Henrik Ibsen’s childhood in Skien

Henrik Ibsen was born into a privileged position. Both his parents, Knud and Marichen (born Altenburg), belonged to the upper class of officials and patricians in Skien. The economic downturns of the 1820s and 1830s also affected the Ibsen family. In 1835, the family moved to the Venstøp manor, five kilometers north of downtown Skien. 

In 1835, the family moved from Skien city center to their summer residence at Venstøp, five kilometers north of Skien. After his childhoodhome at Venstøp estate was sold at a forced auction in March 1843, the family moved to the Snipetorp district during the autumn of 1843. 

At the age of 15, Henrik traveled to Grimstad at the ship "Lykkens Prøve", where he became a pharmacist apprentice. Here he wrote his first play. Henrik visited his family for a few weeks in the summer of 1845, and he also stopped by in 1850 on his way to Christiania to become a student. After that, it is not known if Henrik Ibsen visited Skien.

A city fire in 1886 left Skien's city center in ruins, and the Skien that made an impression on Henrik Ibsen as a child disappeared. The childhood home at Venstøp is now a museum, Henrik Ibsen Museum.