Day 13
Bjørgvin, Norway
Bergen, historically Bjørgvin, is located on the southwest coast of Norway. Everyone here points out that this was the original capital of Norway (during the 12th & 13th centuries). They also seem keen to point out that Norway has really only existed since 1905.
Prior to 1905 Norway was a dependency under Denmark until 1814. The year 1814 was perhaps the most eventful in Norway’s history. At the beginning of the year the country was ruled by Denmark, an absolute monarchy under King Frederik VI. By the end of the year it was a constitutional monarchy in a union with Sweden. In the months between, Norway became an independent state, adopted its own constitution and chose its own king. Norway was forced to accept union with Sweden, but the Swedish king had to accept the Norwegian Constitution – a constitution that took precedence over the monarch.
The dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden was the result of a conflict over the question of a separate Norwegian consular service. The fact that Norway did not have its own foreign service missions and was subordinate to Sweden in all matters of foreign policy, was a clear indication of Norway’s lesser role in the union. A new sense of national identity was emerging in Norway and this issue became extremely controversial. The Storting (Norwegian national assembly) adopted a decision to establish a Norwegian consular service but King Oscar II refused to sanction it. As a result, the Norwegian Government resigned. The King was not able to appoint a new government, which meant that the union between the two countries under a common king was no longer a reality. On 7 June 1905 the Storting passed a resolution unilaterally dissolving the union.
Sweden refused to accept the Norwegian resolution and maintained that certain conditions had to be fulfilled before the union could be dissolved. These included the holding of a referendum to find out whether the Norwegian people agreed with the Storting’s decision.
On 13 August 1905 the country went to the polls. There were 368,208 votes in favour of dissolution and 184 against. Only men had the vote, but 244,765 women had signed lists supporting dissolution.
Negotiations on Norway’s formal withdrawal from the union began on 31 August. Relations were tense, and troops were mobilized on both sides of the border. There was a very real danger of war. On 23 September, however, the negotiations reached a peaceful conclusion. Oscar II formally recognized Norway as an independent state and on 26 October he abdicated from the Norwegian throne. He also declined the offer to constitute a Swedish prince as king of Norway. The union between Norway and Sweden had been dissolved without a shot being fired.
In 1905, the Norwegians elected Prince Carl of Denmark King of Norway. Prince Carl was the second son of the Later King Frederick VIII and Queen Louise. An important factor in favour of his election was his wife. Princess Maud was the daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the Prince and Princess already had a son, thereby ensuring the succession. After a referendum, Prince Carl accepted the offer to become King of Norway, announcing that he would take the name Haakon and give his son, Alexander, the name Olav. On 25 November 1905, the new
Norwegian Royal Family stepped ashore in Kristiania (Oslo).
Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway after the Oslo. The municipality covers 180 square miles and is located on the peninsula of Bergenshalvøyen. The city centre and northern neighbourhoods are on Byfjorden, 'the city fjord'. The city is surrounded by mountains, causing Bergen to be called the "city of seven mountains". Hey, just like Roma! Many of the extra-municipal suburbs are on islands.
The Splendor was berthed at the Bergen Cruise Port near the sender of Bergen. There is one peninsula in the center of Bergen which is affectionately called the “nose”. The Splendor was at the base of the nose. The nose contains the “old” downtown of Bergen. We had two tours today. One with Mike and Maddie in the morning, and another, but the same, without Mike and Maddie. We just got a later departure.
The first stop on the first tour was at Skur 14 (Shed 14) along the Vagen inlet. It is across the water from the Rosenkrantz Tower and King Hakon Hall. It is also across the water from the UNSECO site known as the Bryggen; which simply means dock.
We were on the dock opposite where an explosion took place in 1944. The Dutch steam trawler Voorbode was a fishing vessel, until it was confiscated by the Germans during World War II and used for military transport. In April 1944, it was on its way from Oslo to Kirkenes when it had mechanical problems, forcing it to seek repairs in Bergen. The ship was allowed to enter Bergen harbour loaded with 124,000 kg (273,000 lb) of explosives, even though it did not satisfy security regulations and should not have been allowed into a major city with this cargo.
On 20 April at 8:39, the ship exploded at the quay in the center of Bergen. The force of the explosion caused a water column that was hundreds of meters high, spreading heavy debris. Several ships were thrown on land and Voorbode's anchor was later found on the 1,368 ft mountain Sandviksfjellet nearly 2 miles from the blast area. The air pressure from the explosion and the tsunami that followed flattened whole neighborhoods near the harbour; then fires broke out and further destroyed the wooden houses, leaving 5,000 people homeless; thankfully only 160 people were killed but 5,000 wounded, mostly civilians. The Nykirken, the parish church, was among the buildings which were severely damaged; more later.
Bryggen is a historic harbour district in Bergen. It is one of North Europe’s oldest port cities which was established as a center for trade by the 12th century. In 1350 the Hanseatic League established a “Hanseatic Office” in Bergen. They gradually acquired ownership of Bryggen and controlled the trade in stockfish from Northern Norway through privileges granted by the Crown. The Hanseatic League established a total of four overseas Hanseatic Offices, Bryggen being the only one preserved today.
Bryggen has been damaged by a number of fires through the centuries and has been rebuilt after every fire, closely following the previous property structure and plan as well as building techniques. Bryggen’s appearance today stems from the time after the fire in 1702. The buildings are made of wood in keeping with vernacular building traditions. The original compact medieval urban structure is preserved with its long narrow rows of buildings facing the harbour, separated by narrow wooden passages. Today, some 62 buildings remain of this former townscape and these contain sufficient elements to demonstrate how this colony of bachelor German merchants lived and worked, and illustrate the use of space in the district. It is characterized by the construction of buildings along the narrow passages running parallel to the docks.
The urban units are rows of two- to three-storey buildings signified by the medieval name “gård”. They have gabled facades towards the harbour and lie on either one or both sides of the narrow passages that have the functions of a private courtyard. The houses are built in a combination of traditional timber log construction, and galleries with column and beam construction with horizontal wooden panel cladding. The roofs have original brick tiling or sheets, a result of fast repairs after an explosion during World War II. Towards the back of the gård, there are small fireproof warehouses or storerooms (kjellere) built of stone, for protection of special goods and valuables against fire. This repetitive structure was adapted to the living conditions of the Hanseatic trading post. The German merchants took up winter residence in the small individual wooden houses and the storerooms were used as individual or collective warehouses. A true colony, Bryggen enjoyed quasi-extraterritoriality which continued beyond the departure of the Hanseatic merchants until the creation of a Norwegian trading post in 1754, on the impetus of fishermen and ship owners of German origin. Today, Bryggen is a significant part of the historic wooden city of Bergen.
People were interested in Norway because of the stockfish. Stockfish was very important because is has a storage life of several years. Stockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks (which are called "hjell" in Norway) on the foreshore. The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method.
In a small park next to where we boarded the bus there were two statues. One of the Icelandic historian, poet, and politician Snorri Sturrulson and one of Draeggegutten. The guide ignored both of them. Why? The more interesting statue was that of a Draeggegutten. It was a statue of a young lad, dressed with a shirt, tie and dress jacket. He wore a beret and was carrying what looked like a bow. Tried as I could to discover more information about this statue, I couldn’t. It appears the Draeggegutten were a corps of young men in WWII. There is more to the story but I couldn’t find out with an internet search.
Snorri Sturluson was a 12th/13th century Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the Prose Edda, which is a major source for what is today known about Norse mythology and alliterative verse, and Heimskringla, a history of the Norse kings that begins with legendary material in Ynglinga saga and moves through to early medieval Scandinavian history. For stylistic and methodological reasons, Snorri is often taken to be the author of Egil's Saga. He was assassinated in 1241 by men claiming to be agents of the King of Norway.
Some guides are good some are constrained by time, and some only know what has been written for them, and that is all they can parrot. Which was this guide? If there was enough information to formulate a question about these two statues maybe we would know which this guide was. However, he was a immigrant to Norway, from Italy mind you, so he may not have known as much about Norwegian history as a native.
Then again he could have expended hours talking about the two statues. Which history it’s important, and which is not? Obviously, the UNESCO heritage site is probably more important. But one still have to be curious.
After this we returned to the Splendor. Mike & Maddie had an earlier departure than we did for the next excursion. We had lunch and then Mary and hung out in our suite until it was time to go on the next excursion. This one was to Mt. Floyen and the funicular railway.
Our guide this afternoon was another Italian, only this time it is a she and her name was Raffaella. She was from Naples. She left Naples because the pace of life was too hectic. Life in Norway must be glacial!
Anyway, the first part of the excursion was a short repeat of the morning excursion. The major difference is we stopped at the Nykirken (literally: "The new church"). However, it isn’t exactly “new”.
The large, white, stone, cruciform church was originally built in 1622, there were several other churches in Bergen that were already several hundred years old, so this church was nicknamed "the new church", a name which has stuck for centuries. It is also (probably) an appropriate nickname, since the churches on this site have burned down several times and then been rebuilt, so it literally is usually the "newest" church in the central city. The current building dates back to 1764 when it was completely rebuilt and redesigned after a major fire. It has been significantly rebuilt several times since then, too, following various fires.
Raffaella took us into the basement of the church first. Here we could see the oldest part of the foundation of the church. We then walked upstairs and into the “new” church. Interesting design. The pulpit and alter are in the middle of church, not at one end as is usual. Apparently the acoustics of the church as amazing, but during the tour we didn’t really experience that. Quite a beautiful church.
Next, we revisited the Bryggen. Mary and I went shopping. I have been wearing the Wisconsin Badger sweatshirt a lot, and people keep wanting to talk to me or tell me how the badgers are doing. I really need a new sweatshirt. Sorry, V, but I can’t continue to feint knowing something about the badgers. However, it is surprising how many people know about Wisconsin. Next year it will be Old Miss I am sure.
Fløyen or Fløyfjellet is one of the "city mountains" in Bergen. Its highest point is 1,300 feet above sea level. The name could originate from fløystangen or a weathervane that was set up to indicate the direction of the wind for sailing ships. The view of the Bergen peninsula makes Fløyfjellet is spectular. You can really see the entire city and come to understand it is much more than the harbor area most tourists see. Trains are a fascination so the funicular system, called Fløibanen, that transports passengers from the center of Bergen to the top in eight minutes was a particular thrill. It is modern in design but still fun.
Bergen is actually quite a large city when seen from the top of the mountain. Today is one of the 21 or so days of sunshine in Bergen so maybe it is particularity special. Raffaella insisted that even when it is raining the people of Bergen come out to enjoy the park at the top of the mountain. There are a number of hiking trails and lots of activities for children. The people here clearly love the out-of-doors.
Ok, enough for one day.
Buonanotte e Ciao, Enrico e Maria
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