| Hartvig Nissen School Hartvig Nissens skole | |
|---|---|
 Hartvig Nissens School | |
| Address | |
 | |
Niels Juels gate 56, Oslo | |
| Coordinates | 59°55′07″N 10°43′00″E / 59.918613°N 10.716729°E |
| Information | |
| School type | Public secondary school |
| Founded | 1849 |
| Principal | Hanna Norum Eliassen |
| Staff | 105 |
| Grades | 11–13 |
| Age range | 16–19 |
| Classes offered | General education and drama education |
| Language | Norwegian |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | https://hartvig-nissen.vgs.no/ |
The Hartvig Nissen School (Norwegian: Hartvig Nissens skole), informally referred to as Nissen, is a gymnasium in Oslo, Norway. It is located in the neighborhood Uranienborg in the affluent West End borough of Frogner. It is Norway's oldest high school for girls and is widely considered one of the country's two most prestigious high schools alongside the traditionally male-only Oslo Cathedral School; its alumni include many famous individuals and two members of the Norwegian royal family.
Originally named Nissen's Girls' School, it was founded by Hartvig Nissen and was originally a private, progressive girls' school which was owned by its headmasters and which served the higher bourgeoisie. The school formerly also had its own teachers college. The school and its teachers college have the distinction of being both the first gymnasium and the first higher education institution in Norway which admitted girls and women, and the school and its owners played a key role in promoting female education during the 19th and early 20th century. The school was described in the British House of Commons in 1907 as "the pioneer of higher girls' schools in Norway."[1]
The school was located at the address Rosenkrantz' Gade 7 from 1849 to 1860 and at the address Øvere Voldgade 15 from 1860 to 1899. Then-owner-headmaster Bernhard Pauss moved the school to its current address, Niels Juels gate 56, and commissioned the construction of the current school building which was completed in 1899. In 1991 the school also acquired the building of its former neighbours Frogner School and Haagaas School at Niels Juels gate 52.
The TV series Skam was centered on the school.[2] The then relatively new progressive girls' school is also referenced in the 1862 play Love's Comedy by Henrik Ibsen.[3]
- ^ Sessional Papers, Volume 22, p. 69, H.M. Stationery Office/House of Commons, 1907
- ^ "Hva vet du om mannen bak «Skam»-skolen Hartvig Nissen?". Boktips (in Norwegian Bokmål). 2019-10-03. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
- ^ Figueiredo, Ivo de (2019). Henrik Ibsen: The Man and the Mask. Yale University Press. p. 172.
Love's Comedy is rich in so many ways. (...) Its most striking references, however, were to contemporary Christiania, and alert readers could spot references to places such as Kurland, a Kristiania 'Lover's Lane', and institutions such as Hartvig Nissen's girls' school