Bjerkebæk

About the museum

Bjerkebæk was the home of the author and Nobel Prize winner Sigrid Undset from 1919 until her death in 1949. The log house Røssum was built in 1918 for the painter Gunnar Hjort. Undset rented it the following year and bought it in 1921. She gave the place the name Bjerkebæk and added a large veranda to the house. In 1924 she moved into the second house on the site, Dalseg, which had been brought from Sør-Fron.

In 1940, Undset fled Norway with her youngest son, via Sweden and the Soviet Union to the USA, and the Germans occupied the house in 1942. Today the complex consists of the listed houses Røssum and Dalseg, the guest house in the garden and a modern visitor building designed by the architect Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk, which was completed for the museum's opening in 2007. The visitor building has a ticket office, a museum shop and an auditorium with room for around 150 people.

Visitors enter the writer's home on a guided tour, and the guides tell the story of Undset's life and writing. The house is furnished as it was in the 1930s, with furniture, books and personal belongings. The garden includes a perennial bed, herbs and fruit trees, and the exhibition “Nobelt møte” (A Noble Meeting) presents Norway's four Nobel Prize winners in literature. Bjerkebæk is run by Stiftelsen Lillehammer museum (the Lillehammer Museum Foundation).

Highlights

• Guided tour of Sigrid Undset's writer's home as it was in the 1930s
• Garden with a perennial bed, herbs and fruit trees
• The exhibition “Nobelt møte” on Norway's four Nobel Prize winners in literature
• Visitor building designed by Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk
• Garden treasure hunt for children in the summer season

Permanent exhibitions

• Dikterhjemmet Bjerkebæk – Sigrid Undset's home furnished as it was in the 1930s, shown on a guided tour with furniture, books and personal belongings.
• Nobelt møte – Exhibition on Norway's four Nobel Prize winners in literature, with a listening chair where visitors can hear excerpts from their books.

Founded

2007

Operated by

Stiftelsen Lillehammer museum

Admission & discounts

Prices apply to day tickets. Tickets for the 2027 season will be published as the season opening in May approaches.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The visitor building with ticket office, shop and auditorium has a street-level entrance suitable for wheelchairs, wide doors, no thresholds and a spacious accessible toilet, and is well suited for pushchairs. The writer's home is difficult to access by wheelchair because of high foundation walls, steep steps at the entrances and narrow passages inside, and the guest house with the exhibition is in a cramped old outbuilding. The garden is steep, with differences in height, walls and steps; gravel paths and the area outside Røssum are poorly suited to manual wheelchairs. The bridge from the visitor building may be too narrow for electric wheelchairs. Several gates onto the street can be opened by staff on request.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide

Garden treasure hunt for children aged 6–10: with a task sheet and coloured pencils, the children solve tasks in the garden on their own. The activity is included in the admission ticket and is offered every day in the summer season and at weekends in September.

Getting there & parking

The museum is within walking distance of Lillehammer city centre and the railway station.

Amenities & dining

• Café: not available
• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers

The café is closed, and visitors may bring their own packed lunch. Museum shop in the visitor building with books and gifts with flower and garden themes. Cloakroom with lockable lockers. Dogs are welcome in the garden.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit