Ullern is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

of the city of

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 ...

History

The borough has its name from an old farm, Norse ''Ullarin''. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the Norse god

Ullr In Norse mythology, Ullr (Old Norse: ) is a Æsir, god associated with skiing. Although literary attestations of Ullr are sparse, evidence including relatively ancient place-name evidence from Scandinavia suggests that he was a major god in ear ...

. The last element is ''vin'', meaning pasture or meadow. In medieval times, the farm belonged to the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

Hovedøya Hovedøya is one of several small islands off the coast of Oslo, Norway in the Oslofjord. The island is quite small, no more than 800 metres across in any direction, the total area is 0,4 square kilometre. Its population is 5. It is well known f ...

. Following the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

in 1536, the farmland was separated between the crown and the local

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

. Formally divided into lower and upper Ullern in 1740, both farms were bought by

Herman Severin Løvenskiold Baron Herman Severin Løvenskiold (30 July 1815 – 5 December 1870) was a Norwegian-born Danish composer, most noted for his score for August Bournonville's 1836 version of the ballet ''La Sylphide'' for the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen. B ...

, in 1878 and 1866 respectively. At the time, Ullern was a part of the rural municipality Aker. Signs of urbanization began in the 1800s, when Skøyen and areas along the Lysaker River, which divides Ullern from

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

, began developing into industrial sites. The 1872 opening of the

Drammen Line The Drammen Line () is a railway line between Oslo and Drammen, Norway, which was opened on 7 October 1872. It serves all trains west of Oslo Central Station and is owned by Bane NOR. The line opened as a narrow gauge railway, and rebuilt to s ...

railway was a catalyst for further building activity, as were the 1912 opening of the Smestad Line and the 1919 extension of the

Skøyen Line The Skøyen Line (/''Skøyenlinja'') is a tramway line running from Slottsparken to Skøyen in Oslo, Norway. It is served by line 13 of the Oslo Tramway. It connects the Briskeby Line at Slottsparken to the Lilleaker Line at Skøyen. The lin ...

Lilleaker Lilleaker is a neighbourhood and industrial site in Ullern, Oslo, Norway. It is located east of the river Lysakerelva. The area is named after the Lilleaker farm. Lilleaker served by the Lilleaker (station), Lilleaker station of the Oslo Tramway, ...

. The two latter lines were later extended further, in 1935 and 1924 respectively. In 1942, a connection between the two lines, between

Jar A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically made of glass, ceramic, or plastic, with a wide mouth or opening that can be closed with a lid, screw cap, lug cap, cork stopper, roll-on cap, crimp-on cap, press-on ca ...

and Sørbyhaugen, was opened, providing public rail transportation to the northern part of Ullern. In 1948, Ullern became a part of

, when Oslo absorbed the entire Aker municipality. In the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

period, the

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

-dominated housing was supplemented by

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...

s, scattered across the borough.

Geography

Neighborhoods in the borough of Ullern include Lysejordet, Øraker, Lilleaker, Sollerud, Vækerø, Bestum, Ullern, Bjørnsletta, Ullernåsen, Montebello, Hoff and

Skøyen Skøyen is a neighborhood of Oslo, Norway. It is located in the western part of the city, in the borough of Ullern. The district has an increasing share of business activities, a development started in the 80s. Skøyen is the site of Skøyenpa ...

. The borough borders the Lysaker River and Bærum municipality in the west, Lysakerfjorden and

Bygdøy Bygdøy or Bygdø is a peninsula situated on the western side of Oslo, Norway. Administratively, Bygdøy is part of the borough of Frogner. It historically was part of Aker Municipality and became part of Oslo in 1948. Bygdøy is a popular recr ...

in the south, Frogner borough in the east and Vestre Aker borough in the north. Before the borough mergers of 2003, the neighboring boroughs were

Røa Røa () is a neighbourhood and a former administrative borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. In 2004 the borough of Røa was merged with neighbouring Vinderen to become Vestre Aker borough. Røa is a suburb of Oslo, located approximately 7 kilome ...

and

Vinderen Vinderen is a neighbourhood in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. It was a separate borough until 1 January 2004, when it was incorporated into the newly established borough of Vestre Aker. Its amenities include Vinderen (station), Vinderen ...

in the north and Uranienborg-Majorstuen and Bygdøy-Frogner in the east. View of Jar and Ullern

The hill Ullernåsen reaches 201 metres

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. It is known for its

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

origin.

