The story behind Lysløypa

  • Tidligere management av Lysløypa

  • Lysløypa was founded by Ola Refsnes and Kati Schauer in 2009.

    At the same time, they opened the café Liebling in Grünerløkka in Oslo. Liebling opened its doors in 2010 and featured long communal tables where people sat side by side. Students drank café lattes, babies could crawl on the floor, and wheelchairs could roll right in.

    But they quickly discovered that running an independent café isn’t easy, and so Lysløypa was created to help others who dare to open an independent place in our city.

    Together they built up Lysløypa! For more than ten years they published this charming book, which highlights the gems in our city.


    But eventually, they wanted to step back — for years they had given the project everything they had! You can read their farewell words here! But they wanted the project to live on!

  • They passed the baton on to Christina Skreiberg.

    One cold February day in 2023, Ola called Christina and asked if she wanted to inherit (or buy) Lysløypa.

    Christina, Ola, and Kati had known each other since the early days of Liebling and Lysløypa, because at the same time Christina was running a co-working space for creative souls right across the street. She and her freelance colleagues drank their coffee at Liebling almost every day — they held meetings there — Liebling was the beating heart of their shared office.

    Just imagine the relationships a café can create!

    Since the handover, much has become new — but the brilliant concept remains the same.

    Christina chose to give Lysløypa a new visual identity, and the books are now bilingual — both Norwegian and English (in the same edition). Christina has also formed a team of contributors, so many good minds, energy, and ideas are now part of the project!

    Stay tuned! We’re excited for what’s ahead. Thank you to Ola and Kati for all the work they put in, and for the trust — it’s an honor to carry Lysløypa forward!