Bryggen Street View Bryggen

You might think these buildings along the wharfside of Bergen Norway look like just a bunch of old wooden buildings. You are actually correct. But how old ? Try almost 1,000 years old. These wooden structures date back to 1020 A.D., just 50 years before Bergen was incorporated as a city. Norway's capital was located in Bergen from the late 1100's until 1299. These old wharfside buildings are the remnants of what early merchants built in Bergen to do their business with oversea traders. It was an ice free harbor in from the harsh North Sea and was a free port for northern Norwegian traders to bring their goods. The majority of foreign traders were Germanic and by the early 1300's these buildings were taken over by the northern Germanic Hanseatic League. Trading included fish, both dried and fresh, textiles, foodstuffs, silver and leather goods. In Norwegian, the word "Bryggen" means the landing stage or wharf. It is also known as "Tyskebryggen" or the German wharf. The Norwegian dialect in this area has a very distinct hard sounding Germanic vernacular. Most of these structures and foundations remain from those early trading days though many have needed new roofs, siding and other replacement from weather and fires over the years. Recent excavations of one buildings foundations have revealed tools and utensils from the early trading days. Though the buildings lean, tilt, are twisted and look very rickety, they continue to be used by retail trading merchants. It is recorded that in the year 1349 AD the Black Death, that wiped out more than half the population of Norway, was inadvertantly brought to Bergen by an English trading ship. German influence can also be seen by the shape of the copper steeples on the buildings to the right hand side of the photo.

Despite having visited Bergen many times over the years, I have always found it difficult to photograph Bryggen without people  present, due to the fact it is one of Norway's most visited tourist attractions. Bryggen is on the UNESCO list as a World Cultural Heritage site. Not far down the road from this photo is the city's fish market that serves thousands of shoppers each day of the week.