Gustav Mahler’s travel letters from Norway, 1891
During a short week’s stay in Norway, Gustav Mahler managed to experience not only the Moss air and the forests around Drammen but also the archipelagos of Southern Norway – and to try out his Norwegian.
Written by Fred-Olav Vatne
![](https://ofo.imgix.net/Oscarshald-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00066_NB_MS_G4_0565.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=422&q=90&w=750&s=dcad023b1ae3b518cd6db967d10a2889 750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Oscarshald-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00066_NB_MS_G4_0565.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=563&q=90&w=1000&s=bd26d540ffc7c2a9d5fe2c2d8c3b21ec 1000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Oscarshald-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00066_NB_MS_G4_0565.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=703&q=90&w=1250&s=284194b27af3d67f8cf6590fc4f015df 1250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Oscarshald-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00066_NB_MS_G4_0565.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=844&q=90&w=1500&s=956797b5e9b11bf3d3e7ea79a29c0796 1500w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Oscarshald-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00066_NB_MS_G4_0565.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=984&q=90&w=1750&s=08612a996cedcb3428627cb1dfebcda1 1750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Oscarshald-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00066_NB_MS_G4_0565.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1125&q=90&w=2000&s=6ad6ba307a8bb1fbec2a99107afb4cca 2000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Oscarshald-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00066_NB_MS_G4_0565.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1148&q=90&w=2040&s=f19eb709ce06f41d37c760f7555319d4 2040w)
In the summer of 1891, Gustav Mahler spent part of his summer holiday in Norway.
![From Moss, early 1900s.](https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=422&q=90&w=750&s=8cdebd40d341f14489413b2ab2cc8db2 750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=563&q=90&w=1000&s=3f6b8f7c2c3b87fbc5f88589b80c7770 1000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=703&q=90&w=1250&s=22b4a568eabb8296c6d946ea0c2a1014 1250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=844&q=90&w=1500&s=1c0cd5ff9a3fa7d779e2908c963e312d 1500w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=984&q=90&w=1750&s=662074b9924f555a4c949364956f3215 1750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1125&q=90&w=2000&s=436c378db8efabcb0bb06e649d612b6e 2000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1148&q=90&w=2040&s=898e0272e972830e7567093d4631058e 2040w)
Mahler’s experiences in Norway have been preserved on a number of postcards and in letters to his family.
![](https://ofo.imgix.net/Mahler-Roller.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=422&q=90&w=750&s=f6a3bcf8e9db1fff2a54480483bd5d53 750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Mahler-Roller.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=563&q=90&w=1000&s=f2911b776255cdc313708f8a57daa3a3 1000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Mahler-Roller.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=703&q=90&w=1250&s=03735dbf0dcd74c28a1d6e2fc2efb027 1250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Mahler-Roller.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=844&q=90&w=1500&s=045666621dbeecf28aca185de697b149 1500w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Mahler-Roller.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=984&q=90&w=1750&s=fc056a21cd368b3da5ebb3df57573a74 1750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Mahler-Roller.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1125&q=90&w=2000&s=44dfe945aab40243353929da9aab362f 2000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Mahler-Roller.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1148&q=90&w=2040&s=db915f2212f18f7c0e34c9b1b6d0e5a8 2040w)
The young composer happened to encounter a far more famous artist during his stay.
Gustav Mahler was the most sought-after conductor of his time and, like many great artists, a busy and hard-working man. Throughout most of his career, he had to spend his summer holidays composing his ground-breaking symphonies.
A few years after his visit to Norway, he was a super-celebrity in cultural Europe, but in 1891, he was still unknown enough to travel without attracting attention. And that particular summer he took a real break.
“The day after tomorrow, early, I board ship and depart—for where, I do not even know myself,” he writes in a postcard to Sister Justine, sent from Hamburg on 3 August 1891. The next day he travels north towards Kiel and, from there, via Denmark and Sweden to Norway.
