Hotels Bergen, Norway - Hotel Booking

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Presentation of Bergen

Norway - Bergen - City of BergenBergen is the second largest city in Norway, with a population of 252,051 as of 1 January 2009. Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Economic Region, as defined by Statistics Norway, had a population of 385,450 as of 1 January 2009.

Bergen is located in the county of Hordaland on the south-western coast of Norway. Its city centre is situated among a group of mountains known as "De syv fjell" (lit. The Seven Mountains), although which mountains these are is a matter of definition. Bergen is an important cultural hub in its region and was one of nine European cities honored with the title of European Capital of Culture in 2000.

 

HISTORY OF BERGEN

The city of Bergen, thought to have been founded by king Olav Kyrre, son of Harald Hardråde, in 1070 AD. It is considered to have replaced Trondheim as Norway's capital in 1217, and that Oslo became the de jure capital in 1299. Towards the end of the 13th century, Bergen became one of the Hanseatic League's most important bureau cities.

In 1349, the Black Death was inadvertently brought 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 of the country was able to force the Saxon merchants to become Norwegian citizens, or else to return home, heralding a decline in the Saxon influence. In 1665, the city's harbor was the site of the Battle of Vågen, between English ships on the one side and Dutch ships supported by the city's garrison on the other.
In 1916, parts of the city center were destroyed by a devastating fire, the last of many such fires throughout the city's history. During World War II, Bergen was occupied on the first day of the German invasion on 9 April 1940, after a brief fight between German ships and the Norwegian coastal artillery. On 20 April 1944, during the German occupation, the Dutch cargo ship 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 harbor. Some of these caused Norwegian civilian casualties numbering about 100.

Bergen was separated from Hordaland as a county of its own in 1831. The rural municipality of Bergen landdistrikt was merged with Bergen on 1 January 1877. In 1972, Bergen was unified with the neighboring municipalities, of Arna, Fana, Laksevåg, and Åsane, abolishing its county status and setting its present boundaries.

See the full history of Bergen on Wikipedia.

 

Sister cities of Bergen