Norway - Bergen
a city founded in 1070 on a Norwegian fjord
Bergen, on the west coast of Norway, sitting on seven hills, appears before you as you drive out of the last of many tunnels you have encountered on your way there. Because the Gulf Stream warms the fjord waters, Bergen, founded in 1070, has long been an important centre for shipping and commerce.
Our trusty guidebook led us to the Park Pension near the university. Built like a mansion, it is a few stories tall with a staircase up the middle. Our second floor room had a step-out balcony and a lovely view of the city.
The focus of the city is the wharf area. Here, until the 17th century, lived the members of the German Hanseatic League, an association of merchants in northern Europe. Conducting business and living in gabled, long wooded houses, this all male enclave maintained strict laws and never mingled with the rest of the people of Bergen.
The Hanseatic Museum is in one of the oldest timber buildings and is decorated in the style of the 16th century. Here you can learn about the daily life of the Hanseatic merchants.
Along the wharf are lots of shops where you can buy the famous trolls of Norway. There is also an outdoor market where there are stalls with fish, flowers, fruits, and vegetables for sale. For a lovely view, you can take the funicular ride to the top of one of Bergen’s seven hills. You can walk up if you like, up a street as crooked as San Francisco’s “crookedist street in the world.”
Not to be missed is St. Mary’s church, the oldest building in Bergen, built before 1150 and one of the finest Norman churches in the country. A brand new organ was installed in the 1980’s and the church is still used for concerts.
Although hilly, Bergen is an easy city in which to find your way around. It is interesting just to walk along the steep, cobbled streets by the colourful houses that are so ingeniously built up the hills.
See “Kristiansand to Bergen to Oslo” for an adventure across the Norwegian countryside.