Everything about Bergen totally explained
is the second-largest city in
Norway, a
municipality, and a former
county, in the county of
Hordaland.
The
Norwegian city of
Bergen was separated from Hordaland as a county of its own in 1831. It was established as a municipality
January 1,
1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipality of
Bergen landdistrikt was merged with Bergen
January 1,
1877. The rural municipality of
Årstad was merged with Bergen
July 1,
1915. The rural municipalities of
Arna,
Fana,
Laksevåg and
Åsane were merged with Bergen
January 1,
1972. The city lost its status as a separate county the same date. when it was passed by
Oslo.
The city is located on the south-western coast of Norway, in the county of Hordaland, with its centre situated between a group of mountains known collectively as
de syv fjell ("the seven mountains"), although the number of mountains is a matter of definition.
Bergen is host to part of the country's large oil industry, as well as deep sea operations. Its harbours are used by everything from small pleasure vessels to cruise ships and cargo vessels, and is the base of many of the country's fishing vessels.
Bergen is an important cultural centre in its region and was one of nine European cities honoured with the title
European Capital of Culture in 2000.
History
The city of Bergen, thought to have been founded by king
Olav Kyrre, son of
Harald Hardråde, in AD 1070, celebrated its 900th anniversary in 1970. It is considered to have replaced
Trondheim as Norway's capital in 1217, and that Oslo became
de jure capital in 1299. Towards the end of the 13th century, Bergen became one of the
Hanseatic League's most important bureau cities.
The main reason for Bergen's importance was the trade with dried cod from the northern Norwegian coast, which started around 1100 CE. By the late 1300s, Bergen had established itself as the center of the trade in Norway. The
Saxon Hanseatic merchants lived in their own separate quarter of town, where
Middle Saxon (“Middle
Low German”) was used, enjoying exclusive rights to trade with the northern fishermen that each summer sailed to Bergen. Today, Bergen's old quayside,
Bryggen is on
UNESCO's list of
World Heritage sites.
In 1349, the
Black Death was introduced to
Norway by the crew of an English ship arriving in Bergen. In the 15th century the city was several times attacked by the
Victual Brothers, and in 1429 they succeeded in burning the royal castle and much of the city. In 1536, the king was able to force the Saxon merchants to become Norwegian citizens or return home, heralding a decline in the Saxon influence. In 1665, the city's harbour was the site of the bloody
Battle of Vågen, between English ships on the one side and Dutch ships supported by the city's garrison on the other.
Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, Bergen remained one of the largest cities in
Scandinavia, and was Norway's biggest city until the 1830s,
In 1916 parts of the city centre were destroyed by a devastating fire, the last of many such fires throughout the city's history. During
World War II, the city was occupied on the first day of the German invasion on
April 9 1940, after a brief fight between German ships and Norwegian coastal artillery. On
April 20 1944, during the German occupation, the Dutch cargoship
Voorbode anchored off the
Bergenhus Fortress, loaded with over 120 tons of explosives, blew up, killing at least 150 people and damaging historic buildings. The city was subject to some allied bombing raids, aiming at German naval installations in the harbour. Some of these led to civilian casualties numbering over 100.
In 1972, Bergen was unified with neighbouring municipalities (Arna, Fana, Laksevåg and Åsane), abolishing its
county status and getting its present boundaries.
Toponymy
The
Norse forms of the name were
Bergvin and
Bjørgvin. The first element is
berg (n) or
bjørg (f), which translates to
mountain. The last element is
vin (f), which translates to
pasture or
meadow. The full meaning is then 'the meadow among the mountains'. (A suitable name: Bergen is often called 'the city among the seven mountains'.)
There are about one thousand names in Norway composed with the element
-vin, which are pronounced with the second tone. The only exception is the name
Bergen (which is pronounced with the first tone). The cause of this is probably the German influence in the city.
In 1918, there was a campaign to reintroduce the Norse form
Bjørgvin as the name of the city. This was turned down - but as a compromise the name of the diocese was changed to
Bjørgvin bispedømme.
Geography
Bergen municipality occupies the majority of the Bergen peninsula in mid-western
Hordaland. It is sheltered from the North Sea by the islands
Askøy,
Holsnøy (municipality
Meland) and
Sotra (municipalities
Fjell and
Sund). It is the administration centre of
Hordaland, as well as the second-largest city in Norway and the largest in
Western Norway. Bergen is the centre of the
Bergen region, a
statistical metropolitan area with a population of 356,633.
