The afternoon a fire reshaped Bergen
On 15 January 1916, a fire started in a waterfront warehouse and spread through the city’s commercial centre.
Strong winds made the firefighters’ task almost impossible. The fire began in a building near Murallmenningen and spread through the area between Vågen, the town hall and Engen. It took about ten hours to fight. When it was extinguished, much of the commercial centre lay in ruins.
Rebuilding a city means more than putting fallen walls back up. After the disaster, Bergen drew up plans for its streets and the appearance of new buildings. Even the row facing Vågen was meant to relate visually to Bryggen across the water.
The result is still part of a walk through the centre today. Some places look old at first glance, yet belong to the Bergen that emerged after the fire. Photographs and maps from before 1916 offer a powerful way of seeing both cities at once.