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© Skyline AS
Š Skyline AS 2007 Graphic design and production: Knudsen Grafisk AS ISBN 978-82-91385-42-6
Photo: Oddbjørn Monsen Text: Erling T. Gjelsvik
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“Bergen is, much like Noah’s Ark, a Gathering-Ground for all living Creatures.They come as a Flood, as it were a common Fatherland, not only from close at Hand, but from far Afield.”
A P A R T In the Middle Ages Bjørgvin was the royal seat, and one of Europe’s most important harbours.The Hanseatic League established itself in Bergen as early as the 1200s, and after the Black Death – which tipped Norway into a long period of decline – the German merchants acquired almost complete control over the lucrative stockfish (dried cod) trade with North Norway.Their “Kontor” on the Hanseatic Wharf, was the northern outpost of the Hansa’s chain of trading stations.
These are the words of that famous Bergenite, Ludwig Holberg, and he is right.The city between the seven mountains has always welcomed strangers. From time immemorial the old harbour of Vågen has embraced people from all corners of the world. From Germany, from the Netherlands, from Britain they came, seamen, traders and craftsmen. Many of them settled down, and are the reason why the urban culture and personality of Bergen differs in so many respects from the rest of Norway. Bergen is a place apart, and the Bergenites are proud of it.
Hanseatic control was so overwhelming that the city now bears the German name and not the original Norwegian one. As an economic elite with considerable privileges, the Hanseatic merchants were “a state within a state”.They considered themselves beholden solely to the Hansa’s own regulations, and often rode roughshod over Norwegian law.This arrogance caused many conflicts. On the other hand, it was from the Germans that the Norwegian population learnt a bit about wheeling and dealing.
There have been many attempts to explain the glib selfconfidence that is the city’s trademark. Other Norwegians see Bergenites as self-assertive – to the point of being much too full of themselves.This phenomenon may be traced to the city’s historical class structure. Unlike Oslo, Bergen never had a bourgeois West Side and a proletarian East Side. Poor and rich lived side by side and knew each other personally – for better, for worse.This may have produced both a kind of jovial “peaceful coexistence” and some spectacular verbal collisions, the combination creating a culture of rapier-like retorts.
The German “Kontor” on the Hanseatic Wharf was closed in 1754, the last of its kind in Europe. Even after the decline of the Hansa, Bergen remained a city of international importance. During the Dano-Norwegian Union only Copenhagen was bigger, but as a port city Bergen put even the capital in the shade. Not until well into the 19th century was Bergen overtaken in size and importance by Norway’s new capital, Kristiania (now Oslo).
Once when the late King Olav was being shown around the Bergen excavations, he asked the then mayor Knut Tjønneland how old the city was.“That,Your Majesty, is a question of appropriations,” replied Tjønneland,“The deeper we can afford to dig, the older the city gets.”
For most of their history the people of Bergen have built almost exclusively in wood.At regular intervals large parts of the city have accordingly been burnt to the ground.The last of these great conflagrations was in 1916, when practically the whole centre was destroyed. During the Second World War Bergen was heavily used as a German naval base, and explosions and Allied bombing caused much destruction.The impression received by many visitors, that much of the historic city has been preserved for posterity, is not in fact accurate.
In fact, no one knows for sure how long the settlement between Vågsbunnen and Holmen, where Bergenhus Fortress now stands, has had an urban character. Official status was achieved in 1070, when Bjørgvin, as the town was then called, was given a royal charter by Olav III “Kyrre” (the Peaceful).
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In the course of the 20th century no other major Norwegian towns suffered equivalent destruction.
the sun sets in the Atlantic ocean, is an experience that can bring a lump to the throat even of a non-Bergenite.
In a certain sense the recurrent disasters may be said to have been a blessing in disguise; Bergen has always been able to renew itself with a fanfare.The uniform, carefully regulated appearance of the modern centre is thanks to the ground having been cleared for the urban planners by fire and bomb.
