Bryggen Self-Guided Walking Tour
When you come to Bergen, you have to go for a walk through Bryggen. Many people wander along the front of these timber houses, browsing in and out of the shops. But there’s a whole world behind the postcard view. And it’s best explored with either a walking tour with a guide or a self-guided walking tour.
Bryggen has a fascinating story. It is where Norwegians first settled in the city. It’s where trade took off in the country, and it was the largest settlement in Scandinavia until the 16th century. For hundreds of years, Bryggen was operated by the Hanseatic League, a large German trading society. During World War II, Norwegian resistance workers hid in Bryggen. There’s so much to tell.
In this article...
What is Bryggen?
Bryggen (the wharf) is Bergen’s historic trading centre that goes back to the 11th century. While Bryggen was built up as a Norwegian wharf, between 1360 and 1954 the area became a main trading settlement for the Hanseatic League.
Read more: The Hanseatic League. Simplified.
After some fires and modernisation efforts, Bryggen is a fraction of what it used to be. There are 61 buildings (or 30%) left, and 25% of them are from 1702, the last time Bryggen burnt down in its entirety.
Bryggen is the most popular place for visitors coming to Bergen. It’s packed full of Norwegian restaurants, souvenir shops, museums and galleries. The image of Bryggen is on t-shirts, postcards, Norwegian forums and tourism campaigns. Yet, at first glance, these buildings seem unassuming. Bryggen has a fascinating history, and in my self-guided walk, I try to provide an outline of what that history is. This is like the walk I do for groups, and I’ve done this walk hundreds of times. Hopefully, you enjoy it!
The Walk
Bryggen Museum
This tour starts from behind the Bryggen Museum. As you are approaching the museum at the front, walk to the right (between the museum and the Radisson Blu Hotel). You will see that the museum has glass windows on your left-hand side. Look inside the windows to see the first warehouses of Bryggen.
The First Wooden Buildings
These are the oldest buildings on Bryggen. They were warehouses and had a similar appearance to the current ones on Bryggen. The difference is that they were single storey and coated in tar. The oldest ones, which are closest to St. Mary’s Church, are from around 1150. Families lived and traded together in these buildings. When they burnt down in 1170, the remains were pushed into the water and the buildings in front were constructed. These new buildings were on the water; with piers out into the harbour.
Yes, Bryggen we have today is built on the water. About 150m, to be exact.
The Old Chapel & City Hall
The square stone building with the entranceway carved out is St. Lawrence’s Chapel. It was built here sometime in the 12th century, but after one of the fires, it was never rebuilt.
The same goes for the city hall, which is the remains next to the chapel. The city hall had its name from St. Mary’s Church (Maria Guildhall). This is because the original city hall meetings took place in the church graveyard. After one of the fires, the new city hall was constructed further away from Bryggen. Later it, it was moved far away from the Hanseatic League.
St. Catherine's Hospital
St. Catherine’s Hospital is Norway’s first hospital for women. It is from some time around 1250 and remained in use until a fire in 1527. The building was then abandoned and forgotten until it an excavation in 1986. It’s believed that (before it burnt down) the Hanseatics were large donors to the hospital.
There is an information board just inside the building so you can read more about the hospital.
Buekorps Statue
The Buekorps is a unique Bergen tradition. It consists of clubs (depending on where you live) made up of boys up to the age of 18. They are something like marching bands; practising through the streets of Bergen. Their main performance is on the 17th of May, Norway’s national day. The Buekorps began in the 19th century. Bored kids started copying the Norwegian army practice marches. Eventually, that developed into the Buekorps. If you are in Bergen in spring or early summer you may hear or even see them! What makes them especially unique is that they carry wooden weapons when they march. You can see this statue is holding a crossbow.
This particular statue is to commemorate the members of the Buekorps who fell during World War II.
St. Mary's Church
St. Mary’s Church is the oldest building in Bergen; built sometime between 1130 and 1170. The towers are a Romanesque style and there are High Gothic characteristics inside. The church received the country’s first stained-glass window in 1336 when a German glass painting was put in the northern wall. The church was important to Bergen. The king may have taken initiative to build the church in cooperation with the citizens of the town. It was most likely built to be the main church of Bergen.
St. Mary’s is the only church to survive (without major fires) because the Hanseatic merchants loved the church. The Germans controlled the church from 1480 onwards. It was a church for the German congregation in Bergen until 1874. Moreover, the Germans had the resources to maintain the church. They also kept the Reformation from affecting the interior.
