At the home where Henrik Ibsen spent his final 11 years, the Ibsen Museum gives you a privileged glimpse into the life of one of Norway’s cultural giants.
After Ibsen passed away in 1906, followed eight years later by his wife Suzannah, the interiors of this elegant tenement house were taken apart, ending up with Ibsen’s family and a host of museums. After the Ibsen Museum was founded in 1990 there was a meticulous 16-year project to piece this collection back together and return the building to its appearance at the beginning of the 20th century.
The attention to detail is mind-boggling; even textiles like curtains and tablecloths are like-for-like replicas of the originals. Most exciting of all is Ibsen’s study, the exact place he wrote his two final plays, John Gabriel Borkman (1896) and When We Dead Awaken (1899).
