Bergen - previous capital of Norway

Bryggen in Bergen - Norway
A part of not only Norwegian but European history




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Bergen in Norway

Founded in 1070, this city has played a large part in Norwegian history, with traces you will be able to find in its language and dialect.

When fish was transported from the northern part of Northern part of Norway to Europe, the city of Bergen was one of the main stops in that route. This 500 year old history is still significantly visible in "Bryggen" which you see in the picture to your right. Much of its style has been maintained, and you will find many buildings from this history. Bergen was the largest city in Scandinavia until the 1600s. Being the previous capital of Norway, it was the largest largest city until it lost that status in 1830.

Today it is one of the main tourist spots in Norway. If you are visiting Norway there are many nice places to see in the eastern part of the country, but the capital - Oslo - is not really charming. Many might say that it is hideously ugly with anoying inhabitants. I, myself, don't believe I would go that far. However, if you're going to stop for only a few days in Norway, the best place to stop is Bergen.

What to visit in Bergen is Fløybanen, Ulriken, and Bryggen. All three are easy to access.
If you have a whole day to kill you should visit the fjords by taking a boat trip through the fjords and perhaps take a train ride back.

Bergen Dialect - From a linguistic/language standpoint there are a few interesting points from a linguistic point of view.
Firstly, in pure Bergen dialect there is no female nouns. Instead one only uses male and neutral gender.
Secondly there is a strong and distinct "r" in their dialect.
Thirdly, in its pure form you can use proper names in definite form. The English equivalent would be to say "The Mark". The reason for this is probably the influence from the Portuguese language during trade in the middle ages.

There are many unique words in Bergens dialect and the dialect also use some words from "Nynorsk". This is, however, also common in other Norwegian dialects.

Video from Bergen:


From a tourists perpective the major disadvantage is the fact that the city is not close to many other cities. For someone arriving and living by plane, this city is the best place to visit in Norway unless there is something you want to experience like e.g. the northern lights.