The municipality covers an area of 465
km². The population is 244,620, making the
population density 534 people per km². The population of the main
urban area is 220,418. The municipality also contains eight minor urban settlements with a total population of 17,213, inspired by the
seven hills of Rome. These seven mountains are, however, only a few of the mountains located within the borders of the Bergen municipality.
Gullfjellet is the highest mountain in Bergen, at 987 metres above sea level.
Bergen borders the municipalities
Meland,
Lindås and
Osterøy to the north,
Vaksdal and
Samnanger to the east,
Os and
Austevoll to the south, and
Sund,
Fjell and
Askøy to the west.
Demographics
As of 2002, the average
gross income for men above the age of 17 is 426,000
NOK, the average gross income for women above the age of 17 is 238,000 NOK, with the total average gross income being 330,000 NOK. In 2007, there were 104,6 men for every 100 women in the age group of 20-39. Whole blocks of old wooden houses have been demolished in the city centre, most recently in
Nøstet and
Krinkelkroken, due to a lack of maintenance of the buildings.
Fløyen (320 metres above sea level) and Ulriken (643 metres above sea level) are connected to the city centre with a
funicular and a cable car, respectively. The mountains, as well as the areas that surround them, are popular hiking areas for locals as well as tourists. Several urban parks are present in the city centre, the largest being
Nygårdsparken located between the neighbourhoods of Nygård and Møhlenpris.
Bergen Aquarium, housing fish, marine invertebrates, seals and penguins, as well as reptiles and monkeys, is located at the tip of the Nordnes peninsula.
Administration
Since 2000, the city of Bergen is governed by a city government (
byråd) based on the principle of
parliamentarism. The government consists of 6 government members called commissioners, and is appointed by the city council, the supreme authority of the city. Since the local elections of 2007, the city has been ruled by a centre-right coalition of the
Progress Party, the
Christian People's Party and the
Conservative Party, each with two commissioners. The Progress Party member
Gunnar Bakke is
mayor, while conservative
Monica Mæland is the leader of the city government, the most powerful political position in Bergen.
2007 elections
The
2007 city council elections were held on
September 10. The Socialist Left Party (SV) and the Pensioners Party (PP) ended up as the losers of the election, SV going from 11.6% of the votes in the
2003 elections to 7.1%, and PP losing 2.9% ending up at 1.2%. The Liberal Party more than doubled, going from 2.7% to 5.8%. The Conservative Party lost 1.1% of the votes, ending up at 26.3%, while the Progress Party got 20.2% of the votes, a gain of 3% since the 2003 elections. The Christian Democratic Party gained 0.2%, ending up at 6.3%. The Red Electoral Alliance lost 1.4%, ending up at 4.5%, while the Centre Party gained 1.2%, ending up at 2.8%. Finally, the Labour Party continued being the second largest party in the city, gaining one percent and ending up at 23.9%.
Boroughs
Bergen is divided into 8 boroughs, as seen on the map to the right. Going clockwise, starting north, the boroughs are
Åsane,
Arna,
Fana,
Ytrebygda,
Fyllingsdalen,
Laksevåg,
Årstad and
Bergenhus. The city centre is located in Bergenhus. Parts of Fana, Ytrebygda, Åsane and Arna are not part of the Bergen urban area, explaining why the municipality has approximately 20,000 more inhabitants than the urban area. The separate borough administrations were closed
June 30,
2004, but were opened up again on
January 1 2008.
Climate
Bergen has been nicknamed
The City of Rain for its plentiful
rainfall - annual
precipitation is 2250 mm (88 inches) on average. This is because the city is surrounded by mountains that the clouds can not get over easily. Rain fell every day between
October 29 2006 and
January 21 2007, 85 consecutive days. In the winter, Bergen is one of the warmest cities in Norway, thanks to the
Gulf Stream; 10 °C and rain can happen in both January and July. The highest temperature ever recorded was 31.8 °C, a record that dates back to 1947. The lowest ever recorded is -16.3 °C, in 1987.
The high amount of precipitation is often used in the marketing of the city, and figures to a degree on postcards sold in the city. For a period of time there were umbrella vending machines in the city, but these didn't turn out to be a success.
