Hjem

Strandstuen - The Kirsten Flagstad Museum

Strandstuen is situated at the top of Kirkebakken in Hamar, just a stone’s throw away from Hamar Diocesan Church. This charming house stands where it has stood since long before Hamar officially became a town in 1849. Indeed, it is Hamar’s oldest house.

Read more (the history of Strandstuen)

“I have a strong sense of family and belonging, and every time I come to the wide open landscape and once again hear the way the people speak I know that it is here I have my roots, this is where I belong.”

As an international opera star, Kirsten Flagstad spent much of her life on the move, with hotel rooms as her home. This nomadic life-style only served to increase her need to have tangible roots somewhere, and that somewhere was the town where she was born, Hamar.

And this was why it was here in Hamar that the Kirsten Flagstad Museum was established, in the self-same house where she was born on July 12th, 1895, just beside the church in which she was baptised.

The museum opened for the public in 1985, when the official opening ceremony was carried out by the Minister of Culture on the 90th anniversary of her birthday.

Kirsten Flagstad’s family, her many close friends and especially the Flagstad Association have all generously contributed with presents and donations to create a museum rich in artefacts, photos and documents.

Kirsten Flagstad's place

The area in front of the museum was ceremoniously named as “Kirsten Flagstad’s Place” by her grandson Sigurd Hall Dusenberry. In front of the entrance there is a plinth with Joseph Grimeland’s bust of Kirsten Flagstad, unveiled at the 1985 inauguration. The head is a copy of the large statue outside the entrance to The Norwegian Ballet and Opera in Oslo.