Historic Cities · Norway
Bergen through the ages
Bergen is a city and municipality in the Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway after the capital, Oslo.
Bergen in 1350
Hanseatic Bergen
This is the moment Bryggen becomes a Hanseatic kontor and Bergen tightens its links to German trade. The walk passes the new timber wharves, stockfish stacks and the churches and hall that link a Norwegian royal past with an arriving mercantile order.
A narrow harbour squeezed beneath steep, green hills; a continuous line of timber gables and sea-booths along Vågen; dark wooden warehouses rising directly from the quay; bundles of pale stockfish piled like cordwood; slate roofs and simple church towers cutting the skyline; low, cobbled lanes running uphill from the water, with small boats and furled sails at the quays.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Vågen from Sea → Holmen Islet → Tyskebryggen (Bryggen) → Stockfish Quays → Bellgården → Svensgården → Enhjørningsgården → Bredsgården → Bugården → Engelgården → …
Step inside — 13 interiors
Chandlery Store · Schøtstue Common Room · Wharf Warehouse Loft · Kontor Counting House · Journeymen's Chamber · Merchant's Storeroom · Market Granary · Stockfish Loft · St Mary's Nave · Håkon's Great Hall · Castle Store Cellar · Monastic Refectory · Boatwright's Workshop
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Bryggen.
Bergen in 1700
Timber-town Bergen
Bergen in 1700 is Norway's largest trading port built almost entirely of timber, its medieval wharves at Bryggen rebuilt after repeated fires and still crowded with Hanseatic and Norwegian merchants. The walk moves from the fjord into the harbour: quays, the fish market at Vågsbunnen, timber lanes and ropewalks, the Bergenhus fortress and the slopes of the seven surrounding mountains.
A compact wooden city strung along a narrow inlet: long, gabled timber warehouses at Bryggen in ochres, tar-black and weathered red, slender church spires and the stone bulk of Bergenhus rising at the harbour mouth, small sailing craft and rowboats crowded in the Vågen, narrow stairway streets climbing the hills, watchmen on rooftops and bonfires on clear nights, and the seven mountains hemming the town like a dark green wall.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Byfjorden Approach → Vågen Harbour Mouth → Vågsbunnen Market → Bryggen Quay → Hanseatic Quarter → Strandsiden → Korskirken → Mariakirken → Øvregaten → Torget → …
Step inside — 12 interiors
Taproom at the Harbour Inn · Painted Parlour · Kontor Trading Hall · Korskirken Nave · Merchant Aisle · Fish Market Sheds · Shipwright's Mould Loft · Rope-walk Longshop · Boatbuilder's Loft · Garrison Guardroom · Tower Great Hall · Fire-watch Hut
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Bergen.
Bergen in 1890
Steamship Bergen
Bergen in 1890 is a compact harbour city at the start of the steam age: coastal steamers and fjord excursions are becoming regular, while the old wooden wharves still handle the northern stockfish trade. Walks move from the incoming steamers and the clamour of the fish market through narrow wooden streets up to villas on the hills and high mountain viewpoints.
Bryggen's rows of narrow timber warehouses and steep gables sit along the inner harbour, punctuated by the stone mass of Bergenhus fortress. Steamships and sailing craft share Vågen; wooden boathouses and white villas climb the near slopes. Streets are tight and often cobbled, lamp-posted and lined with painted timber and occasional brick public buildings beneath cloud-prone mountains.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Byfjorden Entrance → Vågen Quay → Bergenhus Fortress → Rosenkrantz Tower → Bryggen Wharves → Vågsbunnen Harbour → Fisketorget → Torgallmenningen → Lille Lungegårdsvann → Nykirken → …
Step inside — 13 interiors
Haakon's Hall · Governor's chamber · Hanseatic counting-house · Fish market shed · Grand Hotel dining room · Nykirken nave · Korskirken nave · Shipwright's loft · Cooper's workshop · First-class saloon · Grieg's composing room · Villa drawing room · Stave-inspired exhibition hall
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Bergen.
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