Old Bergen Museum - Bymuseet i Bergen

In the 1800s Bergen was Europe’s biggest wooden city, a distinctive city environment with closely spaced wooden buildings, busy streets, markets and alleys. How did it look? What did people talk about?

In Old Bergen, the whole family can experience life in the "old days". Here you can stroll and look in the houses, feed the birds, climb the trees and, not least, visit the Civil Servant´s family in 1826 and the Merchant's family in 1886. On the square, short plays are played throughout the day, and in between it all the children can join in the fun and games. Traditional cinnamon buns, ice cream and soft drinks are sold in the museum kiosk. And not least, we look forward to welcoming you to our café on the square!

The Living Museum

At old Bergen open air museum you can experience some of this atmosphere, with houses from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Actors makes history come alive.
What did it look like? What did people talk about?

In the cobbled streets of the Old Bergen Museum, you are welcome to come into the houses and explore on your own, or maybe have a chat with one of the people who "live" here? In close proximity to the city center and scenic surroundings, you can meet both lords and servants from times gone by. You can peek in through the windows, enter the houses to look at exhibitions and historic interiors. Inside the house you will find information with brief information about the history of the houses. The museum’s actors brings the site to life and provide answers to some of the questions on how life could have been lived in Bergen one or two hundred years ago.

Old Bergen becomes a museum

The museum was opened in 1949 and is built around the summer house "Elsesro" which shipbuilder Rasmus Rolfsen built for his wife Elsebe. The property was owned by the Rolfsen family from 1784 to 1903. Here, the family built a shipyard and a summerhouse, and later a park in the style of a formal English garden. Old Bergen foundation succeeded in establishing the museum as a safe haven for Bergen’s old buildings, which were threatened with being torn down. The houses which you will find at the museum arrived between 1945 and 1981. The open air Museum has today 55 wooden houses, most of which originally stood in the centre of Bergen.

The park

Take a stroll in the surrounding english park which is ideal for peacefullness, inspiration. Open to all visitors. Maybe it's tempting to take a dip in seaside bathing facility at Elsesro (Sandviken Sjøbad)? Just remember that grilling and the use of open fire is prohibited in the museum area.

The area can be visited all year round!

During the summer you can enjoy a small cruise with "Beffen" to and from Old Bergen Museum from the Fish Market. (From June until the end of August)

Groups:
E-mail: booking@bymuseet.no - 25% group discount for 10 people or more.