Transportation

Ullern is served by the

Lilleaker Line The Lilleaker Line () is a suburban tramway from Skøyen in Oslo westwards to Jar,_Norway, Jar, Bærum in Norway. It is operated by Line 13 from Ljabru tram stop, Ljabru to Bekkestua (station), Bekkestua of the Oslo Tramway, operated by Oslo Spor ...

and

of the

Oslo Tramway The Oslo tram network (, short from ', 'electric') is the tram system in Oslo, Norway. It consists of six lines with 99 stops and has a daily ridership of 132,000. It is operated by , a subsidiary of the municipally-owned who maintain the trac ...

, the

Kolsås Line The Kolsås Line () is a line of the Oslo Metro. It branches off from the Røa Line at Smestad (station), Smestad Station and runs through western Oslo and Bærum to Kolsås (station), Kolsås Station. It serves the neighborhoods of Ullernåsen, ...

of the

Oslo T-bane The Oslo Metro ( or or simply ) is the rapid transit system of Oslo, Norway, operated by Sporveien T-banen on contract from the transit authority Ruter. The network consists of five lines that all run through the city centre, with a total length ...

and the

railroad. The stations within the borough are Øraker,

, Sollerud, Furulund,

Bestum Bestum is a neighbourhood in Ullern in Oslo, Norway. Before the residential area arose, Bestum was mainly an agricultural area. The name origins from the Middle Ages. Bestum was served by a station named Bestun Station, "Bestun" and the tram stop ...

Ullern Ullern is a List of boroughs of Oslo, borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. History The borough has its name from an old farm, Old Norse language, Norse ''Ullarin''. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the Norse god Ullr. The l ...

, Abbediengen, Hoff and

(Oslo Tramway); Bjørnsletta, Åsjordet, Ullernåsen and Montebello (Oslo T-bane); and

(Drammen Line). Defunct stations are

(Oslo Tramway);

Lysakerelven Lysakerelven (also known as Lysakerelva, ) is a river in Norway that forms the boundary between the municipalities of the capital city of Oslo and Bærum. The river by this name has its source in Bogstadvannet, though the source is further up, a ...

, Old Bjørnsletta, Sørbyhaugen,

Husebybakken Kastellbakken (later renamed into ''Husebybakken'') is an abandoned, but first modern ski jumping hill in history, opened in 1879. It was located at Ullern in Oslo, Norway. It was the venue of Husebyrennet, Norway's and the world's most prestigi ...

(Oslo T-bane) and Bestun (Drammen Line). The

European route E18 European route E18 runs between Craigavon, County Armagh, Craigavon in Northern Ireland and Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length. Although the designation implies the ...

runs through the southern part of the borough. At Vækerø, the

Norwegian national road 160 Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...

branches off and heads north-east, passing Furulund station, the Old Bjørnsletta station and Lysakerelven station before crossing the Oslo-Bærum border at

. The Ring 3 starts at

Lysaker Lysaker is an area in Bærum Municipality, Akershus County, Norway. Lysaker is the easternmost part of Bærum and borders Oslo proper. Lysaker was initially a farming community, later becoming a residential area. Today it is primarily known as ...

, crosses the Oslo-Bærum border in the southern

Granfoss Tunnel The Granfoss Tunnel is a set of two tunnels on Ring 3 (Oslo), Ring 3 in Oslo, Norway. The two tunnels are long and they are part of the Granfoss Line, a stretch of motorway which was opened in 1992 connecting Ring 3 with the European route E18 ...

, emerges at Mustad before entering the northern Granfoss Tunnel, finally emerging near

Ullern Church Ullern Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Sør-Odal Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Ullern. It is the church for the Ullern parish which is part of the Solør, Vinger og Odal prosti ...

. It passes the Radium Hospital before continuing into Vestre Aker at Smestad. The residents also have access to boat traffic from nearby

, and until 1998 access to the now-defunct

Oslo Airport, Fornebu Oslo Airport, Fornebu was the primary international airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from 1 June 1939 to 7 October 1998. It was then replaced by Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, and the area has since been redeveloped. The airport was located at ...

