A Home Filled with History

After several years of closure, the reopening of Ibsen Museum & Theatre this summer gives visitors the opportunity to explore and experience both his apartment and the new adjacent exhibition.

- We are tremendously pleased to re-open the Ibsen Museum for the general audience again. His flat has been newly conserved and there are several new objects in the exhibition, Museum Director Nina Refseth enthusiastically tells What’s On Oslo.

- We also have a new, smaller exhibition with information about and impressions from his works. Thus, we hope to attract new and interested visitors to the home of one of the world’s greatest playwrights, Refseth says.

Ibsen's apartment, nestled in Arbins gate 1, was a haven for the playwright during his final years from 1895 to 1906. Stepping into this preserved space is like entering a time capsule, with Ibsen's original furniture, original colours and décor and personal artifacts adorning the rooms.

When Ibsen’s wife Suzannah died in 1914 their home was dismantled, and their furniture scattered. His study and bedroom was deposited at the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, the library went to the Henrik Ibsen Museum in Skien and the dining room to The Ibsen Museum in Grimstad. The family retained possession of the remaining furniture.

In 1990 actor Knut Wigert took the fateful decision to rent the apartment, based on a wish to make it available to the public. Norwegian Museum of Cultural History took over responsibility for the museum in 1993.

The apartment was equipped with a gas stove and a bathtub, amenities that were considered modern luxuries during Ibsen’s time.

From the very spot where Ibsen sat and wrote, he had a view to The Royal Palace.