Fishing for Compliments

Bergen for Beginners

After that stunning train ride, we arrived in Bergen; it was all aglow in summer sunshine.  Situated on the edge of fjordland, Bergen is a most attractive city with a long & interesting history.  Whilst here, the activity options were extensive – hiking trails galore, fjord cruises and history enough for any enthusiast, but we chose to follow the fish.

Bergen started as a small settlement on an ice-free harbour protected from ferocious North Seas by a chain of islands.  King Olav Kyrre* formally founded the city of Bergen in 1070.  Prosperous from its fishing and grain trading, it later became the designated capital of Norway (1217).

The Bryggens Museum is built over the remains of that first settlement and on the site of devastating 1955 wharf fires.  Excavations have since revealed rich findings adding to an understanding of Bergen’s function as a trading port from its earliest years (and the incredible size and value of its stockfish industry).  The museum also houses an astonishing collection of runic inscriptions on wood and bone found in the area. Whilst some translate to a function of trade, others (“Gyda tells you to go home”) reveal a touching human side to life of those times.

Export of cod and dried stockfish** started in 1110 and quickly grew establishing Bergen as one of Northern Europe’s largest trading centres.  This prosperity attracted German merchants (1343) who quickly formed the Hanseatic League. 

They lived in their own quarter of the city, had firm rules of conduct – both business and personal life and soon grew sufficiently powerful to dominate most of the maritime trade function in Bergen. The League was created to protect economic interests and diplomatic privileges of its merchant members along trade routes that stretched from the North Sea to the Baltic. 

This powerful League survived until 1800.

From the Bryggens Museum, Rudi, our guide led us past St Mary’s Church (Mariakirken), the oldest building in the city and once used by rich Hanseatic League merchants, through to the Assembly Halls.  These dark rooms provided merchants and their apprentices convenient and warm working and meeting space during long, bitter winter months.  Here they exchanged information, taught skills, carried out court functions and ran centralised kitchens for hot meals.  Fires were only allowed in these buildings.

Many of the buildings in the port area were constructed from timber.  Fire was a major hazard and reduced warehouses and parts of the city to ashes on a number of occasions over the years.  A series of bouts of the Black Death (plague) also had a disastrous effect on the city’s population.

Hanseatic League Assembly Hall

From the Assembly Halls, we were led down to the timber warehouses; many now with a second life, serving as a popular haunt for tourists.  One warehouse though, retaining its 1704 interior and stuffed with a previous owner’s massive collection, has been set up as a museum and offers a fascinating glimpse into the almost monastic lives of Hanseatic  stockfish merchants.

Cupboard with secret stairs to the bedroom 

The Wife?

The Other Woman?

*Out of interest, King Olav Kyrre was the son of King Harald Hardrada, who died at the battle of Stamford Bridge, Great Britain in 1066.  This battle traditionally ends the Viking era.

**Fish was dried before salt became readily available as a food preservative.  I might add that it has an interesting aroma all of its own...