Bergen today

Bergen, known as "the city between the seven mountains" and "the gateway to the fjords", is today Norway's second largest city with its about 230,000 inhabitants. The city is the capital of western Norway and an important centre of administration and culture.

Some of the significant institutions based in Bergen are the University of Bergen, the broadcasting station TV2, the Navy's main base Haakonsvern and of course the local football team Brann with its Brann Stadium. Bergen is also a major seaport town.

The Bergensers

Bergen's favourable position in relation to the sea route and to the mountains in the east has resulted in the Bergensers identifying themselves just as much with the surrounding world as with the rest of Norway. It can sometime seem like the Bergensers do not regard Bergen a part of Norway, as in the phrase "I'm not from Norway – I'm from Bergen". In a national context the Bergensers’ character is often considered to be distinctive.

History

Bergen was founded in 1070 by King Olav Kyrre. The town was favourably situated in relation to shipping traffic and was for a long time the country’s most important commercial, shipping and industrial town. During the Middle Ages, Bergen was also the largest of all the towns in the Nordic countries. Bergen is the only town in the whole of Scandinavia which has followed a classical European pattern of development. In the twelfth century the economic boom broke through in Lubeck, which was the first town on the Baltic to become a centre for international commerce. After a while, the town also influenced circumstances in Bergen which became the natural geographical and economic centre for the maritime empire known as the Might of Norway. Bergen was capital until 1299.

Trading from the north with import of grain and export of fish laid the foundation for growth during the first centuries. From the fourteenth century and onwards for several centuries, the Hanseatic merchants dominated trade. The Hanseatic merchants established one of their four most important trading stations in Bergen, the "German Office" on the Wharf.

The town has fallen prey to conflagrations throughout its entire history. Buildings of the Church and State were usually constructed in stone and could therefore be repaired after damage by fire, thus they are today's oldest existing buildings. In 1916 the city was struck by the greatest conflagration since 1702 when 7/8 of the city burned.

In the period from the last half of the nineteenth century until the First World War, there was strong growth in trade and industry resulting in an increase in population; from 24,500 inhabitants in 1855 to 91,000 inhabitants in 1920 (Bergen Town). It was not until the beginning of the 1830s that the population of Oslo exceeded Bergen in number.