BERGEN, city and seaport, west Norway, in lat. 6o° 23' N., forming a separate county (amt). Pop. It beau— tifully situated on the broad Byfjord, and partly on a promontory between the excellent harbour (Vaagen) and the Puddefjord. The two Lungegaard lakes isolate the site landwards, and are surrounded by parks which form the pleasure-ground of Bergen. From the fjord the city rises in an amphitheatre, with the houses, of wood or stucco, painted in reds and yellows. The settlement (formerly B jorgvin), founded by King Olaf in I o 7 0-1 o75, grew rapidly and figured prominently in the subsequent civil wars. The Hansa merchants increased the prosperity of the town from to 1558. They maintained a position, indeed, until 1764, inhabiting the German quarter (Tydskenbryggen) . Their care fully preserved store-house (gaard) is now occupied by the "Hanseatic Museum." The broad open spaces (Almenninge) so characteristic of Bergen and other Norwegian towns are in tended as a safeguard against fire. Disastrous fires occurred in 1702, 1855 and 1916. Since 1916 the central part of the town has been replanned, and a new road built from the old German quay, where the ancient warehouses and dark courts are disap pearing. A garden suburb has also been laid out at Finbergaasen.
The cathedral of Bergen was rebuilt in the i6th century. The Romanesque nave of Mariae Kirke is the most noteworthy ex ample of early architecture; the prevailing poverty in this respect is to be ascribed to the general use of wood for building purposes. The Vestlandske fishery and industrial museum is of interest, while the Bergen museum has archaeological and natural history collections. The Art Gallery contains the Rasmus Meyer collection of Norwegian paintings and furniture. Among distin guished natives Ole Bull and Edvard Grieg should be mentioned. The port has extensive quays and several engineering works, with ship-building yards attached. There are six patent slips and three dry docks. The trade is second only to that of Oslo. Net tonnage (1925) 1,174,754. The staple export is fish and fish products; also butter, copper ore and hides. Principal imports : coal, ma chinery, grain and provisions. Industries include weaving and distilling, with manufactures of paper, pottery, tobacco and ropes. The fishing-smacks and timber-ships of the harbour give it a picturesque aspect; it is fronted by the Tory or market place. The Bergenhus and Fredriksberg forts are placed at the north and south entries of the harbour respectively. The Sverres borg is another old fort. Bergen is an important centre of the extensive tourist traffic of Norway.
a town in the province of North Brabant, Holland, on both sides of the small river Zoom, near its confluence with the east Scheldt, 38Ym. by rail E. by N. of Flush ing. It communicates with Antwerp (2om. S.) and with the islands of Tholen and Duiveland to the north-west. Pop. (193o) 21,652. It is an old town. It was taken by the Normans in 880. In the 13th century Count Gerhard of Wesemael surrounded it with walls and built a castle. In the 15th century it prospered greatly through its fisheries and its cloth-trade. In 1576 the town joined the United Netherlands, and was fortified. In 1588 it was success fully defended against the duke of Parma, and in 16o5 was sud denly attacked by Du Terail. In 1622 the Spaniards again failed to take the town. In the 17th century the fortifications were strengthened by Coehoorn, and in 1725 further extended. In 1747 the town was taken by the French, under Lowendahl. Re stored at the end of the war, it was again taken by the French under Pichegru in 1795. The English failed to take it from the French, who surrendered the place later by the treaty of peace.
The lordship of Bergen-op-Zoom after the union of the Low Countries with the Empire in 924, was an hereditary fief of the Empire, and the succession of its lords may be traced from Henry (I098-1 1 2 5 ), who also held Breda. In 1533 it was raised to a margraviate by Charles V., and was held by various families until in 1799 it passed to the royal house of Bavaria, by whom it was renounced in favour of the Batavian republic in 18o1. Bergen op-Zoom has a town hall and an academy of design and archi tecture. The remains of the castle of the margraves has been converted into barracks. A considerable trade is carried on in anchovies and oysters caught in the Scheldt as well as a large sugar-beet industry.