The great ice sheets covering the country during the last ice age pressed the land down. As the ice gradually disappeared, the land started to rise. This is why we find the oldest settlements on the highest parts of the landscape, like at Ekeberg.
The great ice sheets covering the country during the last ice age pressed the land down. As the ice gradually disappeared, the land started to rise. This is why we find the oldest settlements on the highest parts of the landscape, like at Ekeberg.
Before agriculture reached our parts of the world, people sustained on hunting, fishing and edible growths, nuts and what nature provided. Good hunting grounds were valuable to them. These were nomadic tribal societies where the strongest clans were likely the most influential.
The petroglyphs are signs and symbols carved into mountainsides, often facing east and close to running water. The carvings are the recordings of our forefathers about humans and gods, probably on the significance of clans and demonstrating power and history — and possibly about eternal life.
When the knowledge of cultivating the soil reached the Nordic countries, society changed as most people settled down and kept animals. Their traces may be the remains of buildings and the landscape partly changing to a cultural landscape, such as can be seen in parts of Ekeberg.
When the land was cleared of rocks in order to be cultivated, stone walls were made. They mark the borders between cultivated and uncultivated lands, that which existed beyond the settled area. These borders could also have possessed a symbolic meaning in the old superstitious society.
In the Ekeberg area there are several graves from different eras. Some may be as old as from the Bronze Age, but most probably date from the Late Iron Age and the Viking Age, 500-900 A.D. These lay as stone heaps in the edge of the woods west of Ekebergsletta.
Following the unification and Christianization of the country, Norway changed. King and Church supplanted local kings and chieftains, and the old Norse faith was weakened. At Ekeberg there was likely a large wealthy farm, which during the Middle Ages came into the Church's possession.
The Battle of Oslo 21st of April 1240 between King Håkon Håkonsson and Duke Skule Bårdsson changed the course of Norwegian history. The king came by sea with the Birkebeiners and landed by Eikabergstøa, below Ekebergskråningen. He chased the enemy into the churches or out of the city. The duke fled with 100 men.
During the Northern Seven Years' War, 1563-70, Norway was part of Denmark. The war was fought over Nordic hegemony. There was a battle between Swedish and Norwegian forces on «Svenskesletta» at Ekeberg on 18th of May 1567. The Swedes won the first round, but were defeated five days later.
After the church took over the farm, it came into the possession of the King after the Reformation in 1537. During the 1500s it lay partly uninhabited. In 1582 the farm was made available as a pasture and offered to the townspeople for their use. In 1614 Ekeberg became a civil servants' farm. Today's main building was started in 1771.
Along the mountain ridges from the south and over Ekeberget lay the oldest road to Oslo. People have travelled here for more than 10 000 years. This was later, along with the seaway, the city's main thoroughfare to Copenhagen and Europe. In 1703 the road was named the Frederikshaldske Kongevei ("King's Road").
Ekebergskråningen was bought by the municipality and made into a people's park in 1889 "out of consideration for the population's physical soundness." On the east side the city and working environment in the factories was often unhealthy, and there was a need for a nearby area with nature and fresh air for recreation.
The first Ekeberg Restaurant was built in 1916, and the Ekeberg Line along Kongsveien was opened in 1917. The restaurant was an exhibition pavilion used by J.L. Tiedemanns tobacco factory during the 1914 Jubilee Exhibition in Frognerparken. The restaurant with the municipal music pavilion became popular additions to the city.
The Germans laid more than 5000 mines on Ekebergsletta during the war 1940-45. The mines were to secure an anti-aircraft position. There were several minefields, also some in the woods behind the Ekeberg Restaurant. One may still see markings in the tree trunks indicating the positions of the minefields
The German occupying powers also viewed Ekeberg's open and elevated area as an area for important ceremonies. In 1940 they constructed the German honorary cemetery for fallen German soldiers here, including the dead from the sinking of Blücher. The cemetery was moved to Alfaset after the war.
A new Ekeberg Restaurant opened in 1929 and became a popular place for dining and dancing, but it fell into disrepair and was closed down in 1997. In 2003 Christian Ringnes' company, Eiendomspar, got to buy the building and reopened the restaurant in 2005. It is an example of well-preserved functionalist architecture — «funkis» — in Norway.
In August 2011 the city council approved with 57 votes against two a rezoning plan for the area, accommodating a sculpture and natural heritage park, in addition to an agreement between the municipality and the C. Ludens Ringnes foundation. The plan ensures that the Ekeberg area's special nature, cultural-historical antiquities and values are preserved.
On the 26th of September 2013 the area reopens as a people's park. Houses and buildings are rehabilitated and open to the public. Old roads and paths are cleared and repaired, some with lighting. Top flight international art has also been installed, enriching both the city and visitors.