Symbols of Oslo pt. 2: Hermes

Time for part two of my exploration of obscure symbols on Oslo's buildings. One might expect to find the previously covered symbol, the Swastika, it has atleast a tenuous link to Norwegian culture and history - in addition to its universal appeal and geometrical structure. If I were to say that one of the most absolutely most common ornamentations in Oslo depicts the greek god of communication, magic, economy and theft, you might be puzzled. However it is true. Hermes and his caduceus staff can be seen on so many buildings in Oslo it would be an impossible task to cover them all in this blog.

As mentioned, Hermes was the god of communication, theft, magic and commerce, of which the latter is the most important reason we find his countenance on buildings all over the world. As a god of commerce he is an excellent symbol for the stock exchange, and he is indeed placed on a pidestal outside Oslo Stock Exchange, pointing upwards for eternal growth. It's very common depiction of Hermes. Why he is firmly placed on a breath of air emerging from someone's decapitated head is beyond me. Admittedly I'm not as well versed in Greek myth as I'd like to be. If anyone has a clue, let me know. There is another Hermes on the other side of the building, and it's also worth a mention, though I couldn't be bothered including a picture of it here.

As a god of commerce he also adorns Christiania Glasmagasin, one of the most well know and early department stores in Norway. Christiania Glasmagasin, despite its name and upper class appeal is a shopping mall, and I doubt many of the people who do their shopping there notice Hermes above the door main entrance where he looks absentmindedly across the street where Christian IV points decisively at the ground. If I had to rest above the entrance to a shopping mall I'd probably want to avert my gaze from the vulgarians below me too. It's a really beautiful bust though. (There is such as thing as an unattractive bust dear reader...)

OK, so shopping malls I can understand. In the provincial village Trondheim there is even a mall named after him: Mercursenteret. Mercury of course being the roman name for Hermes. The next one is a mystery though. Smuget is a restaurant/bar/stage in Oslo well known for its stand up shows and various events, and for some reason they have a huge full statue of Hermes resting above the main gate, next to Poseidon. I have no idea what they're doing there, and it's not like they're subtle in any way. I can only guess whatever institution was there before Smuget had some link to commerce and shipping, but I don't know. Not gonna be bothered trying to find out either. It certainly is one of my favorite depictions of him however.

This leads to the next one, which is just a block or two away from the stock exchange. It's a more subtle ornament than the former three, and I have no idea what it's doing on that particular building - which houses a military academy. Hermes was a god of many things, but invasion, murder and anguish were not among his attributes. The building is located in an area of the with quite a bit of history, and it's not unlikely that there was some kind of trade house or something there at some point. After Oslo burned in 1624 the town was moved here by the danish king and renamed Christiania in honor of himself (this is also the reason for the aforementioned statuary pointing to the ground). In every other respect it's a rather unassuming building, but any building with a Hermes on it is close to my heart.

Not far from this one there is another one, in Fred Olsens gate. It's a more modern depiction, but I don't know how new, could look like the twenties or thirties judging by style. I would guess Art Noveau anyway, I'm not an expert. This one was brought to my attention by a friend of mine who also has interests in the world of occultism. I don't have much to say about this one,except that it's really nice, and that it's just one of many really cool ornaments on this particular building. Some of them even look overtly occult. Such as the child holding a winged globe just to the left of the Hermes. Incidentally the bulding also houses an outlet of the scammers in UFF, where you should never spend money if have any form of conscience whatsoever. And, yes, the sun was out the day I took the picture, and my camera isn't exactly state of the art. That shadow annoyed the hell out of me.

Now for the caduceus, the snake staff Hermes often carries. For some reason it has become a symbol of pharmacies and medicine, and can often be seen on medical buildings, such as hospitals and drug stores. Most likely this is due to a misinterpretation of the symbol as a variation of the other snake staff, the rod of Asclepius, which is actually relevant to the medical profession as opposed to the caduceus. I'm not going to say much about this quite common symbol, because a list of pharmacies would be tedious - and would further this rather strange misapproproation. The Caduceus is not just a symbol for Hermes of course, but it's probably been more associated with him than the other greek gods over the years, and I don't think it's an oversight to say that in most cases (except of course in the medical ones) it's safe to assume that the staff represents Hermes. This first one is located just across the street, more or less, from the military academy and housese Datatilsynet, a public institution responsible for monitoring the use of surveillance and data storage and so forth. So the Hermes reference is certainly apt, though I do suspect that this building is much older than the institution it houses.

