📍Frogner, Oslo, Norway
1912 – 1936“I grew up in a wealthy family in Frogner, in Oslo; when I was four, we moved to a flat on Thomas Heftyes gate, just a short walk from the ice rink at Frogner Stadium. My father, Wilhelm, was a fur trader and a former world champion cyclist, and he had his fur shop in the city centre, where I played hide-and-seek among the coats. My mother, Selma, devoted herself to my career. My parents could give me every chance, and they did. At five I put on my older brother's hand-me-down skates at Frogner, and the rink became my world. My parents arranged ballet lessons with Love Krohn, a famous Oslo teacher who had once taught Anna Pavlova, and I brought dance into figure skating in a way no one had seen before, with short skirts, white boots and choreographed jumps and spins. I trained for hours each day, and my father hired the best coaches. At eleven I was entered in the 1924 Olympic Games in Chamonix, the youngest Norwegian competitor. I came last, but I was not discouraged. I won my first world championship in 1927, at home in Oslo, and then Olympic gold in 1928, 1932 and 1936, and ten world titles in a row. In 1936 I turned professional and moved to America, touring with ice shows and starring in Hollywood films. I never forgot Frogner. With my husband, Niels Onstad, I gave our art collection to Norway, and the Henie Onstad Art Centre, near Oslo, opened in 1968, a gift to the city where I learned to skate.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today