Blindern is the main campus

Campus

A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...

 of the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

, located in Nordre Aker

Nordre Aker

Nordre Aker is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway.-History:This area became part of the city of Oslo in 1948. Before that it was a part of Aker municipality in Akershus county.-Demographics and housing:...

 in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.

The campus

Most of the departments of the University of Oslo are located at Blindern; other, smaller campuses include Sentrum

Sentrum, Oslo

Sentrum meaning city-center is located on the southeast side of the city near the inner Oslofjord.The district is dominated by high rises like Postgirobygget and The Plaza. Oslos Central Station is located on the eastern side of the borough. Sentrum consists of Bjørvika which has a history as...

 (law), Gaustad

Gaustad

Gaustad is a neighborhood in Nordre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. It is located between Vinderen and Kringsjå. At Gaustad are Rikshospitalet and Gaustad Hospital, as well as residential areas that border to Nordmarka....

 (medicine), St. Hanshaugen

St. Hanshaugen

St. Hanshaugen is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway.-Area:It has a triangular shape, with its northern border just north of the buildings of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and Ullevål University Hospital, and south of the University of Oslo campus at Blindern...

 (odontology) and Tøyen

Tøyen

Tøyen is a residential area in the central parts of Oslo, Norway, part of the borough of Gamle Oslo.-Location:It is noted for its high concentration of immigrants. The multicultural atmosphere makes Tøyen very trendy and popular with continually rising cost of housing.There are two different...

 (botany, zoology, geology and paleontology).

The central building is the new university library

University Library

University Library refers to academic libraries at universities, such as:*Basel University Library*Cambridge University Library*Cornell University Library*De La Salle University Library*Durham University Library*University of the East Library...

, Georg Sverdrup

Georg Sverdrup

Georg Sverdrup , born Jørgen Sverdrup, was a Norwegian philologist, who is well known for being a member of Norwegian Constituent Assembly in Eidsvoll in 1814 and later the parliament. He was also responsible for building the first Norwegian university library...

's house. Other buildings of note are Eilert Sundt

Eilert Sundt

Eilert Sundt was a Norwegian sociologist, known for his work on mortality, marriage and other subjects among the working class....

's house, the social studies building; the humanities

Humanities

The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....

 buildings, named after Sophus Bugge

Sophus Bugge

Sophus Bugge was a noted Norwegian philologist and linguist. His scientific work was directed to the study of runic inscriptions and Norse philology. Bugge is best known for his theories and his work on the runic alphabet and the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. -Background:Elseus Sophus Bugge was...

, Henrik Wergeland

Henrik Wergeland

Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist...

, Niels Treschow

Niels Treschow

Niels Treschow , was a Norwegian philosopher and politician, central to the creation of the University of Oslo. He also served as Minister of Education and Church Affairs 1814-1816, 1817-1819, 1820-1822 and 1823-1825, and member of the Council of State Division in Stockholm 1816-1817, 1819-1820,...

 and P. A. Munch; Frederikke, the welfare building; and Niels Henrik Abel

Niels Henrik Abel

Niels Henrik Abel was a Norwegian mathematician who proved the impossibility of solving the quintic equation in radicals.-Early life:...

's house, for mathematical studies, the biology building, named after Kristine Bonnevie, the first female professor at Oslo University.

Though the construction of a university campus at Blindern was decided on as early as 1921, the first buildings were not ready for use before 1931. Only in 1960 was Upper Blindern, the area most associate with the University today, finished. UiO today has approximately 32,000 students.

Etymology

The campus is named after the old farm Blindern from Norse Blindarvin. The first element is probably the genitive of an old name of the brook, Blindernbekken (Blind), the last element is vin f 'meadow

Meadow

A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...

'. The word Blind is derived from the fact that parts of the brook were hidden to see since the brook had a deep course.

History

Blindern was ancient farmland. In the 18th and 19th century the owners were among the progressive farmers who employed modern methods of agriculture, sold refrigerated milk to the city. Halvor Blindern (1733–1804) was a pioneering farm owner and was among the first farmer to grow potatoes in Norway.

In the 1850s parts of the Blindern farm were made the vicarage of Vestre Aker

Vestre Aker

Vestre Aker is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway.The previous municipality Aker was merged into the city of Oslo in 1948.The borough of Vestre Aker was organized as part of the 1 January 2004 reform. Previous boroughs...

 parish. Among the parsons was poet and folklorist Jørgen Moe

Jørgen Moe

right|thumb|Norske Folkeeventyr Asbjørnsen and Moe Jørgen Engebretsen Moe was a Norwegian bishop and author...

, who is buried at the churchyard (Vestre Aker kirkegård).