Chateau Neuf is a building in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, that houses the Norwegian Students' Society ''( Det Norske Studentersamfund)'' including cafes, bars, performance centers, and other facilities for student assembly. It is situated at Slemdalsveien 15 near

Majorstuen Majorstuen or Majorstua is a particularly affluent neighbourhood in the Frogner borough in the inner part of Oslo, Norway. Majorstuen is known for its vibrant downtown and especially its shopping area. The area has several elegant townhouses c. 1 ...

just south of the main campus of the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

Blindern Blindern is the main campus of the University of Oslo, located in Nordre Aker in Oslo, Norway. Campus Most of the departments of the University of Oslo are located at Blindern; other, smaller campuses include Sentrum, Oslo, Sentrum (law), Gaust ...

Name

Though the name ''Chateau Neuf'' literally means 'new castle' in French. It also involves a pun on the French word ''neuf'', which is pronounced like the Norwegian onomatopoeia for 'oink', alluding to the Student Society's personified patron and coat of arms symbol, "His Majesty the Pig" (''Hans Majestet Grisen'').

History

Although the Students' Society was housed in permanent facilities at Universitetsgaten 26 from 1861 onwards, the society outgrew this structure by 1918 and moved to different locations around the city. During the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

(1940–1945), the Student Society was dissolved due to oppositional attitudes to the occupying forces, and was re-established after the liberation in 1945. In the 1950s, funds were raised to build a new structure, spearheaded by Jan P. Syse (1930–1997). Based on expansion plans for the University of Oslo, the site was picked, though the university changed its plans after Chateau Neuf's construction had started. Ground was broken by C. J. Hambro in 1963 in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the society. The architects were Kjell Lund and Nils Slaatto. Construction was complete in 1971 and officially opened in 1973.

References

University of Oslo Buildings and structures in Oslo Modernist architecture in Norway 1963 establishments in Norway {{Norway-struct-stub