Julius Fritzner

Who was Julius Fritzner?

Julius Christopher Fritzner was a Norwegian restaurateur and hotelier.

He was born in Skjeberg as a son of Niels Dorph Heide Fritzner and Nicoline Christine Schwartz Bremer. He had five siblings. In 1861 he moved to Christiania and ran a tea room at different locations as well as the cafe in Frimurerlogen. In 1865 he opened a dining pavilion in Studenterlunden, for use during the summer. In 1873 his brother bought a building in the adjacent street Karl Johans gate, and the Grand Hotel and Grand Café was opened in 1874. Julius Fritzner owned the building from 1878. The cafe became a central meeting point in the cultural life of Christiania.

Since 1858 Fritzner was married to Else Marie Caroline Strøm, a sister of Steen & Strøm owner Samuel Strøm. When Fritzner died in February 1882, his son Christian Fritzner took over.