Bergen, Norway
In 1349 Bubonic Plague – the Black Death – came to Norway. By some estimates two thirds of the population fell victim. With Norway weakened, merchant-traders of the Hanseatic League moved into Bergen to develop a lucrative trade: salt and grain from Europe exchanged for seal skins, herring, and stockfish from Norway. Several days ago we visited Å, one of many fishing villages in the Lofoten Islands where great quantities of cod were caught, dried on wooden racks, and baled for export through Bergen. For four hundred years the Hanseatic merchants of Bergen monopolized the trade in stockfish. They became wealthy, and Norwegian cod became a staple of Mediterranean cuisine. The warehouses of the Hanseatic merchants still dominate the waterfront of Bergen, protected by Norwegian pride and their designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The oldest, seen here, were rebuilt following a fire (one of many in the history of Bergen) in 1702. Our walking tour of Bergen on a warm late summer afternoon immersed us in this bit of Norwegian history with a visit to the Hanseatic Museum.
Our morning coach tour exposed us to history of a different period – the pastoral Neoromanticism of the mid-1800s. One of the strongest voices, expressed through the idiom of music, was the composer Edvard Grieg. His Peer Gynt Suite, written as incidental music for the play by Henrik Ibsen, resonates with themes from the Norwegian countryside – the haunting strains of Solveig’s Lament, and the cavorting of boisterous trolls In the Hall of the Mountain King. We visited Edvard Grieg’s house, where he drew inspiration from the view of the quiet fjord seen through the window of his studio. Today his remains rest at that site, where we could pay our respects. One could even say that this artistic movement fueled a resurgence of Norwegian pride and sense of identity that culminated in the achievement of full independence in 1905.
In 1349 Bubonic Plague – the Black Death – came to Norway. By some estimates two thirds of the population fell victim. With Norway weakened, merchant-traders of the Hanseatic League moved into Bergen to develop a lucrative trade: salt and grain from Europe exchanged for seal skins, herring, and stockfish from Norway. Several days ago we visited Å, one of many fishing villages in the Lofoten Islands where great quantities of cod were caught, dried on wooden racks, and baled for export through Bergen. For four hundred years the Hanseatic merchants of Bergen monopolized the trade in stockfish. They became wealthy, and Norwegian cod became a staple of Mediterranean cuisine. The warehouses of the Hanseatic merchants still dominate the waterfront of Bergen, protected by Norwegian pride and their designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The oldest, seen here, were rebuilt following a fire (one of many in the history of Bergen) in 1702. Our walking tour of Bergen on a warm late summer afternoon immersed us in this bit of Norwegian history with a visit to the Hanseatic Museum.
Our morning coach tour exposed us to history of a different period – the pastoral Neoromanticism of the mid-1800s. One of the strongest voices, expressed through the idiom of music, was the composer Edvard Grieg. His Peer Gynt Suite, written as incidental music for the play by Henrik Ibsen, resonates with themes from the Norwegian countryside – the haunting strains of Solveig’s Lament, and the cavorting of boisterous trolls In the Hall of the Mountain King. We visited Edvard Grieg’s house, where he drew inspiration from the view of the quiet fjord seen through the window of his studio. Today his remains rest at that site, where we could pay our respects. One could even say that this artistic movement fueled a resurgence of Norwegian pride and sense of identity that culminated in the achievement of full independence in 1905.
