Grev Wedels plass, A square in Oslo Municipality, Norway

Grev Wedels plass is a small green square tucked between several streets near the entrance to the fortress grounds, with a circular stone fountain sending up a single jet of water at its center. Curved paved paths cross the lawns between large leafy trees, and a few black benches face the fountain from the grass.

The area was once part of the ramparts around Akershus fortress, but after the fortress lost its military role the ground was opened for new buildings and later laid out as a park. In the 1930s it became a parking lot, and during the Second World War wooden barracks were put up here before the space was turned back into a park in the late 20th century.

The Gamle Logen building stands directly against one side of the square and serves as a concert hall and meeting place today, giving the corner a steady flow of people arriving for evening performances. Its old basement once housed a watering hole for artists, a detail you can still imagine when you pass the heavy street-level doors.

The ground is flat and the paths are easy to walk, so a short loop around the fountain takes only a few minutes. Benches are placed on the grass, making this a simple spot to pause if you are already walking between the fortress area and the nearby streets.

A military hospital now standing beside the square did not originally belong here: it was taken apart piece by piece when a government quarter was built elsewhere and then stored for two decades before being reassembled in this spot. The square also hosted Norway's first domestically owned gas station, which was just a single hand pump set up in 1922.