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Avg high °C | 3.6 |
4.0 |
5.9 |
9.1 |
14.0 |
16.8 |
17.6 |
17.4 |
14.2 |
11.2 |
6.9 |
4.7
|
| Avg low temperature °C | -0.4 |
-0.5 |
0.9 |
3.0 |
7.2 |
10.2 |
11.5 |
11.6 |
9.1 |
9.6 |
2.8 |
0.6
|
| Mean Total Precipitation (mm) | 190 |
152 |
170 |
114 |
106 |
132 |
148 |
190 |
283 |
271 |
259 |
235
|
| Mean Number of Precipitation Days | 21 |
17 |
19 |
17 |
17 |
16 |
18 |
19 |
23 |
24 |
22 |
22
|
| Source: World Weather Information Service |
Climate change
In recent years, precipitation and winds have increased in the city. In late 2005, heavy rains caused floods and several landslides, the worst of which killed three people on September 14. It is predicted by meteorologists that due to
global warming, severe storms causing landslides and floods will become more powerful in the area and in surrounding counties in coming years. As a response, the municipality created a special 24-man rescue unit within the fire department in 2005, to future slides and other natural disasters, and neighbourhoods considered at risk of slides were surveyed in 2006. As of October 2007, the prediction has been supported by over 480 landslides in Hordaland county from the spring of '06 to the summer of '07. Most of the slides hit roads, but until October 2007, when a large rock dislodged and killed the driver of a car, none of them caused damage to cars, buildings, or people.
Another concern is the risk of rising sea levels. Already today, Bryggen is regularly flooded at extreme tide, and it's feared that as sea levels rise, floods will become a major problem in Bergen. Floods may in the future reach the old fire station in Olav Kyrres Gate, as well as the railroad tracks leading out of the city. It has therefore been suggested by among others Stiftelsen Bryggen, the foundation responsible for preserving the UNESCO site, that a sea wall, built so that it could be raised and lowered as demanded by the tides, be built outside the harbour to protect the city.
Another effect of recent years' weather conditions in the area is that Norwegians increasingly believe that climate change is a threat.
Education
Higher education
Bergen has one university, the
University of Bergen, and one university college,
Bergen University College, with a total of 22,000 students and 3,600 staff. With approximately 16,000 students and 3,000 staff, the University of Bergen (
Norwegian:
Universitetet i Bergen) is the third largest university in Norway, after the
University of Oslo and the
Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Although it was founded as late as 1946, academic activity had been taking place at
Bergen Museum since 1825. The university's academic profile focuses on marine research and co-operation with
developing countries. In 2002, the university was awarded three national centres of excellence in
climate research,
petroleum research and
medieval studies. In December 2004, billionaire
Trond Mohn donated 250 million NOK to the University as research funding. In addition, he's given the university several individual gifts of 50 million NOK.
Bergen University College (Norwegian:
Høgskolen i Bergen) is one of 24 state-owned university colleges in Norway. As of 2007, it has approximately 6,000 students and 600 staff. The university college offers studies directed towards specific professions. The college is organised in 3 faculties: the
Faculty of Education, the
Faculty of Engineering, and the
Faculty of Health and Social Sciences.
The
Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (Norwegian:
Norges Handelshøyskole) is a leading school of business and economics in Norway.
Finn E. Kydland, the last (2004) of three Norwegian laureates of the
Economy Nobel Prize, has studied and lectured at the school. The school has approximately 2,700 students and 350 staff. As the result of a resolution passed by the Norwegian
storting in 1917, the school was founded in 1936 as the first
business school in Norway. As of 2007, the school's
MSc programme is ranked by the
Financial Times as the 36th best in Europe.
The
Bergen School of Architecture (
Bergen Arkitekt Skole), founded in 1986 by
architect Svein Hatløy, has alternative programs, with graduants like 3RW arkitekter and
Tommie Wilhemsen.
The
Bergen National Academy of the Arts (
Kunsthøgskolen i Bergen, approximately 300 students and 100 staff) is one of the two independent institutions of higher learning in the visual arts and design in Norway. Students can take a three-year Bachelor degree and a two-year Master degree in the following areas: Visual Art; Interior Architecture; Furniture Design; Room Design; Visual Communications; Photography; Printmaking; Ceramics and Textiles.
