The Ibsen Museum (Oslo)

infobox Museum
name= The Ibsen Museum (Ibsenmuseet)

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caption = Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906). Photo by Daniel Georg Nyblin.
established= 1990, fully restored in 2006.
location= Henrik Ibsens gate 26, Oslo, Norway
visitors= 20.000/year
director= Erik Henning Edvardsen
website= [http://www.ibsen.net/index.gan?id=11129384&subid=0]

The Ibsen Museum conveys the playwright Henrik Ibsen's last home and is located close to the Royal Palace in Oslo.

=The Dramatist's last home in Kristiania (= Oslo) 1895-1906=

On the occasion of the hundred-year commemoration of Ibsen's death, 23 May 1906, the Ibsen Museum reopened a completely restored writer's home with the original interior, original colours and decor.

Ibsen's plays are performed on stages all around the world, but only in Arbins gate it is possible to acquire a glimpse behind the facade of the aging writer. it was here that he lived the last 11 years of his life and wrote his final dramatic works "John Gabriel Borkman" (1896) and "When We Dead Awaken" (1899).

The Ibsen Museum in Oslo after 2006

An extensive amount of groundwork was carried out in the recreation of Henrik Ibsen's home. Thanks to financial support, goodwill on the part of donors and lenders, the painstaking efforts of the expert museum personnel and skilled craftsmen, an authentic impression of the writer's home has been created. The furniture has been reinstated while the floor, walls, ceiling and surfaces have been reconstructed according to archaeological building studies, supplemented by a range of historical sources. Where time had made its mark on the material of tablecloths, curtains and drapes, these have been rewoven as exact replicas of the originals.

The History Behind the Reopened Museum

When Suzannah Ibsen died in 1914 the home was dismantled and the furniture scattered. The municipality of Kristiania assumed possession of Henrik Ibsen's study and bedroom and deposited all of it at the Norwegian Folk Museum. The library went to the county museum in Skien (now Telemark museum) and the dining room to the Ibsen House Museum (now the City of Grimstad´s museums). The family retained possession of the remaining furniture.

In 1990 actor Knut Wigert took the initiative of renting the apartment, based on a wish to make it available to the public. As a point of departure for further restorations, studies were done documenting the most important rooms in the apartment. The Norwegian Folk Museum took over responsibility for operations in 1993, and Ibsen's study was restored but limited resources and a lack of original artefacts resulted in only this particular room being given an adequate presentation.

The Ibsen family has made an important contribution to the opportune results. Ambassador Tancred Ibsen has lent out and donated a large amount of personal property inherited from his great-grandfather and his cousin, the actor Joen Bille, has for many years helped us with the task of locating and reacquiring original furnishings.

Financial Assistance

The Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs, Anders Jahres Humanitarian Institution, Ibsen Year 2006.

The Network «The Ibsen Museums in Norway»

The three Ibsen Museums have a collaboration on practical measures of co-operation.

The other two are the Henrik Ibsen Museum, in Ibsen's birthtown Skien (at the farm Venstøp): [http://www.ibsen.net/index.gan?id=11129383&subid=0 Henrik Ibsen Museum, Skien] and the Ibsenmuseum in Grimstad: [http://www.ibsen.net/index.gan?id=11129382&subid=0] .

Literature

*Erik Henning Edvardsen: "Ibsen-museet / The Ibsen Museum". Ibsenmuseet. Oslo 1998. ISBN 82-91615-02-0.
*Erik Henning Edvardsen: "Ibsens Christiania", N.W. Damm & Søn, Oslo 2003. ISBN 82-496-0657-4.
*Anne-Sofie Hjemdahl (ed): "A Thing or Two About Ibsen. His Possessions, Dramatic Poetry and Life". Andrimne forlag. Oslo 2006. ISBN 82-92546-07-3 og ISBN 82-92546-08-1.
*"Museumsbuletinen" No. 1 - 2006. Norsk Folkemuseums venner, Oslo
*Erik Henning Edvardsen: «Hva dikterjubileer kan føre til. Henrik Ibsen flytter hjem» (s. 47-61). "Att skapa och vårda minne. Konferens för litteräre museer och författar- och kompositörhem i Norden. 28/9 - 1/10 2006 i Växjö, Sverige". Strindbergsmuseet / Nordisk Kulturfond. Stockholm 2007.

DVD

*"Ibsens Bathtub. The restoration of Henrik Ibsen's apartment") by Erling Borgen. Borgen Production as / Norsk Folkemuseum.