Joseph Frantz Oscar Wergeland (17 November 1815 – 19 August 1895) was a Norwegian military officer, cartographer and skiing pioneer.

[4] He is regarded as the founder of the sports clubs Christianssand ski- og skøyteklubb (1862) and Oddersjaa (1875).

[1] He had a good relationship with his sister Camilla, and her articles from travels to European cities inspired his landscape work in Christianssand, as he constructed the Wergeland park and the Ravnedalen park,[3] planted Baneheia (former grazing land) with trees by use of soldiers, and transformed several main roads into large avenues.

[5] The Ravnedalen Park was constructed in the 1870s as a romantic garden, in a valley with dramatic cliffs, waterfalls and lake.

[3] Gustav Lærum's bronze statue of Wergeland in Ravnedalen Park (above) was unveiled in 1917.