bergen

A city with its feet in the sea, its head in the skies and its heart in the right place. Welcome to Bergen, the old city with a young outlook.
 

History of Bergen

Since the foundation of the city by King Olav Kyrre in 1070, Bergen has attracted people from all quarters of the world. Some came and left again, others decided to make Bergen their home. Also Bergensers travelled abroad and so Bergen became a melting-pot of cultures and Norway’s most international city.
Bergen grew up around its colourful harbour – the center of commerce, seafaring and craftsmanship. At the end of the12th century Bergen became the north’s largest city, Norway’s first capital city and the seat of royalty. Growing importance of the city caused that the Hansas – the German medieval guild of merchants – opened one of their four European offices on the wharf called Bryggen. Bryggen stays the same, its contour just as it was in the 11th century, untouched by shifting times. It has become a symbol of our cultural heritage and has gained a place on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Today Bergen is Norway’s second largest city with its approx. 230 000 inhabitants.
 

Culture in Bergen

In spite of its size, Bergen is an important center of Norwegian culture. The city has one of the world’s oldest symphony orchestras, the country’s first national theatre and a whole range of museums and institutions, which owe their existence to the generosity of merchants.  Further, Bergen is a host of international festivals such as the annual Bergen International Festival which takes place every spring. It is therefore not surprising that Bergen became a European City of Culture in the year 2000.
Also, Bergen was the birthplace of the north’s first comic writer, Ludvig Holberg; Norway’s first major landscape painter, Johan Christian Dahl, and the hugely popular composer, though small in stature, Edvard Grieg. The dramatist Henrik Ibsen was not born in Bergen, but it was here that he entered the world of theatre. The painter, Edvard Munch, was not Bergen-born either, but it was a Bergen industrialist who ensured that the city now has a unique collection of Munch’s works.
 

Tourist attractions

After seeing the wooden houses on Bryggen, you can continue to the Hanseatic museum and then walk in the area of the Bergenhus fortress. You can as well go inside the two main buildings in the fortress from the 13th century. The open fish market offers daily fresh sea-products and just across the street you can take the funicular up to the mountain Fløyen (320 meters) and watch the city at your feet. Near the fish market, you can take a boat to Aquarium, which has one of Europe's largest collections of fish and invertebrates from the North Sea.
Outside the city center lies the Fantoft stave church, the residence of the king Gamle Haugen, the house of the componist Edvard Grieg and the open-air museum Gamle Bergen. A bit further, on an island of light (in Norwegian Lysøyen) lies the charming villa of the violinist Ole Bull.
The list includes only the major attractions and it is up to your taste and interests to choose where to go and what to see.
 

Easy to get there

Bergen is easy to get to, from other places in Norway and from abroad. Thanks to direct air routes from Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Amsterdam and London, you only need to change flight once to reach Bergen from far-away destinations. You can also take the direct sea route from Hanstholm in Denmark and Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England, as well as from the Faeroe Islands, Iceland and Shetland. Taking the ferry directly to Bergen is also the best way how to get there by car. However, the network of roads is well developed and maintained, thus you can drive from Oslo to Bergen all year round. If traveling by car, it is important to have time enough as there are not many roads where one could drive fast.
 

At any time of the year