Take your children on a journey through time and space! Follow in the footsteps of kings and queens. Experience medieval treasures, cannons, eerie dungeons. FREE entrance at ordinary visits to our museums for children under 18 years of age (children under 14 years of age must be accompanied by an adult). Half price on guided tours. Events separate prices.
Bymuseet i Bergen, Sjøforsvarets musikkorps, and the Commander of Bergenhus Fortress warmly invite you to our family-friendly pre-Christmas celebration at the Fortress.
Step into the true Christmas spirit with a mini-concert in King Håkon’s Hall featuring musicians from Sjøforsvarets musikkorps. As part of our cherished tradition, the Christmas tree will be lit in the courtyard (Borggården), followed by festive sing-alongs led by a brass ensemble from the band.
And who knows? Perhaps the Fortress Santa will make an appearance!
Program:
18:00–18:35: Concert by Sjøforsvarets musikkorps
18:40: Christmas tree lighting in Borggården
19:00–19:35: Concert by Sjøforsvarets musikkorps
Performers:
Sjøforsvarets musikkorps led by bandleader Erik Eilertsen (trumpet)
Soloist: Jannike Kruse
This event is free and open to all.
Free parking is available at Koengen from 17:15 to 20:15.
We look forward to welcoming you!
Location of the King Håkon’s Hall
Welcome to Christmas at Bryggen on Saturday, November 30th! Enjoy the Christmas spirit in unique surroundings.
At Bryggens Museum, in collaboration with Bjørgvin Handverkslag, we’re hosting a medieval mini Christmas market at the museum entrance.
Here, you can purchase unique handmade, historically inspired Christmas gifts in textiles, leather, wood, and metal.
In our Scriptorium inside the museum, you can try writing with a quill and ink or create your own laws through calligraphy and illumination activities suitable for both children and adults.
Activities inside and entrance to the museum are free for all children under 18, but children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
Also, visit the museum shop and café for a pleasant end to the day.
Step into the holiday hustle of the Helland family in 1886 and pay a visit to the Regens family home as it was in 1826 – all vividly portrayed by our skilled actors.
Stop by a festively decorated general store, and enjoy a cup of coffee in our charming café at the square. Join in gingerbread baking, participate in a Christmas decoration workshop, and perhaps you’ll meet Santa in the barn!
The event ends with a torchlight procession, Christmas tree dance, and caroling.
There will be a café and sales of traditional Christmas candy, cakes, and gifts from 1873, both in the general store and at the square.
The pre-Christmas event takes place from 12 PM to 4 PM, followed by a torchlight procession from 4 PM to 5 PM. After the procession, we’ll sing together to welcome Advent around the Christmas tree at the square!
Public transportation is advised. No parking is available in Old Bergen.
A heartfelt welcome!
Buy tickets to Pre-christmas day at Old Bergen Museum
Location of Old Bergen Museum
When you are visiting Bryggens Museum, you can solve puzzles and go on a treasure hunt in the exhibition Below Ground every day. Feel free to join our drawing competition! Free activity booklet and maybe a smaill prizereward for children.
Location of Bryggens Museum
Buy your tickets to Bryggens Museum
In 1274, King Magnus VI Håkonsson presented the Laws of the Land, a legislation for all his kingdom. He was the third ruler in medieval Europe to take on such great legislative work. The Laws of the Land were to be applicable law for over 400 years! For his efforts to improve the laws and the legal system, king Magnus is known to posterity by the nickname the Lawmender.
A collaboration between Bymuseet i Bergen, University Museum of Bergen, University of Bergen Library and Vestland municipality. It is part of the National celebration of the Laws of the Lands.
Exhibition at Bryggens Museum May 22nd 2024 – April 22nd 2025
Come and see the hall of the king himself! Hundreds of knights and royal dignitaries celebrated weddings and coronation ceremonies here for hundreds of years.
How high do you think the roof is? In the lower storey, we see where the king’s scribes sat writing with their quills, and the king once kept his treasure trove in the cellar!
Location of the King Håkon’s Hall
At Rosenkrantz Tower, you can make your way up steep stairwells from room to room, through chambers and parlours where the princes and princesses of the Middle Ages lived. In the cellar, you can see the dark and eerie dungeon, and almost right at the top, you find the cannons, ready to be fired against pirates and enemies who were trying to capture Bergen.
Location of the Rosenkrantz Tower
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.
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.
This beautiful area and surrondings can be visited all year round!