At this time, Gustav Mahler is 31 years old and still a fairly unknown composer. Two years earlier, his Symphony no. 1 was performed in Budapest, where he was working as a conductor, but it was not a success. In the spring of 1891, he moved to Hamburg and took a managerial position at the city’s opera house.
In 1889, he also lost three family members: both parents and his sister Leopoldine. His parents had had 14 children but now only five were still living, and as the eldest, Gustav took responsibility for his siblings, who remained in Vienna while he took work elsewhere.
It was his eight-year-younger sister Justine who had the closest relationship with Gustav. She regularly exchanged letters with her brother and took good care of both letters and postcards. Five hundred letters to her and others in the family have been preserved, including his “travel letters” from Scandinavia.
![Gustav Mahler and his sister Justine.](https://ofo.imgix.net/Gustav_Mahler_1860-1911__Justine_Mahler_1868-1938_OeNB_8034998.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1059&q=90&w=750&s=63ea869d693a20fbc0b211ab76f356da 750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Gustav_Mahler_1860-1911__Justine_Mahler_1868-1938_OeNB_8034998.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1412&q=90&w=1000&s=fcfc4e3e86c11683200dabaf7810061a 1000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Gustav_Mahler_1860-1911__Justine_Mahler_1868-1938_OeNB_8034998.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1766&q=90&w=1250&s=f9ce3a591e4f4912d57558acf6fc3317 1250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Gustav_Mahler_1860-1911__Justine_Mahler_1868-1938_OeNB_8034998.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=2119&q=90&w=1500&s=3aa959fc287d3c48ad7cc2a462624fea 1500w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Gustav_Mahler_1860-1911__Justine_Mahler_1868-1938_OeNB_8034998.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=2472&q=90&w=1750&s=074d7d8c01f123f7388b57c91c63a3e8 1750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Gustav_Mahler_1860-1911__Justine_Mahler_1868-1938_OeNB_8034998.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=2825&q=90&w=2000&s=5d1bbfb0df3923af192688698d4f7c00 2000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Gustav_Mahler_1860-1911__Justine_Mahler_1868-1938_OeNB_8034998.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=3178&q=90&w=2250&s=4ea82720869c6aacac1695d416b988ef 2250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Gustav_Mahler_1860-1911__Justine_Mahler_1868-1938_OeNB_8034998.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=3390&q=90&w=2400&s=01b270800bc6ec8441ee796484bb07b4 2400w)
Gustav Mahler and his sister Justine.
From the Austrian National Library/Unknown photographer
Watch Mahler’s first symphony with the Oslo Philharmonic:
Cheerful sailors on the quay
He does not travel north entirely alone – he takes one of the popular travel books from the German publisher Baedeker along for the journey. The travel guide to Norway and Sweden was first published in 1879, and the fourth edition was published only ten years later – Mahler was probably not the only German-speaking tourist in Norway that summer.
In Denmark, Mahler travels to Copenhagen and Elsinore, where he visits Kronborg Castle, known as Hamlet’s castle in Shakespeare’s play of the same name.
In Sweden, he travels to Halmstad and on to Gothenburg, which he enjoys very much. “More than anything I don’t want to leave this place. Indescribable! Marvellous harbour life!” he writes to Justine.
Early in the evening of 10 August, Gustav Mahler arrives in Moss by train from Gothenburg. The eventually infamous “Moss smell” had already begun to seep out of M. Peterson & Søn’s cellulose factory in 1883. Mahler does not mention the factory, and attributes the bad air to fish and ships, but it is conceivable that it was the factory smell that bothered him.
In any case, the air at the quai makes Mahler unwell, and he takes the steamer on to Christiania the same evening. But first he has a lively chat with some sailors on the quay: “We had a marvellous conversation: they showed gallantry by speaking English for my benefit, and I spoke Norwegian (with the help of my Baedeker).
