Mauritz Hansensgate #4

In the early 19-teens, when my great grandmother, Bestemor Løken, moved into her 3^rd floor apartment at number 4 Mauritz Hansen’s street, she was already a widow and the apartment building was quite a fashionable address.  The graceful Victorian apartments of the area were built in the last part of the 19^th century, around the same time as the King’s Palace located three blocks away.

A few years later, at the start of their marriage, my grandmother and grandfather moved into the building with their young family.  The apartment was centrally located and became a hub for the Latter-day Saints in the Oslo area. There seemed to always be someone visiting, and extra places set at the table for every meal.  I was never allowed in the living room ("Stuen") without an adult present, when I was little.  When I was four years old, I remember thinking it was the most beautiful room on earth.

A painting by Onkel Sverre Siem graces the wall above the bookcase.  Bestefar was an avid reader and the corner of the room by the bookcase was his special spot.  On the far side of the bookcase was a little cabinet that always held chocolate and licorice boats. You will notice the bookcase is topped with family pictures: my baby picture, a photo of Mamma and Lillemor, my mom and dad's wedding picture, and cousin Colleen's (Knut's daughter) beautiful wedding picture amongst many others.

 Here is a candid shot from my visit in the early 1990s.

The door from the living room in to what used to be the bedroom, which Lillemor later used as a family room.

The Rococo chairs in this photo were hand made by my great grandfather (Bestemor's dad) Olsen-Løken, who was a carpenter and furniture maker.  They are still in good shape, at nearly a hundred years old and still contain their original horsehair stuffing.

The spacious rooms, the high ceilings with plaster moldings, cornices, and elaborate ceiling medallions, were very Victorian and quite elegant.   Yes, that's fringe on the large Victorian ceiling lamp.

I loved this place and the people who lived here.

Cousin Gro Lene

Here is Gro Lene, Onkel Per's daughter, enjoying the peace of her bedroom in the early 1970s.  Gro and her mother were active gymnasts.  She has since married and had two children.  I'd like to meet them some day!

Hjemme i Stuen

Here is a photo from the mid 1960s (1963 or 64?) showing Bestemor and Bestefar having a visit from Willy Strand (Bestefar's brother Erling's son, seated on the right next to Bestefar), and his daughter Annemor with her husband and child.  Lillemor is seated just behind Bestemor.

My Onkel Willy was a big man with dark curly hair, a big heart, and a huge love of soccer.  He had a terrific sense of humor and was always telling jokes.  He loved his daughter - as you can see by the benevolent look on his face in this picture.  He was a truly charming man in his prime and his antics on the soccer field were wonderful to watch.  All the Strand boys played soccer.  Willy was particularly known for a killer head butt that would send the soccer ball flying expertly wherever he wanted it to go.  When I was about 5 years old, I'd try the Onkel Willy technique over and over and end up with a splitting headache.

Slottsparken, 1952

A very dapper Bestefar, Tante Lillemor and me at the King's Park in Oslo, Norway, in the Fall of 1952.

Bestefar Einar's Family

I realized as I was creating this little chart that I have no marriage date information for Ingvald and Janna, as they called his wife.  [However, they were sealed in the LDS temple as husband and wife on 31 Jan 1949.]   My notes say that Alfred emmigrated to Australia.  He at least met his wife, Miss Betty Enger, there.  We may have Australian cousins, but I have no idea!

Elida married Sverre Siem, a struggling artist.  Marthinius emmigrated to America and became wealthy and famous. 

Olaf Petter emmigrated to the USA, and found work in a mine in Utah, trying to save money for an LDS mission.  While working there, he contracted tuberculosis and died.  He never married.

Einar stayed in Norway and married Sigrid Olsen.  I am his granddaughter - his "datter datter".  Erling also stayed in Norway and married his sweetheart, Annie Jensen.

There is no word for "great" aunt or uncle in Norwegian. At least I never called them "Gren-Onkel" or anything like that.  I knew my grandfather's sister and brothers as Tante Elide, Onkel Marthinius, and Onkel Erling.  I will post stories about them in upcoming posts.

Stay tuned!

more on Bestemor's Family

Bestemor was an avid genealogist, and was quite interested in her family's origins.  She worked with a professional genealogist for a while, but never got very far.  I suspect that the man discovered she was LDS and declined to work with her any more. 

Within the last 20 or 30 years, Sigrid's cousin's family has completed family history research which links her mother's mother's mother clear back to Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria, who, together with the Norwegian King, tried to wrest the Kingdom of England from Tostig's brother Harold, King of England, in a very famous battle in northern England near Stamford bridge, in 1066.  Tostig died in the battle, and although his brother Harold's forces won the day, it was a sad one.  Harold and his army, already battle weary, made a quick, forced march to the south, to fight off the invading William of Normandy.  Harold lost his life and the battle at Hastings, England.  The rest, as they say, is history.

In the meantime, Tostig had a son named Skule (born 1052), who was around 14 years old.  Skule was left behind with the forces at the seashore, watching the ships, as the army went off to battle at Stamford bridge.  His valor so impressed the King of Norway, that Skule was taken home to Norway, adopted by the king (Kongsfoster), given a princess in marriage, and a sizeable portion of land around the King's holdings in Eidsvoll.  Bestemor's family is descended from Skule.  Skule's brother, Ketil Tostigson (born 1054) was also sent to live with the Norwegian king.

Skule's mother, Judith, later married Duke Welf of Bavaria.  She was a princess of Flanders, daughter of Count Baldwin IV (Badouin), and an aunt of Mathilda who married William the Conqueror.  Flanders no longer exists as a kingdom, it was in what is now northern France, and Belgium.

Skule and his brother, Ketil, did well in Norway.  According to Wikipedia:

Skuli Tostisson Kongsfostre (born 1052) - Whose great-great-granddaughter Helena Guttormsdotter was the mistress of Valdemar II of Denmark and mother of Valdemar's son Canute, Duke of Reval. He was also the patrilineal great-great-grandfather of king Inge II of Norway and duke Skule Bårdsson, father of the Norwegian Queen Consort Margrét Skúladóttir, spouse of king Haakon IV of Norway.

Bestemor's Family

 Of all Sigrid's siblings, only her oldest brother, Lithor, had any children.  He took the surname Loken, which was the name of where the family came from in Eidsvoll, rather than the common Olsen name.  He had two sons, Ragnar, and Bredo.  They were delightful, kind men.  I met both of them as a child.  Ragnar was tall, thin and dignified.  Bredo was broadly built and very down to earth.  Neither of them had any children.  They would come visit the apartment in Mauritz Hansensgate on a regular basis.