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Address books

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For some areas in Norway, you will find address books (adressebøker) – the first one published in 1838 for Christiania (Oslo), but they were not published every year.[1] These books were based on those who paid the tax, so you will not find everyone here. Lokalhistoriewiki has an overview in Norwegian at https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/wiki/Adressebok (in Norwegian). The City Archive of Oslo has a list of books https://www.digitalarkivet.no/search/sources?s=&from=&to=&format=all&st%5B%5D=ADBO, including some for sailors abroad at some of the Norwegian Church Abroad (Sjømannskirken). 

The Norwegian author Henrik Ibsen living at Arbins Gd 1, 2de floor in 1900. Source: PUBL, Kristiania/Oslo adressebok, 1900, s. 433
Brukslenke for sidevisning: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/db10061508044738

Address books could also be found at the National Library – https://www.nb.no/samlingen/tidsskrift/adresseboker/. They have open access.

The Digital Archives also have some address books. On the front page, click Find source. Choose Category, Miscellaneous sources, and click Address books. To find the area you are searching, use Geography. If you are searching for Oslo, you will have to click Østlandet, Oslo, and Oslo.

Address books could contain occupations, names, and addresses. These books are often divided into a business registry and a person registry. You might also find an overview of the Streets, and who are living at the address at the time. Streets might have changed over time. Some are searchable, some are not, and you will have to find the correct page.

Overview of address books:



Content of Address book from Kristiania (Oslo) in 1900. Businesses are in the first part and public buildings in part two.
Source: https://media.digitalarkivet.no/db/contents/49234

Part three has the registry of people, and part four houses and streets.
Source: https://media.digitalarkivet.no/db/contents/49234

[1] https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/wiki/Adressebok