Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
barrassment. Plans for the redevelopment of the site included modern, eight-storey
buildings, a bus station, a shopping centre and a car park.
What saved Bryggen were the archaeological excavations that took 13 years to
complete after the 1955 fire and which unearthed over one million artefacts. In 1962
the
Bryggen Foundation (
www.stiftelsenbryggen.no
)
and Friends of Bryggen were
formed; the foundation still oversees the protection and restoration of Bryggen, al-
though the buildings are privately owned. One of the greatest challenges is the fact
that Bryggen is actually sinking by an estimated 8mm each year. In 1979 Unesco in-
scribed Bryggen on its World Heritage list. For more information on Bryggen, visit
the
Bryggen Visitors Centre
Offline map
(
9am-5pm mid-May-mid-Sep)
.
Hanseatic Museum & Schøtstuene
Offline map
Google map
(
www.museumvest.no
;
Finnegårdsgaten 1a & Øvregaten
50; adult/child mid-May-mid-Sep Nkr50/free, rest of yr Nkr30/free; 9am-5pm
mid-May-mid-Sep, shorter hr rest of yr)
TheterrificHanseaticMuseumprovidesawin-
dow into the world of Hanseatic traders. Housed in a rough-timber building from 1704, it
starkly reveals the contrast between the austere living andworkingconditions ofHanseatic
merchant sailors and apprentices, and the lifestyle of the management. Highlights include
the manager's office, quarters, private liquor cabinet and summer bedroom; the appren-
tices' quarters, where beds were shared by two men; the fish storage room, which pressed
and processed over a million pounds (450,000kg) of fish a month; and the
fiskeskrue
(fish
press), which pressed the fish into barrels. The nearby Schøtstuene is a reconstruction of
oneoftheoriginalassemblyhallswherethefraternityofHanseaticmerchantsoncemetfor
theirbusinessmeetingsandbeerguzzling.TheSchøtstueneisclosedinJanuaryandFebru-
ary.
Bryggens Museum
Offline map
Google map
(
www.bymuseet.no
;
Dreggsallmenning 3; adult/child Nkr60/
free; 10am-4pm mid-May-Aug, shorter hr Sep-mid-May)
This archaeological mu-
seum was built on the site of Bergen's first settlement, and the 800-year-old foundations
unearthed during construction have been incorporated into the exhibits, which include me-
dieval tools, pottery, skulls and runes. The permanent exhibition documenting Bergen in
around 1300 is particularly interesting.
