is explained by the fact that Fossum, unlike the Palace and the University, is a country house. Similar solutions can be found at Skinnarbøl and Jarlsberg, two others of the four important Empire style manors in Norway.
From the humble entrance there is however an imposing double staircase leading to the first and second floors. The major rooms are all located on the first floor. “The Round Hall” is the ballroom and the name derives not from its shape, which is rectangular, but from the barrel-vaulted ceiling. “The Golden Drawing Room” connects it with “the Small Hall”, which is located behind the portico and is perhaps the best Empire style interior at Fossum. On the walls is a large portrait of King Carl XIV Johan, which was a present to Severin Løvenskiold from the monarch, flanked by portraits of King Oscar I and Queen Josephina as well as Prince Frederik and Princess Louise of the Netherlands, the parents of Queen Lovisa.
Other rooms, such as the Dining Room and the Library, have been changed into other styles at a later date. Like other manors in Norway, Fossum has a “King’s Bedroom”, which was kept ready in case the King should pass by and need a place to spend the night. Among the royals who have stayed at Fossum are King Oscar I, Queen Josephina, Prince Gustaf, Princess Eugénie, Crown Prince Gustaf and Prince Eugen. The last royal to stay there was Crown Prince Olav in 1956, but the present Queen has stopped there on a private visit.
The current owner of Fossum Manor is Severin Løvenskiold’s great-great-great-grandson Herman Løvenskiold, who inherited it from his father Herman Leopold in 2006, although he had been in charge of the running of the estate for many years before his father’s death at 91. He lives with his wife, Borghild Anker Rasch from Rød Manor in Halden, in one of the wings, while his mother Catharina, née Countess De la Gardie from Borrestad Manor in Sweden, has her home in the other wing. Their son, Leopold Axel, is now in charge of the running of the estate and lives in the nearby Fossum Villa with his family.
Fossum Manor has been a listed building since 1923 and in 2007 it was, with 25 other listed buildings in Skien, exempted from property tax by the city council as some sort of compensation for that the Løvenskiold family themselves pay for the upkeep of this historic building. A thorough restoration was carried out in 1971-1981.

What to see: Ulefos Manor, Ulefoss

Ulefos Manor in the county of Telemark ranks among the most important Empire style buildings in Norway – the others being the Royal Palace and the old University in Oslo and possibly Fossum Manor near Skien.
In 1775 the property was bought by Nicolai Benjamin Aall (who belonged to a Danish family which had migrated to Norway through Britain) together with the rich landowning brothers Bernt, Jess and Peder Anker. Aall earned a fortune through timber trade and in 1782 he bought out the Ankers. It was his son, Niels Aall (1769-1854), who decided to build a stately home at Ulefoss. Work began in 1800, was concluded seven years later and cost an equivalent of nearly 14 million NOK in today’s money worth. A bust of Niels Aall now stands in front of the building (photo 1).
The identity of the architect is not fully clear. In the first book published on Ulefos (in 1940) Wilhelm Swensen named Jørgen Henrik Rawert (1751-1823) as the architect who made the final drawings after Aall himself and his friend Christian Collett (1771-1833) had made preliminary sketches. But in his recent book on Ulefos, Jo. Sellæg argues that Collett was most likely the actual architect, with Rawert just being consulted or perhaps making some changes or corrections to the design.
Situated on a hill above the Telemark Canal and surmounted by a cupola, the inspiration from Andrea Palladio’s La Rotonda just outside Vicenza is quite obvious. Niels Aall had travelled in England and among the works of English Palladianism Chiswick House (by Lord Burlington, begun around 1725) in London has been mentioned as a possible influence.
The most important room is the Garden Hall, which has been called “the most beautiful room in Norway” by the art historian Carsten Hopstock – who also considers Ulefos and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello to be the two most beautiful buildings in the world. A picture of the Garden Hall can be seen here (external link). The chairs and sofas were bought from London in 1805, but were badly damaged in a great fire at Ulefos in 1961. The new covers come from France and are, surprisingly for this house, decorated with the Napoleonic bees.
The wall paintings are done by the Swedish artist and officer Count Axel Otto von Mörner, who sat at Ulefos as a prisoner of war in 1808-1809 after having been captured at the Battle of Toverud. He later returned on behalf of King Carl XIII to try and convince Niels Aall of the advantages of a union between Sweden and Norway, but Aall refused to listen to such schemes.
Norway was at the time a part of the Danish Kingdom, but when the country achieved independence in 1814 Niels Aall was appointed minister of trade by King Christian Frederik, while both his brothers (Jacob and Jørgen) were members of the Constitutional Assembly. Later that year Niels Aall was sent on an ambassadorial mission to London to secure British recognition for Norway. He did not succeed, but following the short war between Sweden and Norway that summer, Aall and another minister, Jonas Collett, negotiated a treaty (the Convention of Moss) with the Swedes whereby Sweden and Norway in November 1814 did after all form a personal union.
There is a so-called “King’s Bedroom” next to the Garden Hall – like many great manors Ulefos kept such a room ready if the King should pass by. Both King Haakon VII and King Olav V have slept there and among other notable visitors are Prince Eugen and his second cousin the Prince Imperial, who visited together in 1878 and left signed photographs.
Even though Niels Aall had been firmly opposed to a union with Sweden and refused to continue as a minister after the union had been agreed upon, his descendants came to serve the Swedish-Norwegian royal family. His son Hans Aall became a member of King Carl XIV Johan’s court and among his duties was translating Norwegian newspapers into French for the French-born King.
In 1903 Hans Aall’s grandson, Cato Aall, the then lord of the manor, was appointed “kammerherre” (chamberlain) at the Norwegian court by King Oscar II. His chamberlain’s uniform and key (fifth photo) are still exhibited in another building at the manor, together with the letter of appointment. When the union was unilaterally dissolved by Norway in 1905, Cato Aall was one of the few Norwegian courtiers who stayed loyal to Oscar II – he did not wish to serve another king and therefore resigned as chamberlain.
In 1943 Cato Aall and his wife Eugenie drew up a will whereby they made Ulefos Manor into a foundation in order to preserve it for the future. In 1989 their daughter-in-law Karen Aall opened the house for guided tours, even though she continued to live there until shortly before her death at the age of 96 in November 2007. With her two sisters she had herself donated their ancestral home, Bogstad Manor in Oslo, to a foundation and she used to quote her mother that “Bogstad does not belong to us, it is just ours on loan”, saying that the same applied to Ulefos.

