Guided walk

The Labour Museum is not an ordinary museum. It is 9,78 kilometers long! Same length as the river Akerselva, and stretches from Maridalsvannet to Bjørvika by the Fjord. The main object in the museum is the river, itself, and all the traces after its industrial history is included in the collection.

On January 23rd we will introduce some parts of “our” collection: it is outdoors, along the riverside of Akerselva. Together we will have a walk along The River. We start at Lilleborg factory – the forgotten soap giant – and continue further in manmade landscape from the area for brickworks at Myrens to the place where the Norwegian industrial revolution took place in 1846! This is hidden and forgotten history for most Norwegians. Our job in the museum, is to tell children and adults about the Norwegian historical development. And we are lucky, because it is easier to convey this since the area, the waterfalls, the sound of energy – and even the factory-buildings are here to tell the story! One of the historical houses we reach is Hønse-Lovisas hus, which serves as a little café today.  Here we will offer a taste of what both the factory girls and the industrial pioneers found as a delicacy on Saturday afternoons: waffle and coffee!

We hope to introduce you to women and men who were closely related to the terms and conditions of power, technology, production and products, not to mention the new modern society in the making of the textile industry: labor disputes and labor rights!

Close to our last stop we will show you the waterfall where salmon spawn every year in the autumn! The once polluted river is now healthy and fresh. No wonder that The New York Time in 2015 announced Akerselva as one of the favorite streets in 12 European cities.

The Labour museum is part of Oslo Museum.