The Prøysen House

The Prøy Centre

The house was designed by Snøhetta in a design language that harmonizes with the surrounding nature. Inside the house you will find Café Julie, a rich Prøysen shop, exhibition, Prøysen stage and several activity rooms. In the activity rooms, various age-appropriate activities are facilitated, such as carpentry workshops, writing workshops, reading and play. In addition, there is a baking oven in the café and here there will often be Prussian-inspired baking.

The Prøysen House is a national cultural centre in honour of Alf Prøysen. Here you will experience and learn more about his life and work. The Prøysen House will honour, commemorate and actualise Prøysen's legacy – and constantly inspire new generations.

The house was given as a gift from Arthur Buchardt to Ringsaker municipality on the occasion of Alf Prøysen's 100th anniversary. It was opened during a grand ceremony on his birthday on July 23, 2014.

About Alf Prøysen

Alf Prøysen (23 July 1914 – 23 November 1970) was a Norwegian singer and writer who was active from 1945 until his death in 1970. He worked in several different media: books, newspapers, stage, gramophone records, radio and television. Many of his songs and stories have become popular in Norway.

Most of Alf Prøysen's stories and songs take place in an environment similar to the village where he grew up: in Hedmarken in the 1920s and 1930s; between the farm workers on large farms and between neighbours and family members on smallholdings. It is especially his earliest texts that take place in the farm worker environment. In the 1960s, the songs and stories are more and more about the general public, regardless of whether they are rich or poor.

There are different opinions about what the message was in his stories and songs: some believe that it is about how poverty and envy destroy people, some think it is cozy stories from the old days, while others again think that Alf Prøysen was good at showing why people behave the way they did.