![From Moss, early 1900s.](https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=499&q=90&w=750&s=eef2b1b33dacd133cdb40792d8487808 750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=666&q=90&w=1000&s=5788e03573668d354ddf7ada21c7d8d6 1000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=832&q=90&w=1250&s=5e8b34d10bffaf075873da93fcbdadce 1250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=998&q=90&w=1500&s=d513da792577d3d8dda4f8f909dd32f9 1500w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1165&q=90&w=1750&s=7005a240bbba460defe593323a4678f5 1750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1331&q=90&w=2000&s=98211b9d91330b5f5e80afef865ac29f 2000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1497&q=90&w=2250&s=cf7145a257da372d3ca3b6a758307693 2250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Moss-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20170208_00331_NB_MIT_GNR_01820-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1597&q=90&w=2400&s=4d2f0232cd7c4eea68d243608c4399af 2400w)
From Moss, early 1900s.
Photo Mittet & Co. AS
Starstruck at the Grand Hotel
Mahler’s first meeting with Christiania is also disappointing. The rain pours down, and on his first day in the city, he considers travelling straight home to Hamburg. He is also dissatisfied with his hotel and relocates to the Grand Hotel, where he contemplates his remaining travel funds and longs for better weather.
And it does get better – the next day, he looks around the city. The summer palace, Oscarshall on Bygdøy (see photo at the top of the article), makes a particularly good impression on Mahler – he compares it to the famous Miramare Castle in northern Italy, which was also built in the 1850s. But he finds the biggest attraction at the hotel:
“Evenings, when I return to the hotel, I sit in the reading room. When I looked up from my newspaper for a moment, in front of me I saw—Ibsen. He is here right now, and is living in the same hotel. You can well imagine that I was not a little moved by this.”
Henrik Ibsen, who was becoming one of the world’s most famous authors, had just moved back to Norway after living abroad for 27 years. For a few seconds, two of the greatest artists of all time are just a few metres apart – without exchanging a word.
![Grand Hotel in Christiania, photographed in 1892.](https://ofo.imgix.net/Kristiania-Grand-Hotel-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130403_00035_bldsa_AL0128_2-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=531&q=90&w=750&s=a294bc74aa9e5c6df254fadd483cdfe9 750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Kristiania-Grand-Hotel-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130403_00035_bldsa_AL0128_2-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=708&q=90&w=1000&s=9ab3cd222145ddac7ba0d87ceb283cf2 1000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Kristiania-Grand-Hotel-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130403_00035_bldsa_AL0128_2-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=886&q=90&w=1250&s=ea7c0ffde608bb1054a68e67e4a0029a 1250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Kristiania-Grand-Hotel-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130403_00035_bldsa_AL0128_2-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1063&q=90&w=1500&s=cddf0dcb99c0f57190b939cd78c74017 1500w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Kristiania-Grand-Hotel-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130403_00035_bldsa_AL0128_2-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1240&q=90&w=1750&s=9a174bd14f4093fdf3931e3e2d3326fe 1750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Kristiania-Grand-Hotel-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130403_00035_bldsa_AL0128_2-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1417&q=90&w=2000&s=dcfb1f41e346360b80ec93baae878600 2000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Kristiania-Grand-Hotel-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130403_00035_bldsa_AL0128_2-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1594&q=90&w=2250&s=61e1e1d0e763ac88312ac8611cd58d7c 2250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Kristiania-Grand-Hotel-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130403_00035_bldsa_AL0128_2-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1700&q=90&w=2400&s=85873b2736439c1a85544550c2bdfdc0 2400w)
Grand Hotel in Christiania, photographed in 1892.
