The great city fire of 1624
The area where the clay pipes were found was home to the city’s harbour – until 7 August 1624. On that day, the great city fire started, as a result of which Oslo was moved to the area around Akershus Fortress and was renamed Christiania. All of the old town was destroyed by the fire, including the port where the pipes were found.
A commodity
Starting in 1612, the English founded large tobacco plantations in Virginia, in what is now the USA. As a result, the price of tobacco plummeted and consumption skyrocketed in Europe. The 1,100 unused clay pipes from Bjørvika show that people here in the North were not left behind when it came to this fashion for smoking. The pipes came by ship into the Oslofjord. If the fire had started a day or so later, no doubt the pipes would have already been on sale somewhere else.
Chosen by Aslak, History student
On loan from the Norwegian Maritime Museum