On the quiet shores of the Oslofjord at Svartskog sits the Swiss-style villa where Roald Amundsen lived for 20 years. He bought Uranienborg in 1908, just three years before he became the first person to reach the South Pole. This was his base between expeditions, the place he planned his voyages and retreated to when the world got too loud.
Amundsen's polar expeditions were glorious but ruinously expensive. By 1924, he was bankrupt. Two loyal supporters, Herman Gade and Don Pedro Christophersen, quietly bought the house and let him stay. On 18 June 1928, Amundsen walked out the front door for the last time, heading to Tromsø to join a search for the missing Italian airship Italia and its crew. His plane disappeared over the Barents Sea. He was never found.
The house became a museum in 1935 and is today run by MiA (Museums in Akershus). Inside you can see his desk, the old piano that sailed aboard the expedition ship Maud, and a collection of personal objects, souvenirs, and gifts from his expeditions and lecture tours around the world. The house is open weekends from May to September. Svartskog is in Nordre Follo municipality, just south of Oslo, a short drive from Oscarsborg or a detour on the way to Drøbak.
Amundsen's polar expeditions were glorious but ruinously expensive. By 1924, he was bankrupt. Two loyal supporters, Herman Gade and Don Pedro Christophersen, quietly bought the house and let him stay. On 18 June 1928, Amundsen walked out the front door for the last time, heading to Tromsø to join a search for the missing Italian airship Italia and its crew. His plane disappeared over the Barents Sea. He was never found.
The house became a museum in 1935 and is today run by MiA (Museums in Akershus). Inside you can see his desk, the old piano that sailed aboard the expedition ship Maud, and a collection of personal objects, souvenirs, and gifts from his expeditions and lecture tours around the world. The house is open weekends from May to September. Svartskog is in Nordre Follo municipality, just south of Oslo, a short drive from Oscarsborg or a detour on the way to Drøbak.