What to see: Elghammar Manor, Björnlunda

Elghammar Manor, near Björnlunda in Sudermania, is beautifully situated at the very end of a small peninsula, surrounded by the water of the lake Lockvattnet on three sides just a few metres away from the house. It has been called “a small piece of St Petersburg in Sudermania” and is often described as one of the most beautiful palaces in Sweden, although the late Duke would insist “it is no damned palace, it is a manor”.
One of the most important examples of the Empire style in Sweden, Elghammar was built for Field Marshal Count Curt von Stedingk, who served as Sweden’s ambassador in St Petersburg for two decades. There he came to know Giacomo Quarenghi (1744-1817), one of Ekaterina II’s favourite architects. Quarenghi rebuilt the Swedish Embassy in St Isaac’s Square (now apparently lost) and Stedingk thereafter asked him to build him a country seat at Elghammar, which Stedingk had bought unseen.
There was already a small manor house at Elghammar, which Quarenghi incorporated into the new building as the right of two projecting wings. Quarenghi’s design, executed about 1809-1810, shows a building with only one storey, but the middle section also has a mezzanine. Above it is a tympanum, supported by six free-standing Ionic columns, and in the Palladian manner there are sculptures on the roof.
However, the war between Sweden and Russia meant that it was not until 1814-1820 that Elghammar was actually built. Quarenghi himself never set his feet in Sweden and it was the Swedish architect Fredrik Blom (1781-1853), who had travelled with Stedingk to Russia as his ADC in 1809, who came to be in charge of the work. Blom also made certain changes to Quarenghi’s design, such as simplifying the temple front by dropping the sculptures on the roof and making the six Ionic columns engaged rather than free-standing.
The garden façade, seen in the eighth photo, is also considered to be Blom’s work and is, in its simplicity, rather typical of his architecture. Indoors the Great Hall (photo 4), divided into three sections by the use of four Ionic columns, is said to be the only interior by Quarenghi himself, while the library (fifth picture) is considered a Blom work by the current chatelaine – the library was originally in another room, but the fittings were later moved to this corner room. There are also other rooms in the Empire style, such as the drawing-room seen in the sixth photo, while the dining room (in the seventh photo) has been changed at a later date.
Following Curt von Stedingk’s death at 90 in 1837, Elghammar passed to his son, who left it to his daughter. The daughter had married the Duke d’Otrante, a grandson of the feared police minister and spymaster of Napoleonic France, Joseph Fouché, whose sons after his death had been allowed by King Carl XIV Johan to settle in Sweden. Since then Elghammar has been the seat of the Dukes d’Otrante – the only non-royal dukes in Sweden, although the title is French. A separate room at Elghammar is dedicated to Fouché and includes mementos such as his bed and his imperial uniform with the Legion of Honour sewn onto it.
Today Elghammar is the home of Duchess Christina d’Otrante, the widow of the previous Duke, Gustaf. When he died in 1995, he was succeeded by his only son, Charles, then only nine years old, who will eventually take over the manor. As a private home, Elghammar is not open to the public, but there are sometimes concerts in the Great Hall and at this link one can see a clip from French television of the Duchess guiding the viewers through her home:

