Grand Hotel Oslo

Today it seems logical to open a hotel in this newly fashionable district, but that was not the case at the time. The pastry chef Julius Fritzner saw it differently. Many of Fritzner's contemporaries tried to discourage him from opening a hotel so far away from what was then the center of Kristiania. 1874: The Grand Hotel was founded in 1874 by pastry chef Julius Fritzner. When it first opened, the block on Karl Johans gate consisted of three buildings: the Bardoe, the Fuhr and the Heiberg buildings. The latter, a three-story building at the corner of Rosenkrantz gate, was equipped as a hotel. Nicolay Fritzner bought the building, but his brother Julius ran the hotel. The Grand Cafe opened first. Architect Jacob Nordan was in charge of refurbishing the locale, and Fritzner's good friend, Wilhelm Krogh, a specialist in theater and set decoration at Kristiania Theater, painted the interior. Originally, the cafe was above street level, with access from stairs on the outside of the building, but in the latter part of the 1870s, the floor was lowered and the entire locale redecorated. From that moment on, the Grand Cafe became the meeting place for all of Kristiania. The hotel continued to expand 1886, Dezember 15, Speilsalen (the Mirror Room) opened its doors. For the first time, people could dine to music played by the restaurant orchestra. Academics and foreign diplomats gathered here for lunch. T 1994: The most elegant reception room in Norway opened in 1894 in the presence of playwright Henrik Ibsen. The Rococo Room extended over two floors and was elaborately decorated with murals by Krogh on the walls and ceiling. It provided an elegant setting for countless balls, artistic exhibitions and shows, and Petra Sand's charity soirees. Last but not least, 'The Ball Society', under the patronage of Queen Maud and King Haakon, held their arrangements here. 1912: When Roald Amundsen returned to Oslo after his successful expedition to the South Pole in 1912, a banquet was held in his honor at the Grand Hotel. 1911 to 1913: the Grand Hotel was refurbished and given its present facade, with white granite from the Sognefjord area of western Norway, and the characteristic clock tower with its copper roof and beautiful view. At that time, the hotel had 120 rooms and 50 baths. The choice of the name Grand Hotel was appropriate, because the building was so large, and because Kristiania was in the process of becoming a big city. The city held its jubilee the same year as the Grand Hotel opened its doors, and its new center was Karl Johans gate. It is also possible that the Fritzner brothers were inspired by the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, which also was completed at around the same time. 1957: both Speilen and the Rococo Room were destroyed by fire. Residents of Oslo cried along with headwaiter Eugen Olsen at the sight of the Rococo Room ankle deep in water with its once grand chandeliers lying shattered on the floor. 1961: Both Speilen and the Rococo Room were restored. Professor Christen Heiberg's three-story building on the corner of Karl Johans gate 31 was one of a number of distinguished houses built around 1840 along the 'New Palace Road', as Karl Johan was called in those days.