The
Naval Academy (
Sjøkrigsskolen) of the
Royal Norwegian Navy is located at Laksevåg in Bergen.
Primary and secondary education
There are 64 elementary schools, 18 lower secondary schools and 20 upper secondary schools in Bergen, as well as 11 combined elementary/lower secondary schools.
Bergen Katedralskole (
Latin:
Scholae Bergensis Cathedralis) is believed to have been founded in 1153 by
Pope Adrian IV (then known as
Nicholas Breakspear), thus making it Bergen's oldest school and one of the oldest schools in Norway. The school moved to its present location in 1840, and the old building was left mostly unused until the School Museum of Bergen moved into the building in 2003. Since 1972 the school is a regular
upper secondary school (similar to a
high school in the
United States and the
United Kingdom).
In 2006,
Bergen Handelsgymnasium, an upper secondary school in Bergen, was chosen as a finalist in the
The Holberg Prize School Project.
Research
The University of Bergen and Haukeland University Hospital are by far the largest research institutions in Bergen.
The
Chr. Michelsen Institute (
Christian Michelsens Institutt), founded in 1930, is located in Bergen. With an annual turnover of 56 million
NOK, it's one of Scandinavia's largest independent research institutes on human rights and development issues. The aim of CMI is to inform and influence policy on international development issues. making it the largest marine research institution in Norway.
Economy
Bergen's inter-municipal harbour is by far Norway's largest port and one of Europe's largest ports, according to the inter-municipal company Port of Bergen.
In August 2004,
Time magazine named the city one of Europe's 14 "secret capitals" where Bergen's capital reign is acknowledged within maritime businesses and activities such as aquaculture and marine research, with the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) (the second-largest in Europe) as the leading institution. Bergen is the main base for the
Royal Norwegian Navy (at
Haakonsvern) and its international airport
Flesland is the main heliport for the huge Norwegian North Sea oil and gas industry, from where thousands of offshore workers commute to their work places onboard oil and gas rigs and platforms.
The headquarters of
TV 2 Norway's largest commercial
television channel are located in Bergen. However, they may be moving to Oslo when they lose their analog TV broadcasting license in 2008.
Tourism is an important income source for the city. The hotels in the city may be full at times, due to the increasing number of tourists and conferences. Prior to the
Rolling Stones concert in September 2006, many hotels were already full-booked several months in advance. Bergen is recognised as the unofficial capital of the region known as
West Norway, and recognised and marketed as the gateway city to the world famous
fjords of Norway and for that reason it has become Norway's largest - and one of Europe's largest -
cruise ship ports of call.
Transportation
Bergen has an international
airport,
Bergen Airport, Flesland, with direct flights to several European cities. The
Bergensbanen railway line runs east to
Voss,
Geilo,
Hønefoss and
Oslo.
The
E16 road to Oslo passes through the
Lærdalstunnelen, the longest road tunnel in the world. Bergen was the first city in
Northern Europe to introduce a ring of
toll roads entirely surrounding the city, making entering the city centre by car impossible without paying the toll. The toll road system, established to fund new roads and motorways, opened
January 2,
1986. The toll was collected by both
toll plazas and an
electronic toll collection system. In the early 2000s, the electronic toll collection system
AutoPASS was introduced, replacing both the remaining toll plazas and the existing but dated electronic toll collection system.
Public transportation is provided by the transportation company
Tide, the result of a merger between
Gaia and
HSD. Among the fleet of buses are 8
trolleybuses (two of which are dual-mode buses). Local train transport to Arna is provided by
Norges Statsbaner. There is a funicular (
Fløibanen) and an aerial tramway (
Ulriksbanen). The city's tram system was closed in 1965, although a museum line still operates on
Møhlenpris. The construction of a modern
light rail line connecting the city centre with
Nesttun and Bergen Airport has been approved by
Stortinget and is underway. Express buses go to all larger destinations in Norway.