http://www.telemaison.fr/christina-dotrante-suede-visite

What to see: Austrått Castle, Opphaug

Austrått is a small Renaissance castle situated at Ørlandet, a strategic point commanding the entrance to the Trondheim fjord and the road to Sweden, an hour by boat across the fjord from Trondheim.
The first owner who is known to posterity was Finn Arnesson, who acquired the manor before 1050. The oldest part of the current castle, the chapel, dates from the 12th century, while the most recent parts were added in the 17th century.
The most famous owner of Austrått was perhaps the mighty Ingerd Ottesdatter (died 1555), who played a significant role in the Reformation and was immortalised by Henrik Ibsen in his play Fru Inger til Østråt. Most of the present castle was however built by her great-great-grandson Ove Bjelke (1611-1674), Chancellor of the Realm of Norway.
A preserved noble castle being a very rare sight in Norway, it was a great loss to the nation when Austrått went up in flames in November 1916, having been struck by lightning. Luckily two architects had for some years worked on making drawings and photos of the castle, the results of which were published only five days before the disastrous fire.
This made it possible to reconstruct the castle, while most of the furniture was replaced with other period pieces. The furniture and artworks in the chapel were however mostly saved, which means that the chapel today has one of the finest collections of old religious art in Norway. Since 1919 Austrått Castle belongs to the State. It is open for guided tours in the summer.
The castle’s loggia and twin staircase, which can be seen in the second picture, were built in 1655 and inspired by Italian architecture. The main building sits on an elevated terrace above the lower courtyard, which can be seen in the fourth photo. Around the courtyard are fourteen wood caryatids (third photo) – on the right are four wise virgins, on the left four foolish virgins, drawn from a biblical story (Matthew 25, 1-13). In the middle are two angels and four male sculptures, all of whose identity is not ascertained, but thought to be figures from the Old Testament. The caryatids seen today were sculpted in 1953-1956 after the originals had been lost in the fire of 1916.
The portal to the courtyard (fifth photo) was built in 1656 and is surmounted by the arms of Ove Bjelke and the first and second of his three wives and surrounded by the arms of his many noble ancestors. The sixth photo shows a rear view of the castle and the seventh the pyramid outside the castle. It has a plaque commemorating Ove Bjelke’s parents Jens Bjelke and Sophie Brockenhuus which is dated 1665, but the pyramid itself is most likely from the 18th century.

What to see: Gunnebo Palace, Mölndal

Situated in Mölndal just outside Gothenburg, Gunnebo Palace is perhaps the most beautiful neoclassical villa in Sweden. Although it is a villa of some 1,000 square metres it is commonly referred to as a palace, a word which was first used to describe it by the famous sculptor Johan Tobias Sergel.
Gunnebo was built as the country house of the wealthy merchant John Hall the Elder (1735-1802) and his wife Christina (1749-1825). In the winter they lived in a town house at Gothenburg’s Sillgatan, which is now long gone (the street was later renamed Postgatan and even later incorporated into the huge shopping mall Nordstan).
The architect was Carl Wilhelm Carlberg (1746-1814), who had just returned from a five-year educational trip to Italy, France and Britain when he was given the commission in 1782. To put it simply he created an Italianate villa with French gardens set in an English landscape park, but the house also has traces of the British brand of neoclassicism.
The villa was completed in 1796 and was much admired, as it continues to be. “He has taken a beautiful part of the mountains of Italy and placed it at Gunnebo”, Sergel wrote. “[…] The building is charming in every respect. He has with considerable skill made use of the terrain. The architecture is pure poetry. […] Since seeing Gunnebo, my admiration for Carlberg is boundless”.
In addition to Sergel Gunnebo has received many famous visitors. King Gustaf III was among the earliest visitors, and later came Mary Wollstonecraft and Louis XVI’s only surviving child, Marie-Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême. Francisco de Miranda, the South American freedom fighter, visited in 1787 and had a passionate affair with Christina Hall – it was later said that he chose the colours yellow, blue and red for the Venezuelan flag in memory of the colours of Mrs Hall’s hair, eyes and lips. A small note is attached to a chair in which the Nobel Laureate Selma Lagerlöf sat, while the guides do not point out the chair used by US President George W. Bush when he met Sweden’s then Prime Minister Göran Persson at Gunnebo in connection with the EU summit in Gothenburg in 2001.
John Hall the Elder did not get the chance to enjoy Gunnebo for a long time after it was completed. He died six years later, in 1802. He lay in state at the Gustavi Cathedral in Gothenburg awaiting his magnificent funeral when a great city fire broke out. Both the Cathedral and the body of John Hall perished in the fire.
His only son, John Hall the Younger, had not inherited his father’s knack for business and had to sell Gunnebo when he went into bankruptcy. He ended his life as a beggar on the streets of Stockholm, where he froze to death in 1830. The last private owners of the estate were Carl and Hilda Sparre, and following Baroness Sparre’s death in 1948 Gunnebo was sold to the municipality of Mölndal. Today it is a listed building which is open to visitors throughout the year. Its website can be found at: http://www.gunneboslott.se/