Hafslund Park
– a historic landscape open to all
The park at Hafslund Manor is a beautiful and living cultural monument, where rolling lawns, the magnificent linden tree avenue, and duck ponds are arranged in perfect harmony. Hafslund Park is open to the public year-round and is well-suited for walks, recreation, and social activities.
Enjoy quiet moments beneath the tree canopies
Experience history at your own pace
Take a stroll beneath the tree canopies in the impressive avenue, find peace by the mirror pond, or discover the park’s sculptures and historic pavilions.
Whether you’re a history enthusiast, nature lover, or simply seeking a beautiful break from everyday life – Hafslund Park offers an experience for all the senses.
In the heart of Sarpsborg lies one of Norway’s most cohesive manor parks – a protected landscape where history meets nature’s changing seasons.
The avenues lead you through hundreds of years of garden art, from strict baroque lines to romantic flower meadows.
Here you can find peace beneath the tree canopies, hear birdsong from the charming birdhouse, and experience artworks by renowned Norwegian sculptors such as Arne Vigeland, Per Inge Bjørlo, and Nico Widerberg.
The park is part of the Ancient Route in Østfold and contains both burial mounds from the Iron Age and rock carvings over 3,000 years old.
It is open to everyone – year-round – and invites both quiet walks, inspiring encounters, and memorable experiences.
Hafslund Park is organized with its dominant linden avenue and large lawn areas, elegantly combined with shady paths and park ponds. In the lower part of the park area, you can wander among the burial mounds from the late Iron Age and continue toward the rock carving site from the Bronze Age. There is abundant wildlife in the park, from hares and squirrels quickly moving between tree trunks to jackdaws and owls flying in the tree canopies. On the lower side of the horse track, we have the birdhouse, which is teeming with life with budgies, parakeets, and silky fowl.
Parken byr på kunstnerisk utsmykning med verker av Arne Vigeland, Per Inge Bjørlo og Nico Widerberg, i tillegg til byster av Hafslunds grunnlegger Knut Ørn Bryn og første styreleder Hieronymus Heyerdahl.
Både den gamle pilegrimsleden Borgleden og den nyere Tusenårsstien, som ble etablert i forbindelse med Sarpsborgs tusenårsjubileum i 2016, passerer gjennom Hafslundparken.
On the east and west sides of the Main House are park areas in a similar style. Her ligger også den vakre Kongepaviljongen, som er en kopi av paviljongen som sto på Kongehøien nede ved Sarpsfossen, bygget ny i 1937 av arkitekt Arnstein Arneberg.
Parkens historie
Det første sporet etter et parkmessig anlegg på Hafslund er utsiktsplassen Kongehøien nede ved Sarpsfossen. A road led there from the Main House. Første konge på Kongehøien var Christian 5. i 1685.
The first traces of a garden at Hafslund date back to around 1700, when the baroque garden north of the Main House was established. Justice Councillor Peter Elieson and Anna Collett purchased Hafslund in 1756, and a period of modernization began.
After the fire in 1758, a new rococo main building was completed in 1762. The baroque garden remained, along with the two-story pleasure house with small-paned leaded glass windows.
In the late 1780s, Johan Fahne laid out the park and moved the baroque pleasure house down into the park, but the English elements probably came later. In the years before and after 1800, times were prosperous, and Maren Juel became owner of the estate together with Wessel – later with her next husband Rosenkrantz. During her time, the park was completely redesigned in the English landscape style. Juel and her husband Rosenkrantz built the King’s Pavilion, and an ingenious water-powered clockwork was installed.
Later in the 19th century, the manor and park were largely characterized by decay. When Hafslund Corporation took over the estate in 1898, a new period of prosperity began with restoration of buildings and the park. This was work that extended over several decades. Until the mid-1930s, there were fruit and vegetable gardens on both sides of the central linden avenue. Hagene ble lagt ned og erstattet med store gressplener. Parken tok form slik vi kjenner den i dag.
Despite the many changing ownerships of Hafslund throughout the 19th century, a gardener was always employed at the manor, so the park and garden were kept reasonably maintained. At both the 1865 and 1875 censuses, gardeners were employed who lived at the manor.
