The many lives of the Tryvann Tower

By Dag Andreassen

The hang to get to the forest grew among Christiania's conditioned after 1850, when industrialization began to affect the urban air. Eventually, it became a goal to get people from all walks of life into the forest for well -being, relaxation and physical education. Shooting teams turned into sports teams, and the tourist association was formed to help people out on tour. Towards the end of the 19th century, it was the polar heroes, with the Nansen in the lead, and the winter sports heroes, with the ski jumpers at the top, who put the hero standard and inspired the people to find their inner birch bones.

Thomas Heftye is not just the name of a fashionable street on Frogner. He was "Banker and Outdoor Man" - one of Christiania's richest, who also knew to share the goodies. Heftye loved outdoor life, both around the capital and far to the mountains. When he died in 1884, he had made sure that the tourist association, which he started, got the Eidsbugarden as a gate to Jotunheimen. He also made sure that the capital got both Eastmark and Nordmark: his "hunting castle" Sarabråten in the Eastmarket, as well as Frognerseteren and Tryvann in Nordmarka, municipal goods became thanks to Heftye.

Outdoor life and Marka became a joint ownership for people in Christiania, and Thomas Heftye was an important driver in this development. He provided new hiking destinations in nature, as the first Tryvann tower, built in 1867. The tower became a popular hiking destination with three lookout platforms. The second tower, built in 1884, resembled the first, but rotten and was demolished in 1924. In 1933 a new tower was completed, inspired by medieval citizen, and became part of the development of Tryvann as a winter sports site. After 20 years, this tower was also demolished due to decay, and a new tower was built with support from NATO and NRK, which marks the modern role of the Tryvann tower in Oslo.

The fact that Tryvann became a telecommunications technique in Norway in the 1920s was perhaps no coincidence. The telegraph work, which led the wireless revolution, had a boss named Thomas Heftye - son of the tower builder. He was an officer, telecommunications engineer and an open -air enthusiast who probably knew Tryvann better than most.

The first radio transmitter for trial operation in 1923 was placed at the Telegraph Administration's facility at Tryvann, not far from the then lookout tower. From there, there was free view west towards the mountain world and east to the Swedish border. At the same time, the tower was used by the fire guards to scout for forest fire.

When regular radio broadcasts started in the 1920s, intermediate wave transmitters were placed in the cities, and Oslo got its on Lambertseter in 1929. But with FM radio and television on the way, a whole new shipage was needed. In the 1950s, the development of close to 50 main transmitters across the country began-and Tryvann again played a central role.

In 1958, the press began to dig into the true purpose of the Tryvann tower. The Architect's architect, Pam Mellbye, refused to comment, but with the emergence of television, the secret was revealed: A new tower was to be built on Tryvann, over 100 meters high, in concrete - with a lookout platform for the public. Officially, the tower was presented as a broadcast tower, but it hidden a military function that was in line with the Cold War's need for strategic highlights.

The construction of towers like these was not unique to Norway. Examples such as British Telecom's tower in London, who were not "officially" recognized until the 1990s, show how such constructions often had to be both visible and invisible at the same time.

The construction of the new Tryvann tower started in 1960. It was to be 118 meters high, with six lower floors as a solid foundation for the slim concrete structure. A service building on the ground room offices, technical rooms and public reception. At the top of the tower, 60 meters above the ground, a panoramic gallery was with 360-degree views-available via the country's fastest elevator or a summer open staircase to the outdoor gallery.

The design of the tower was hailed and drew associations with the technological wonders of the time - especially the space racks. Coincidentally, it was almost as high as Saturn V, the moon rocket that sent the Apollo astronauts to the moon. With lighting that enhanced the silhouette, it became a bright landmark. In September 1962, the tower was completed, and Defense Minister Gudmund Harlem handed it over from the state to the municipality of Oslo. From 1963 it served as the main transmitter in the nationwide radio and television network, but it took several years before the whole of Norway was covered.

Then it was Harald Hårfagre who gathered Norway into one kingdom or was it NRK? If it was the last, the Tryvann tower is the ultimate symbol of the national collection: Not until the people of Finnmark saw the flickering TV pictures with the Tryvann tower as a logo In the late sixties, the whole country could gather in front of the television for contemporary experiences of sound and image. From the tower at the capital, the news and debates, the music and the television theater, Erik Bye and children's TV flocked to the entire people-at the same time. It is no wonder that people from all over the country piled the Tryvann tower.

The Tryvann tower became an immediate audience magnet, with up to 120,000 visitors annually. But from the 1980s, in line with the fall of the NRK monopoly, the tower lost some of its attractiveness, and the visitor numbers raged to less than 20,000. Perhaps people had become more traveling and found the view less impressive compared to tower in cities such as Berlin or Seattle, or the new Tyholt tower in Trondheim with its rotating restaurant. But it was not this that put an end to the visits - in 2004 the tower had to be closed to the public according to new fire -technical requirements, as the elevator and staircase in the same shaft were considered too dangerous.

The Tryvann Tower lost its role as the country's broadcasting center when digital terrestrial television replaced analog television broadcasts from 2007. In 2017, the FM transmitters were also switched off, and the digital transmitters were moved to other towers, including the simpler neighboring towers at Tryvann. Although the tower still houses some telecommunications functions, there were few technical objections when demolition was launched as a possibility. NRK's control room at Tryvann was decommissioned, but much of the equipment is preserved by The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology .

The discussion about the future of the Tryvann tower split the city. Some would tear it to release maintenance costs, especially since fire safety prevented use without major rebuilds. Others saw the opportunity for a new and more spectacular tower-perhaps with a hotel and restaurant-and several suggestions were launched in connection with a possible Olympic application from Oslo. On the other hand, the protection advocates, who highlighted the Tryvann tower, stood as an iconic landmark and an important industrial cultural heritage.

Much of the Tryvann Tower's technological history is preserved by The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology . In the museum you can enjoy nostalgic flashbacks from the tower's life, while we eagerly await the tower's new look with Christian Ringnes as its owner.