Wedelmonumentet

Wedelmonumentet stands on Dronningberget at Bygdøy in Oslo, honouring the Norwegian statesman Count Johan Caspar Herman Wedel Jarlsberg. Hans Michelsen created this Norwegian monument for Count Wedel. King Carl Johan commissioned the work after Wedel’s death, recognising a political ally who served as Norway’s stattholder. Wedel helped improve relations between the king and the Storting.

The monument presents Wedel’s bust with a lion, originally cast in zinc by Geiss in Berlin and bronzed. Bronze now defines both the bust and the lion. The site first displayed the monument after delays, and winter guards protected it before the fence arrived. An iron fence now surrounds the restored monument. Restoration returned the ensemble to its earlier design, while the original zinc sculptures moved to the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. Original drawings support the recreated cast-iron fence around the monument. Together, the bust, lion, staircase foundation and fence show how this memorial changed through conservation.