Black Death Monument (Peststøtten) in Oslo, Norway
Article excerpt
In 1654, plague swept through Oslo and killed more than 1,500 people, potentially 40 percent of the city's population at the time. A monument called Peststøtten (literally "the plague spot") now marks this devastating outbreak, one of the last major plague visitations to strike the Norwegian capital. The memorial stands as a stark reminder of a catastrophe that nearly halved the city, a period when the medieval disease still posed an existential threat to European cities centuries after the Black Death's initial rampage.
The last time Oslo suffered from a bout of the plague was in 1654. The plague claimed the lives of more than 1500 citizens. Estimates vary, but at the time this could have represented as much as 40% of the population. The city desperately needed space for mass graves, and so Christ graveyard was opened.
To commemorate the sad occasion, Oslo erected peststøtten, or the plague-marker. Today this is Oslo’s oldest public monument, although at the time it would have been well outside the city limits.
The graveyard was in use from 1654 until after WW2. Famous generals, politicians and academics are buried there. Edvard Munch’s sister Sophie, subject of his Sick Child series of paintings, is also buried there.
The marker reads:
«JESU CHRISTO TIL ÆRE SOM OPUÆCKER DE DØDE ER DENE KIRCKEGAARD I DEN STORE PESTIS TID A° 1654. ANORDNET AF HANS JACOBSØN SCHØRT K.M. OBERSTE OC COMENDANT PAA AGERSHUS DA I STATHOLDERS W.H. GREGERS KRABBIS FRAVÆRELSE I SLOTESLOV FORORDNET
EFTER BISPENS M HENNING STOCHFLEZ BEFALING AF SLOZPRÆSTEN H MICHEL PEDERSØN ESCHOLT DEN 18 OCTOBRIS INDVIET. VED TØYHUUSFORVALTEREN CAPT LAURITS PEDERSØN INSPECTION INDHEGNET
DEN FØRSTE HER VDI BEGRAFVEN VAR ARNE SIVARDSØN SOLDAT AV WANG SOGN»
Rough translation:
“To the glory of Jesus Christ, who raised from the dead, this graveyard was in the year of the great plague, anno 1654, inaugurated by Hans Jacobsen Schist, appointed Royal Majesty’s colonel and commander of Akershus fortress due to the absence of prime minister W. H. Greger Krabbis.
By order of Bishop Henning Stockflez, it was consecrated by the parish priest, Michel Pederson Escholt, on 18 October.
It was fenced under the supervision of the armoury administrator, Captain Laurits Pederson.
The first person buried here was Arne Sivardson, a soldier from Wang parish.”