11/06/2026
In Grønland, a district of Oslo where many locals come to buy fresh fruit and vegetables or dine in exotic restaurants, there is a monument with an unusual story hidden between the buildings at Nordbygata 15.
Ole Gudmundsen, a resident of the neighborhood, bequeathed his entire fortune for the improvement of the street. His main condition was that not a single øre should go to his relatives. When he was young, they had deprived him of his inheritance, forcing him to leave for Oslo—then known as Christiania—virtually penniless.
As a result, both a public water pump and a proper road surface were constructed. A special committee commemorated his generosity by erecting a granite memorial stone in front of his former home at No. 13 in 1842.
This became the third public monument in Oslo (then Christiania), and it still stands there today.