Business

Major commercial areas are found at Lilleaker, Vækerø and Skøyen. The shopping mall

CC Vest CC Vest is a Norwegian shopping centre in Lilleaker, Oslo. It has 78 outlets, and mainly serves western Oslo as well as eastern Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, ...

is located at Lilleaker, partially utilizing the former locales of the manufacturing company O. Mustad & Son. A locomotive production company, Thunes Mekaniske Værksted, had its localities at Thune, but is now defunct. Until the 2000s, Norges Varemesse ran a large convention center at Skøyen. The

Norwegian Radium Hospital Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospitalet () is one of the four campuses of Oslo University Hospital in Oslo, Norway, and is dedicated to cancer treatment. This part of the hospital is the most specialized hospital in Norway for cancer therapy and ...

, opened in 1931, is located at Montebello. Slightly east of the Radium Hospital is Smestad fire station, opened in 1947. There are several schools in the borough, but no institutions of higher education.

Culture

Ullern is a parish in the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

, but the borders do not correspond with the borough borders. The parish was separated from Vestre Aker in 1906, and later on Røa and Skøyen were separated from Ullern, in 1957 and 1984 respectively. Ullern church, serving the parish of Ullern, was raised in 1903. The parish of Skøyen had its church raised in 1989. The parishes of Ullern and Skøyen are parts of Vestre Aker deanery, in turn a part of the

Diocese of Oslo The Diocese of Oslo is the Church of Norway's Diocese, bishopric for the municipalities of Oslo, Asker and Bærum. It is one of Norway's five traditional bishoprics and was founded around the year 1070. History Oslo was established as a diocese ...

. The local newspaper is '' Ullern Avis Akersposten''. ''

Aftenposten (; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...

'' is widespread as well.

Sports

The local multi-sports team is

Ullern IF Ullern Idrettsforening is a Norwegian multi-sports club from Ullern, Oslo. It has sections for association football, team handball, basketball, bandy and cheerleading. The club colors are white and red. General history The club was founded in 1 ...

. It was founded in 1909, and absorbed the neighboring teams Bestum IF and Liull in 1972. Their home field, used for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The playin ...

matches, is located near Lysakerelven station. The indoor arena Ørakerhallen is used for handball and basketball matches; its basketball team last won the national title in 1996. The

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

club Ullern TK split from Ullern IF in 1992, and has its courts at Blokkajordet. Since 2000 it also owns 25% of the national tennis arena at Hasle. Notable players include Thorvald Moe and

Jan Frode Andersen Jan Frode Andersen (born 29 August 1972) is a Norwegian former tennis player. He played tennis for Norway, including competing in at least 60 countries over a span of 8 years after turning professional in 1997. He represented Norway in the Davis ...

. Ullern had several ski jumping hills in the past. Ullernbakken in Ullernåsen was demolished in 1958. Another hill, Husebybakken, was the venue of the competition

Husebyrennet Husebyrennet was a ski jumping competition which was held in Ullern, Oslo, Norway. These yearly competitions, held from 1879 to 1891, were a precursor to the Holmenkollen event. Starting in January 1892, this competition relocated to the Holm ...

between 1879 and 1891. The competition was moved to the hill

Holmenkollen Holmenkollen () is a mountain and a neighbourhood in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. It goes up to above sea level and is well known for its international skiing competitions. Etymology The name is a compound of the farm name and the ...

in 1892, starting the

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( or ) is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. History It takes place in March and has been arranged every ...

. In addition, boat sports are popular. The rowing club Bestumkilen RK and the canoeing club Oslo KK are based in

Bestumkilen Bestumkilen is a bay in Lysakerfjorden in the inner Oslofjord area of Norway. Located west of the Bygdøy peninsula and east of Vækerø, it is bordered by the islet Killingen in the southwest and the mouth of the river Hoffselva at Sjølyst in t ...

, an arm of Lysakerfjorden. Leisure boating is also widespread.

Politics

As a borough of Oslo, Ullern is governed by the city council of Oslo as well as its own borough council. The council leader is Carl Oscar Pederson from the Conservative Party, and the deputy leader is Ingrid Hopp, also of the Conservative Party. The Conservative Party has the most seats. The 15 seats are distributed among the following

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

for the 2019-2023 term: *8 from the Conservative Party (''Høyre'') *2 from the Labour Party (''Arbeiderpartiet'') *2 from the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

(Miljøpartiet de Grønne) *1 from the Progress Party (''Fremskrittspartiet'') *1 from the Socialist Left Party (''Sosialistisk Venstreparti'') *1 from the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

(''Venstre'') The administration is headquartered at Hoff.

References

{{coord, 59, 55, 32, N, 10, 39, 17, E, region:NO-03_type:city_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Boroughs of Oslo