Photo: Tore Sætre·CC BY-SA 4.0· Wikimedia Commons
Islands / Oslo / Malmøykalven
A small island west of Malmøya, separated from it by a narrow, shallow sound. Owned by the City of Oslo since 1915 and once a hospital for sick children; the buildings are now used by the child welfare service among others. Known for the contested deep-water disposal site for contaminated sediment from Bjørvika just to the west.
Malmøykalven is the small island immediately west of Malmøya, in the inner part of the fjord towards Bekkelaget. A narrow, shallow sound separates the two. Look for the buildings on the island: former hospital buildings, now in public use. Right to the west of the island, under the keel, lies the most contested deep-water disposal site in Oslo.
Malmøya og Malmøykalven nature reserve (protected as a natural monument in 1979, extended in 2008). The boundaries and the rules are in Naturbase, and they are worth checking before you land anywhere outside the marked areas.
Own boat or kayak (there is a ferry quay, but the buildings are in public service and the island is not freely open).
The island is connected by road, so you need neither a boat nor a timetable.
The City of Oslo bought Malmøykalven in 1915 for 53,000 kroner. For many years the island served as a hospital for children with scrofula, tuberculosis of the lymph nodes and skin, which was thought to respond to sea air and distance from the city. In the 1930s there were ambitious plans for a large bathing complex here, including a bridge 15 metres high to the neighbouring island. The plans were never carried out.
The island was protected as a natural monument in 1979. The protection was extended in 2008, and the area now forms part of Malmøya og Malmøykalven nature reserve.
Between 2006 and 2009 Malmøykalven gave its name to one of the biggest environmental conflicts Oslo has had. Contaminated sediment dredged from Bjørvika was dumped in a deep-water disposal site just west of the island, at around 70 metres depth. Critics feared the toxins would spread; supporters argued that capping them at depth was safer than the alternatives.
The eight buildings on the island are used by the child welfare service among others. There is a ferry quay, but the buildings are in public service, and the island is not open as a recreation area in the way the swimming islands further out are.
Access is by private boat or kayak. There is a ferry quay, but the buildings are in public service, and this is not an open swimming island. Protection: designated a natural monument in 1979, extended in 2008, and now part of Malmøya og Malmøykalven nature reserve. Check Naturbase, the national database of protected areas, for the access rules in the reserve before going ashore.
The disposal conflict of 2006 to 2009: contaminated sludge from the Bjørvika development was sunk at 70 metres depth just west of the island. Few issues have split the environmental movement in Oslo so evenly.
The island was a hospital for children with scrofula, treated on the belief that sea air and distance from the crowded city would cure what penicillin later cured in a week.
The bathing complex planned in the 1930s, with its 15-metre bridge, stayed on the drawing board. Malmøykalven escaped becoming a public lido.
Oslo Sea Experience passes Malmøykalven on its private fjord trips from Tjuvholmen.
The Norwegian version notes which facts were taken from each source: Malmøykalven på norsk.