The Kontor at Bergen: Hanseatic Outpost in Norway
The kontor at Bergen in Norway was the smallest of the four great kontore of the Hanseatic League, but it was the most isolated and, in some ways, the most distinctive. The kontor had existed in some form since the thirteenth century, and it was formalised by the Treaty of Bergen in 1293, which granted the merchants of the League the right to trade in the port of Bergen and to be judged by Hanseatic law in disputes with the Norwegians.
A fish kontor
The kontor at Bergen was principally a fish kontor. Stockfish (dried cod, the Stockfisch of the Tyskebryggen wharf) was the principal export, and the kontor’s warehouses on the wharf at Bergen, the Tyskebryggen or German Wharf, were among the busiest in the North. The merchants of the kontor were, for the most part, drawn from the cities of the Wendish district, and they lived in the kontor’s hostels, ate in the kontor’s dining halls, and worshipped in the kontor’s church.
A useful background: the stockfish trade was one of the great Mediterranean-style trades of northern Europe, even though Bergen is, of course, well north of the Mediterranean. Stockfish — cod dried in the open air without salt — was a staple of the medieval European diet, especially in Lent. Bergen was the principal port for the Lofoten fisheries, and the Hanseatic kontor was the principal distribution point for the catch.
Governance
The kontor at Bergen was governed by a council of aldermen elected by the merchants of the participating cities, and the council had extensive powers. The council regulated the conduct of trade, arbitrated disputes among the merchants, maintained the warehouses and the hostels, and represented the merchants in dealings with the Norwegian crown. The kontor also had its own bailiff, who was responsible for the day-to-day running of the kontor and who represented the kontor in dealings with the local authorities.
A specific note on the bailiff (Büttel): the Bergen’s Büttel was, in effect, the chief executive of the kontor, and the office was a position of considerable authority. The Büttel was usually elected by the kontor council, and the Büttel represented the kontor in dealings with the Norwegian crown and the city of Bergen. The Norwegian kings occasionally attempted to limit the bailiff’s authority, and the resulting tensions were a recurring feature of the kontor’s history.
Privileges
The kontor at Bergen enjoyed privileges that were extensive but less so than those of the other great kontore. The merchants of the kontor were allowed to trade freely in the port of Bergen, they were allowed to maintain the warehouses on the German Wharf, and they were judged by Hanseatic law in disputes with the Norwegians. The privileges of the kontor were constantly under threat, and the kontor had to fight several conflicts with the Norwegian crown to defend them.
A distinctive culture
The kontor at Bergen was, in many ways, the most isolated of the four great kontore, and the kontor had a distinctive culture that was different from the other kontore. The kontor was the principal centre of the Norwegian fish trade, and the kontor’s merchants were, for the most part, drawn from the cities of the Wendish district. The kontor’s culture was strongly Wendish, and the kontor’s culture was one of the most distinctive features of the Hanseatic world.
A specific note: the kontor at Bergen was the principal point of Hanseatic cultural presence in Norway — the Hanseatic merchants brought the German language, German legal practices, and German religious institutions to a Norwegian context. The kontor’s influence is still visible in the architecture of the Tyskebryggen, and in the German loanwords that entered Norwegian from the kontor’s heyday. The Rasmus Meyers Samlinger in Bergen, the principal Norwegian art museum, is housed in a building commissioned by a Norwegian industrialist of the early 20th century who had made his fortune in the same fish trade that the kontor had dominated.
The Tyskebryggen today
The Tyskebryggen, the German Wharf, is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed 1979 — the oldest of the Hanseatic inscriptions), and the wharf is one of the principal tourist attractions of the city of Bergen. The wharf consists of a row of wooden buildings that face the harbour, and the buildings are some of the most distinctive Hanseatic monuments in Norway.
A specific note: the 1979 Bryggen inscription was actually the first Hanseatic UNESCO inscription, and it is the model for the subsequent inscriptions of Lübeck (1987), Bruges (2000), Stralsund-Wismar (2002), Tallinn (1997), Riga (1997), and Hamburg Speicherstadt (2015). The Bergen inscription is, in a sense, the prototype for the recognition of Hanseatic heritage as world heritage.