The Norwegian coastal steamer service
Hurtigruten originates in Bergen, running north to Trondheim, Bodø, Tromsø and Kirkenes. Passenger catamarans run from Bergen south to
Haugesund and
Stavanger, and north to
Sognefjorden and
Nordfjord. Car ferries connect to
Hanstholm, and
Hirtshals in Denmark,
Lerwick,
Scrabster, in the United Kingdom,
Tórshavn The orchestra performs regularly at the 1,500 seat
Grieg Hall. The city is also home of the
Bergen Woodwind Quintet, which is made up primarily of principal winds of the Bergen Philharmonic. Bergen was a
European Capital of Culture in 2000. Other main cultural events include
Nattjazz,
Lost Weekend Festivalen and
Bergenfest (formerly
Ole Blues).
There are numerous amateur bands in Bergen and the surrounding communities, performing regularly throughout the city. They generally fall within two distinct categories:
brass bands, following the British band tradition, and
Janitsjar or
wind bands, which include both woodwind and brass instruments. Both of these types of bands tend to be quite competitive, and the Grieg Hall in Bergen is home to the annual Norwegian Brass Band Championships, which takes place in late winter.
With
circulations of 87,076 and 30,719 in 2006,)
Bergens Tidende and
Bergensavisen are the two largest newspapers in Bergen. Bergens Tidende has won three
European Newspaper Awards, in 2006 for
best designed regional newspaper, in 2004 for
best designed weekly newspaper, and in 2002 for
best designed regional newspaper. The city is also the home of several smaller newspapers and publications, including
Fanaposten (circulation of 4,062
In the late 1990s and early 2000s several pop, rock and
black metal artists from Bergen became famous, at home as well as abroad. Many of these were connected to the small record label
Tellé Records. In the domestic press this became known as the
Bergen Wave. Musicians and bands from Bergen include
Annie,
Burzum,
Enslaved,
Gorgoroth,
Borknagar,
Immortal,
Erlend Øye,
Kings of Convenience,
Röyksopp,
Sondre Lerche, Nazgûl and
Datarock.
Bergen has a small but thriving scene for contemporary art, most notably centered around BIT Teatergarasjen, Bergen Kunsthall, United Sardines Factory, USF and Bergen Center for Electronic Arts, BEK.
Football
Bergen has two professional football teams,
Brann and
Løv-Ham. Brann plays in the
premier league, while Løv-Ham plays in the
first division. Despite Løv-Ham playing in the 2nd highest level in Norwegian football, Brann is the only club to draw any considerable interest from the public. The first Løv-Ham supporter group, Selskapsløvene (
English:
The Party Lions) was created as recently as December 2005. Brann play their matches at
Brann stadion, with a capacity of 17,824 as of June 2007, while Løv-Ham play their matches at
Krohnsminde kunstgressbane, with a capacity of 3000, but an attendance record of 1051 in the league.
Although Brann is one of the largest teams in Norway, the team has had limited success in the
Premier League and the
cup. They have won the cup six times, most recently in
2004. Brann won the Premier League in 1961/62 and then in 1963. The 1963 title was directly followed by the relegation of the team into the Second Division (today known as
Adeccoligaen, the second highest level of Norwegian football). The team has won several silver and bronze medals since, but didn't win the league again until the
2007 season. Despite, or perhaps because of the lack of league titles, the team is met with high expectations from the national and local press and the inhabitants of Bergen every year.
Dialect
Bergensk, or the
Bergen dialect, is the dialect of Norwegian spoken in Bergen. It is easy for Norwegians to recognise, as it's very distinguishable from the other dialects in Hordaland. Like almost all Norwegian dialects, Bergensk can't be said to be either
Bokmål or
Nynorsk. While the vocabulary shows many traits of both Bokmål and Nynorsk, it has many characteristics that are not covered by any of these written languages.
Foreigners, such as the
Low German speaking merchants of the
Hanseatic League who lived in Bergen in the period from about 1350 to 1750, has had a profound impact on the dialect. Bergen being the major Norwegian city during the
Dano-Norwegian union from 1536 to 1814 led to Bergensk absorbing more of the
Danish than other Norwegian dialects. Many, but not all, influences from these languages since spread from Bergen to parts of or the whole of Norway.
Asmara, Eritrea
Gothenburg, Sweden
Newcastle, United Kingdom. Each year Bergen donates the Christmas Tree seen in Newcastle's Haymarket as a sign of the ongoing friendship between the sister cities.
Seattle, United States
Turku, Finland
Aarhus, DenmarkFurther Information
Get more info on 'Bergen'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://bergen.totallyexplained.com">Bergen Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