You’ll notice a lot of the graves have German names on them. When the Hanseatic merchant died, they left their fortune to the church were buried here.
Schøtstuene Museum
You are standing outside the Schøtstuene Museum, which provides information about how merchants lived in Bergen. When the museum opened in the late 1930s, the Hanseatic merchants had a rather negative reputation in Bergen. The museum aimed at changing this. It represents the spirit of the Hanseatic’s through their games, drinking, meals, and social order. It’s a fantastic museum well worth a detour.
Bredsgården
Bredsgården is the most original of the gårder on Bryggen. It was first mentioned in history in 1310 and stands on the same site. It has been rebuilt a few times, for the last time in 1702, but the building style has always been the same.
The Front of Bryggen
We are now standing at the front of Bryggen. You’ll see the cobblestone patterns on the front change. The cobblestone path closest to the buildings is as far out as Bryggen used to go. The road and square are from the 20th century.
On the front of the buildings, you’ll notice each one has a mascot of sorts (lumberjack, unicorn, etc). These were like company logos. It wasn’t common for fishermen to read. When they were arriving with their stockfish, they’d find their Hanseatic merchant according to the logo on the front. They always returned to the same merchant. Often they had relationships spanning generations. If the fishing catch was bad that year, the fishermen could still get the food and tools he needed; like a credit system.
Enhjørningsgården & The Theta Museum
This alley, which translates to Unicorn Alley, is dark and narrow. More-so than the others, it gives you the feeling of being in another century. It has the oldest wooden planks, fastened with wooden pegs. The alley also has some of the bare timber (the newest buildings are with wooden planks).
Svensgården
These two red wooden buildings used to be connected and belong to Svensgården, the closed-off alley. Svensgården has been closed for over a decade due to extensive rot. I’ve been coming to Bergen for nine years and never walked down it. The red wooden building to the left is the only remaining schøstuene in its original place. Today it’s a restaurant, so you can sit in the same spot the Hanseatics did and enjoy a traditional Norwegian meal!
Jacobsfjorden & Bellgården
The small wooden building you’ll see between Jacobsfjorden and Bellgården is an old schøtstuene. It is from the end of the use of Bryggen, so it was constructed in the middle of the alley rather than at the back. Both were separate alleys.
Bellgården was first mentioned in 1310 and Germans owned it from 1370. Jacobsfjorden used to be called Åfjorden (after a fjord in Sogn) and was first mentioned in 1309. The Munkeliv Monastery owned the building and land in 1399. The stone cellar (which was behind the stockfish statue) is from the 1420s. After a fire in 1476, the two alleys merged and came under German ownership. The name Jacobsfjorden took over in the early 1500s.
The Brick Buildings
Lets have a closer look at the brick buildings. When you’re standing on the front of Bryggen, look up to the walls of the brick buildings. You’ll see the coat of arms for various cities; London, Brygge, Skåne (a region in southern Sweden) and so on. These are various Hanseatic cities.
The date on the building refers to each time it has been rebuilt. This used to be the site of the Kjøpmanstuen, or the main meeting area for the German Office. It was originally built in the late 13th century (first mentioned 1389). The wine cellar was the oldest part of the building and had rooms for serving and warehouses.
The Kjøpmanstuen was rebuilt after 1476. It is rumoured that shortly after this King Christian II of Denmark had an affair with Dyveke Sigbritsdatter here.
The Kjøpmanstuen burned again in 1702 and was rebuilt. The wooden structure had two floors with high ceilings. Above the entrance were weapons. The ground floor had a living room and a guard room. This is where all the merchants in Bryggen would have their meetings to discuss important matters. ‘Kjøpman’ means merchant and ‘stuen’ (like schøtstuene) refers to the room.
Hanseatic Museum
Finnegården is the last gårder on Bryggen. The building was first mentioned in 1403 but is probably much older than that. Finnegården was owned by Germans from 1414 onwards. It was the largest commercial premise on Bryggen and more equipped than others.
Johan Wilhelm Wiberg ran trade here between 1866-1898. When he noticed that interest in Bryggen and the Hanseatic League was coming to an end, he took care of the interior of his building and collected objects from the other gården to preserve as much of Bryggen’s old trading environment as possible.
He founded the Hanseatic Museum, which his son Johan Christian Koren Wiberg developed further. The municipality purchased the building in 1916 to ensure it was never demolished.
In 2018 the Hanseatic Museum closed for renovation as it was found that the building was sinking. The renovation work is expected to take several years.