Photo Axel Lindahl
Use two fingers to move the map
![Henrik Ibsen in 1893.](https://ofo.imgix.net/Portrett_av_Henrik_Ibsen_Munchen_ca._1885-1890_-_no-nb_digifoto_20160225_00016_bldsa_ib1a1020.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=846&q=90&w=750&s=e07b6c212dff4c47618dec95bbc7259e 750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Portrett_av_Henrik_Ibsen_Munchen_ca._1885-1890_-_no-nb_digifoto_20160225_00016_bldsa_ib1a1020.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1128&q=90&w=1000&s=5a41ee1fbc5adc24b02a00eba333fbb8 1000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Portrett_av_Henrik_Ibsen_Munchen_ca._1885-1890_-_no-nb_digifoto_20160225_00016_bldsa_ib1a1020.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1410&q=90&w=1250&s=e1e0cd63156edb2424fed90daa83102d 1250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Portrett_av_Henrik_Ibsen_Munchen_ca._1885-1890_-_no-nb_digifoto_20160225_00016_bldsa_ib1a1020.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1693&q=90&w=1500&s=2acd0462381f51a4ec55a13f8459b019 1500w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Portrett_av_Henrik_Ibsen_Munchen_ca._1885-1890_-_no-nb_digifoto_20160225_00016_bldsa_ib1a1020.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1975&q=90&w=1750&s=000e49791b814d5ad1c77fa756b01320 1750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Portrett_av_Henrik_Ibsen_Munchen_ca._1885-1890_-_no-nb_digifoto_20160225_00016_bldsa_ib1a1020.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=2257&q=90&w=2000&s=12a1a3837f22e307067e706ddb40d9b3 2000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Portrett_av_Henrik_Ibsen_Munchen_ca._1885-1890_-_no-nb_digifoto_20160225_00016_bldsa_ib1a1020.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=2539&q=90&w=2250&s=52bfb708627b4f15457bc7e050988d11 2250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Portrett_av_Henrik_Ibsen_Munchen_ca._1885-1890_-_no-nb_digifoto_20160225_00016_bldsa_ib1a1020.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=2708&q=90&w=2400&s=9726c8de33475bc2766c5482f24c9415 2400w)
Henrik Ibsen in 1893.
Photo Joseph Albert
Mahler soon comes to the conclusion that his stay in Norway had to be shorter than planned. The journey to the Norwegian interior he was dreaming of would cost too much, since he would have to travel by sleeping car, which would be a little too expensive. But he gives up the plan with a heavy heart and, as he writes:
“… I would really borrow from this Norway! In splendidness and individuality of nature, as well as of the inhabitants, the Alps cannot compare (for us southerners). Once one really knows one’s way around, life here is extraordinarily cheap and very comfortable.”
The next day, Mahler embarks on a hike to Frognerseteren, where the restaurant has just opened. He praises the view and finds it extremely gratifying to find his own way around. Along the way, he asks for directions and receives help from a friendly university professor who invites Mahler into his home.
![Frognerseteren at the end of the 1800s.](https://ofo.imgix.net/Frognerseteren-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00046_NB_MS_G4_0545-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=533&q=90&w=750&s=86fcd42362f46e32e8a60ab71a11c071 750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Frognerseteren-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00046_NB_MS_G4_0545-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=711&q=90&w=1000&s=fb3cb9bf07ad7c043df6c2f11df07405 1000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Frognerseteren-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00046_NB_MS_G4_0545-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=889&q=90&w=1250&s=21343b21aa999319a0630bfd9e78d132 1250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Frognerseteren-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00046_NB_MS_G4_0545-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1066&q=90&w=1500&s=eff7fc01562d4493f179ea47016c5257 1500w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Frognerseteren-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00046_NB_MS_G4_0545-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1244&q=90&w=1750&s=45f2b8d906ea76f9278f13d8dcc8ab5b 1750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Frognerseteren-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00046_NB_MS_G4_0545-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1422&q=90&w=2000&s=dfc018d3c03752d9c5868a1b5060e6f6 2000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Frognerseteren-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00046_NB_MS_G4_0545-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1600&q=90&w=2250&s=72f413bc43f05691d6e50c79f935dfe2 2250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Frognerseteren-URN_NBN_no-nb_digifoto_20130531_00046_NB_MS_G4_0545-2500.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1706&q=90&w=2400&s=5e24c63c912115f9b635f57252dfa838 2400w)
Frognerseteren at the end of the 1800s.
