Views of the World, Christiania, Showing Royal Palace, Norway

File this one under, you learn something everyday.  Oslo, the capital of Norway was founded in 1050.  It was heavily damaged by fire in 1624, and rebuilt by King Christian IV.  Impressed with himself he renamed the city in his own honor.  And so, Oslo became Christiana.  In 1925, the city was renamed Oslo.  As someone who is not impressed with Kings, Queens, Princes, and Potentates, good for you, Norway.

As usual, click on Views of the World in labels to see other cards in the series.

Berlevag

My last post was from Denmark (I think), so I thought I would continue with a Nordic theme. Stamped on the back "OLE WILLUMSEN-Foto-BERLEVAG" Berlevag, spelled with a little dot above the A that my computer can't duplicate, is about as far north as you can get in Europe. In Finmark County, in Norway, Berlevag is a small village on the Berants Sea. It was separated from the village of Tana on July 1, 1913, which puts this photo in the twentieth century. But, how did this photo, from such a small and isolated place, get to California?