Tag Archives: Bergen

Norway: Bergen, Scotland, waterfalls and green roofs

Joanna’s trip to Norway is full of memories, of Bergen and more

The panorama above shows the city of Bergen, taken from the top of the Fløien hill which is reached by a funicular railway. Bergen residents will tell you, with some pride, that it rains there every day. But, as you can see from my pic, it wasn’t raining while we were up at Fløien. It did rain later, though, so the Bergen residents were right.

Bergen funicular to Fløien, crossing pointFløien is a great spot for viewing the city of Bergen. You can see everything. So loads of tourists go up there on the funicular.

My images of it aren’t great, but this is the passing place in the middle, where the up car balances out the down car on the right of my pic. For the rest of the trip, there is only one set of rails. And if you look closely, you can just about make out the cogs between the rails since it’s very steep.

It felt like we were going up and down at an angle of about 45°. There were railings dividing off sections inside the car so that we didn’t topple into other standing passengers. Very practical, these Norwegians.

Troll at Fløien above Bergen

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The Hanseatic League (Hanse): zenith and decline

Hanseatic League stall with spices and exotic fruits

Replica of Hanseatic League (Hanse) stall selling spices and exotic fruits

Hanse trade was vast

In last week’s blog, I wrote about the rise of the Hanseatic League or Hanse. It became very powerful—and extremely rich—simply by working really hard and trading very cleverly. To give you an idea of how extensive Hanse trade was, take a look at this graphic from the Hansemuseum of all the items traded through Bruges (click to enlarge to read):

Hanseatic League imports and exports through Bruges Kontor

imports: cloth at the top, metals, foodstuffs, weapons, exotic animals, luxury goods and more 
Exports: jewels, pearls, carpets, parchment, sugar, weapons, furs, sponges, dyes and more

Clearly, if you were wealthy enough, you could buy practically anything known at the time. At the top of the blog, I’ve repeated last week’s image of a replica spice stall. But there are more. Continue reading →

The Hanseatic League (Hanse): origins and growth

Hanseatic League trading range 16th c.

Hanseatic League trading range in the 16th century and key trading partners

Who in Britain has heard of the Hanseatic League (in German, die Hanse)? And yet the Hanseatic League was probably the most powerful trading network in northern Europe for centuries, from its inception around the 12th century until its demise in the 17th.

What’s more, one of the Hanse’s prime locations—you may be surprised to learn—was London. In 1176, King Henry II granted merchants from Cologne the privilege of establishing their own trading post in London. And from then on, their business flourished.

I recently visited Hanseatic League cities and towns in Germany, from Berlin to Lübeck. Continue reading →