Photo Marthinius Skøien
“The best part of the whole trip”
The letter he sends from Christiania on 13 August will be the last one he sends from Norwegian soil. He sums up the last part of his journey in a letter sent from Friedriechshafen to all his siblings a few days later. Here he describes how he visited Drammen, Larvik and Kristiansand in his final days in Norway:
“The last 3 days were the best of the whole trip. Here are the outward facts. Left Christ. early Thursday morning by rail to Drammen. Its harbour made a better impression on me than that of Ch. itself. The city lies on both sides of a glorious river ...”
In Drammen, it does not take Mahler long to find his way up to Bragernesåsen, where he discovers “a whole world in itself”. From there, he continues inland through the forest to Svarttjern Lake. He makes good use of his time in the city: “After about 5 extremely enjoyable hours, I was still on time to board the boat to take me to Laurwik.”
![View towards Drammen from Bragernesåsen. Photo from the 1880s.](https://ofo.imgix.net/Drammen-URN_NBN_no-nb_foto_NF_WL_01603_A-x.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=556&q=90&w=750&s=0b00f6cc6c13130e691bead57c69801e 750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Drammen-URN_NBN_no-nb_foto_NF_WL_01603_A-x.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=741&q=90&w=1000&s=29eb7b78afe93bc6f254efb7d5ad177a 1000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Drammen-URN_NBN_no-nb_foto_NF_WL_01603_A-x.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=927&q=90&w=1250&s=4c1063082a3b0d6fe708bc474d955489 1250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Drammen-URN_NBN_no-nb_foto_NF_WL_01603_A-x.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1112&q=90&w=1500&s=1084bcec3490f29d2be04dfb17d2f10f 1500w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Drammen-URN_NBN_no-nb_foto_NF_WL_01603_A-x.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1297&q=90&w=1750&s=6b14ce14eeeb70a982cb4a64098ffd74 1750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Drammen-URN_NBN_no-nb_foto_NF_WL_01603_A-x.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1483&q=90&w=2000&s=ec36bfb9fd884adb5a020310ceaa4f35 2000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Drammen-URN_NBN_no-nb_foto_NF_WL_01603_A-x.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1668&q=90&w=2250&s=3515806f2815db993c3a55764fc69c77 2250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Drammen-URN_NBN_no-nb_foto_NF_WL_01603_A-x.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1779&q=90&w=2400&s=8a7de3e8ff67f27aac6c7645b9bdda45 2400w)
View towards Drammen from Bragernesåsen. Photo from the 1880s.
Photo Axel Lindahl
He only stays overnight in Larvik (or Laurwik, as he calls it). Then he takes a ship on to Kristiansand: “This journey through the Norwegian ‘skerries’ was the most enjoyable of my whole tour.”
He tells his siblings about the beautiful coastal nature, but the musician Mahler clearly comes through: He uses most space to describe an enjoyable performance by a troupe from the Salvation Army, which had started its first congregation in Norway a few years earlier.
“So, they tuned for about an hour. All the passengers stood attentively in order to hear them—admittedly, some were puking over the side, as the ship rode up and down over high swells. Finally, they began to sing, the women with squeaky voices, and the men with croaky ones.”
Gustav Mahler did not get the best first impression of Norwegian music culture. And he did not return – he spent his many creative summers further south in Europe. From the turn of the century, he spent his holidays in a summer house he bought on Attersee in Austria.
When Mahler’s first symphony was played for the first time in the Norwegian capital 28 years later, the concert was conducted by Georg Schnéevoigt, one of Mahler’s orchestra musicians in Hamburg, who had now become Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic Society Orchestra – today known as the Oslo Philharmonic.
Sources:
Hans H. Rowe: “Mahler in Norway”, article in concert programme for the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Stephen McClatchie (ed.): The Mahler Family Letters
Henry-Louis De La Grange: Gustav Mahler, the Arduous Road to Vienna, 1860−1897
Translated from Norwegian by Samtext.