Bergen has given birth to many of Norway’s foremost artists, and others have made their home here.The dramatist Ludvig Holberg, the violinist Ole Bull, the composer Edvard Grieg and the novelist Amalie Skram were born here, while Henrik Ibsen and the poet and pamphleteer Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson spent crucial years of their lives in the city. Bergen is proud of being a leading city of the arts, first and foremost for music.The Bergen Festival in May is an annual high-point, and the status as one of the European Cities of Culture in 2000 reinforced the ambition to be a world-class cultural powerhouse.
The broad firebreaks, called the “commons” (streets and squares with “allmenning” in the name) ensured that fires sooner or later met defeat. Despite all this, however, a surprising number of the old wooden districts are still intact.The labyrinth of twisting alleys allows us to experience the intimate charm of the old days as a living reality, not least because the old houses are generally taken care of with great devotion.
Modern Bergen is considerably more than the compact, traditional city core between the seven mountains.A number of municipal mergers have resulted in a city land area of as much as 265 square kilometres, of which much is wilderness. Together, Bergen and its neighbouring districts make up an exciting mixture of expansive city, traditional agriculture and astounding natural scenery.There are a vast number of attractive leisure destinations at a very short distance from the city centre; this ready accessibility of mountain and fjord is one of the reasons Bergenites feel so privileged.
The contrast between the white-painted houses climbing up the hillside and the mountain walls that rise even higher above them – the human enclosed by the natural – is what makes Bergen one of the most eye-catching cities in the world. To say that the Bergenites are fond of their city is a massive understatement.They love it with a mighty passion, the way the Parisians love Paris and the Romans love Rome.Who would doubt this after hearing a gathering of Bergenites sing their city anthem with proud voices, sometimes with a tear in their eyes and always standing? Nowhere in Norway is local patriotism so strong.The fact that Brann is probably Norway’s most abused football team – abused by its own – is irrefutable proof of the truth of the Bible’s words,“Whom he loveth, he correcteth”.
Most people are more than willing to share this privilege with visitors. In fact, few things please a Bergenite as much as the chance to show off the best of his city. It is in this spirit that the book you are now holding was created. But we all know that Bergenites were born with webbed feet and were given an umbrella at baptism.This being so, there is one feature of this book that may seem surprising.When the pictures were taken, over several periods in 2000, the weather gods were in a very strange mood indeed – for the photographer never saw a single rainy day to immortalise. In a city with an average of more than 2000 mm rain per year, this was quite an accomplishment.
A true Bergenite will parry any accusation of chauvinism, however, by asserting that it is impossible not to be seduced by Bergen, and it is difficult to contradict him…. let us say on a May evening, when you climb up through the alleys that lead you past the old Skansen firewatch station to the belvedere of Fjellveien, and then take one of the many forest footpaths that always bring you out on Mount Fløien. Looking out over Bergen through the sheer curtain of newly-sprung leaves, as
Erling T. Gjelsvik
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Bergen has always faced the sea. Its ships have put out from Vågen in every direction, and a steady stream of seafarers has flowed in the opposite direction, setting their unmistakeable stamp on the city. And of course Bergen has its own flagship. For many years the “Statsraad Lehmkuhl” was a training ship, and a good number of Bergenites got their sea-legs on her decks. She is a steel-built barque from Bremerhaven anno 1914. Now as always the “Statsraaden” is an ornament to the harbour and a welcome participant in international tall-ship races. 6
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The capital of the fjord country has from ancient times been a mercantile and maritime city. Bergen grew up around V책gen, which has always been a hive of activity. They are all berthed there: express catamarans that rush up and down the coast, passenger ferries to England and Denmark, warships showing the flag, cruise liners, North Sea supply ships, trawlers, and veteran sailships. In recent years the harbour has been dominated by a growing armada of leisure craft, particularly in the summer months. Bergen is a popular destination for yachtsmen from all over the world. 9
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“Strandsiden” used to be the “Norwegian” section of the harbour, where in the 16th century native Bergen merchants began to give the Hanseatics a run for their money. However, all the old buildings perished in the conflagration of 1916, and the new Strandkaien took shape. Its row of traditional shops and stores play their part in ensuring there is always life and colour around the harbour. In the tourist season the ferryboat “Vågen” shuttles between the Fishmarket and the Aquarium. Bergenites like to keep their maritime roots well-watered. Here is the monument to the city’s seafarers through the ages. 11