A case where the caduceus is clearly linked to Hermes is on the aforementioned Christiania Glasmagasin, where there are in fact several of them. They're not very big, but you can clearly make them out near the western entrance. Neither is it as conspicuous, but there is certainly no doubt as to what it is.

So anyway, that's it for Hermes. I'm sure you should be able to spot a few of these on your own, and I haven't covered all the ones in Oslo either. They are quite numerous, and if you live in a city of reasonable size, and with a little history I'll bet money there's atleast one Hermes there. Keep your eyes peeled and your camera charged.

Symbols of Oslo pt. 1: Fascism

Of the many ornaments one can see on buildings in Oslo there are several with a more obscure meaning than one would perhaps expect to see, and there are some with meanings that have been somewhat altered since the buildings were erected. People usually don't notice these symbols, but if they would, they might be surprised to find what looks like nazi and fascist symbols.

Perhaps the most well known, and debated ornament is Sommerrogaten 1, just by the national library. The building was built in 1931 as the corporate hq of Oslo Lysverker, now known as Hafslund. An electrical company. While Hitler and the NSDAP had adopted the symbol several years earlier in 1920 the symbol was still widely used by a flurry of other people around the world, as any google search for "Coca Cola + Swastika" will tell you. The reason the swastika was used on this gate is probably due to the symbolic link to prechristian religion in Norway. The swastika was supposedly a symbol for the god Thor, a thunder god. A thunder god is an apt symbol for an electrical company, especially during the twenties and thirties when viking and nordic symbols were still popular in Norway. Naturally many of these, such as the swastika, were discredited during the occupation of the fourties.

However the swastika can be found on other buildings in Oslo, as well as in the rest of Norway, such is this one - which is indeed on Karl Johansgate, just by the central train station. While Sommerrogaten is located a bit away from the city center, this building is right smack in the middle of everything. The busiest shopping street in Norway, not far from the largest train station in Norway, on the same street as the parliament and even the royal palace. Still, nobody seems to notice. Next time you're down there, just look above the 7/11 signs, and be baffled. I don't really know anything about this building, but I would guess it's a simple use of geometrical ornamentation without much consideration put into it. Notice that this one is sinistroverse, while the one on the gate and the one used by the NSDAP was rectoverse.

A more direct link to fascism can be found at the norwegian supreme court a few blocks away. One of the entrances is adorned with a pair of fasces, a lesser known fascist symbol, but the one the movement got its name from. The fasces is in use around the world by police (such as in norway), the US congress and courts, and it's not really strange. This form of the fasces is otherwise known as a lictores rod and was a symbol of authority in the roman empire, as it was carried (almost like a badge, but much more concretely) by a group known as the lictores. The lictores were a form of special judges, who were allowed to apprehend, trial and execute suspects, much like Judge Dredd. Their historic and symbolic link to modern police and courts is evident. Mussolini and his boys however adopted the symbol for two reasons. The first being the physical construction of the rod: sticks tied together for strength were seen as symbolic of how the early fascists saw themselves - as groups of individuals banded together. And that is how they got their names Fasci de Combattimento: combat groups in more plain language. Secondly the fasci was a symbol of the roman empire, which the fascist yearned to ressurect.

There are other symbols too to be found, that are certainly not directly linked to fascism, but have been so indirectly through their connection to facist regimes. Specifically the Iron Cross and the Eagle. These symbols too can be found on buildings in Oslo. These eagles look especially totalitarian - and considering that they look like they're perched on a pair of death runes (another symbol avidly used by the national socialists) I feel they belong in this blog. The picture is a bit small here, but right click on it and select "view image" for a better look. I have no idea what this building houses, but it is located a few blocks from the norwegian parliament (the Storting) and looks incredibly ominous. I think this fine little neoclassical doorway might just be my new favorite doorway in all of Oslo.

I'm certain there are many other examples of fasces and swastikas in Oslo (and so forth), and that these are just a few. The park area Vigelandsparken along with Gustav Vigeland's museum just by it is even worthy of a blog post all to itself, with its numerous swastikas or swastikalike symbols, alongside neoclassical statues and pan germanic romanticism. Given time I might return to this subject at some point. Incidentally one of the few grand projects shared by nazis and social democrats in Norway. The planning of the park was started before the war, while the german occupational government broke the ground, and the post war government finished it. Other similar projects were discarded after the war, and some cases buildings and statues erected during the war were destroyed. The supreme irony of this "cooperation" is of course that the swastikas a the museum are mixed with atleast one Star of David. Only goes to show that a symbol, just like history, might be more than meets the eye.