Bergen

Bergen (pop. 218,100), seaport and second largest city in Norway, situated on the southwest coast on the By Fjord. From the 14th to the 16th centuries it was the northernmost member of the Hanseatic League. Several buildings from this period survive, most notably the Tyskebyggen (German House), now a museum. The central districts of the city have been destroyed by fire several times, notably in 1702, 1855, and 1916.

Modern architects have used the “open plan” to create wide streets and many parks. Bergen is a major commercial and communications center for western Norway. Its shipping industry is the third largest in the country. Processing and canning of fish, shipbuilding, paper manufacture, and metalworking are its important modern industries. Bergen was the birthplace of the composer Edvard Grieg. Playwright Henrik Ibsen was manager of the National Theater there (1851–57).

See also: Norway.