Bergen

Bergen,

town (1994 pop. 13,200), Lower Saxony, N Germany, 13 mi (21 km) NW of CelleCelle
, city (1994 pop. 73,670), Lower Saxony, N Germany, on the Aller River. Its manufactures include food products, electronic components, chemicals, and oil-drilling equipment. Wax processing and horse breeding are important locally. Celle was chartered in 1294.
..... Click the link for more information. . Building materials are manufactured. A North Atlantic Treaty Organization base is outside the town; a group of Neolithic dolmens is within the base. Nearby is the former site of Bergen-Belsen. Originally a prisoner-of-war camp, it was converted to a concentration campconcentration camp,
a detention site outside the normal prison system created for military or political purposes to confine, terrorize, and, in some cases, kill civilians.
..... Click the link for more information. in 1942. Some 100,000 camp inmates, among them Anne FrankFrank, Anne,
1929–45, German diarist, b. Frankfurt as Anneliese Marie Frank. In order to escape Nazi persecution, her family emigrated (1933) to Amsterdam, where her father Otto became a business owner.
..... Click the link for more information. and Josef ČapekČapek, Josef
, 1887–1945, Czech writer and painter. He collaborated with his brother Karel on a number of plays and short stories. On his own he wrote the utopian play Land of Many Names (1923, tr. 1926) and several novels.
..... Click the link for more information. , died of disease, starvation, and other causes. A museum and memorial are there.

Bergen

Bergen auf Rügen,

Germany: see RügenRügen
, island (1994 est. pop. 85,000), 358 sq mi (927 sq km), Mecklenburg–West Pomerania, NE Germany, in the Baltic Sea, separated from the mainland by the Strelasund.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bergen,

N.J.: see Jersey CityJersey City,
city (1990 pop. 228,537), seat of Hudson co., NE N.J., a port on a peninsula formed by the Hudson and Hackensack rivers and Upper New York Bay, opposite lower Manhattan; settled before 1650, inc. as Jersey City 1836.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bergen

(bĕr`gən), city (1995 pop. 221,645), capital of Hordaland co., SW Norway, situated on inlets of the North Sea. It is Norway's second largest city and a major shipping center. Formerly a major textile and ship-building center, the city's economy is now mainly service-based, including educational, medical, technical, insurance, financial, and retailing services. A small shipyard and ship-repair facilities remain. Other manufacturing includes fish processing, steel, machinery, and electrical equipment.

Founded c.1070 by Olaf III (Olaf Kyrre), Bergen soon became the largest city of medieval Norway. It was often the royal seat, and the earliest coronations took place there. The city became an establishment of the Hanseatic LeagueHanseatic League
, mercantile league of medieval German towns. It was amorphous in character; its origin cannot be dated exactly. Originally a Hansa was a company of merchants trading with foreign lands.
..... Click the link for more information. in the mid-14th cent. The Hansa merchants, enjoying extraterritorial privileges, imposed their unpopular rule on Bergen until 1560, and thereafter continued to have influence until the late 18th cent. During the disturbances accompanying the Reformation (16th cent.), most of the city's old churches and monasteries were destroyed. However, Bergen remained Norway's leading city until the rise of OsloOslo
, city (1995 pop. 482,555), capital of Norway, of Akershus co., and of Oslo co. (175 sq mi/453 sq km), SE Norway, at the head of the Oslofjord (a deep inlet of the Skagerrak).
..... Click the link for more information. in the 19th cent.

The center of Bergen was rebuilt after a severe fire in 1916. Nevertheless, the city retains many impressive monuments of its medieval past. One of its most famous buildings is Bergenhus fortress, which contains Haakon's Hall (1261); it was rebuilt after being heavily damaged in World War II. Other old buildings include the Quay, a group of wooden quayside houses rebuilt in their medieval style after a fire in 1702; St. Mary's Church (12th cent.); Fantoft Stavkirke (12th cent., destroyed by fire in 1994 and reconstructed); and, just south of Bergen, the 12th-century ruins of Norway's first Cistercian monastery.

One of the chief cultural and educational centers of Norway, Bergen has a university (founded 1948), a school of economics and business administration, several scientific institutes, and a Hanseatic museum. Bergen's theater was founded (1850) by the composer and violinist Ole Bull and gained international recognition under such directors as Ibsen and Bjørnson. The dramatist Ludvig HolbergHolberg, Ludvig, Baron
, 1684–1754, Danish dramatist, essayist, poet, and historian, apostle of the Enlightenment in Scandinavia. Born in Norway, he studied theology in Bergen and in Copenhagen. After 1708 he made Denmark his home, residing there between European travels.
..... Click the link for more information. and the composer Edvard GriegGrieg, Edvard Hagerup
, 1843–1907, Norwegian composer. Grieg developed a strongly nationalistic style which made him known as "the Voice of Norway." He received piano lessons from his mother and later studied at the Leipzig Conservatory. Influenced by N. V.
..... Click the link for more information. were born in Bergen.

Bergen

a city and port in western Norway on the shore of the North Sea, deep within By Fjord. After Oslo, Bergen is the second city in the country in population and economic importance. Population, 117,000 (1968); 180,000 including suburbs.

The port of Bergen handled over 3 million tons of freight in 1965. Industry includes shipbuilding, machine building, food processing, textiles, and garment making. Bergen has had a university since 1946 and has a higher school of business.

Bergen has the remains of a fortress with the Haakonshallen (the king’s hall, 1246–61) and the Rosencrantz Tower (1560’s), the Maria Church (12th century) and baroque-style dwellings from the 17th and 18th centuries. Bergen has been built by systematic planning since 1855. Sections of the city that were destroyed between 1940 and 1945 are being rebuilt according to new plans, and new sections are being created, such as the Strimmelen district, 1959, designed by architect H. Grieg.

Bergen also has the Vestlandske Museum of Applied Art (founded in 1887), the Rasmus Meyer collection, art galleries, the Museum of History, the Hanseatic Museum, the Maritime and Fishing Museum, and the Edvard Grieg House (Troldhaugen).

Founded around 1070, Bergen was one of the major trade centers of northwestern Europe in the Middle Ages. The Hanseatic merchants founded a trading station in Bergen around 1350 and seized full control of the city in the 15th century (finally losing power in 1630). Bergen was occupied by German fascist troops from Apr. 9,1940, to May 8, 1945.

REFERENCE

Lexov, E. Bergen. Bergen, 1935.

Bergen

1. a port in SW Norway: chief city in medieval times. Pop.: 237 430 (2004 est.) 2. the Flemish name for Mons

Bergen

Ber·gen

bergen

Bergen

Ber•gen

Bergen

Bergen,

Bergen

Bergen auf Rügen,

Bergen,

Bergen

Bergen

REFERENCE

Bergen

Bergen

Words related to Bergen

noun a port city in southwestern Norway

Related Words