Korskirken, the Church of the Cross, was first mentioned in written sources in 1181. It has burnt several times, and today we can clearly see how the church has been restored and expanded time and again. The church originally got its name from being dedicated to the Holy Cross, but during its many reconstructions it has also been given the shape of a cross.

The Cathedral of Bergen in has existed nearly 900 years. The church was dedicated to the Norwegian saint Olav around 1150. Since then it has burnt five times and was even hit by a cannonball in 1665. The cannonball is still firmly stuck in the church tower to remind us of a time with battles in the bay.

Doctor Wiesener’s public bath house opened September 7. 1889, the year after the death of medical doctor Joachim Wiesener. The bath house was erected in grateful memory to the doctors professional work and for his valuable contributions to the community. Locally initiated, the bath house was erected for the benefit of "the less fortunate" as well as in fond memory of the good doctor. Today the building is home to a pub that promotes neighbourly friendship.

The Bedlam was a public nursing institution for mentally ill people. The Bedlam, which was started in 1762, was probably a place for the keeping rather than the nursing of the ill. Either way it was an improvement to the care offered to the mentally ill in the past – the basement under the Town Hall, right next to the prison.

During the second half of the nineteenth century, meat markets were established all over Europe as well as in Bergen. This happened for two reasons. First of all, there was a large increase in the population, particularly in the towns and cities. Secondly, knowledge about health and hygiene also increased among the general population at this time.

If you one day found yourself being a slave at Bergenhus Fort and Castle, you had turned into a criminal of great proportions, such as a notorius thief or a killer. The Slave prison was not a place where the rehabilitation of criminals was a highly regarded philosophy. But if anything at all was to soften the hardened criminal’s heart, it would have to be the words of the Lord. In 1840 two rooms in the crypt of Håkon’s Hall were turned into a church for the slaves.

The basement in the Town Hall was used as a prison until 1867, when Bergen County Jail was ready to incarcerate criminals – one man to one prison cell. In the Town Hall basement more than twelve prisoners could be put in each cell. The basement also accommodated the mentally ill in a bedlam.

Bergen Fire Station is situated in central Bergen next to both the old and the new Town Hall. The fire station was built in 1888, but the fire brigade had used the beautiful Hagerup’s town house as residence for the fire chief since 1863.

The fire station at Skansen was built in 1903. After a big fire in 1901, the city acknowledged the need for an up-to-date fire department and found hidden resources for its funding. The investments of 1903 are still enjoyable for us today - the fire station is now a cultural heritage site and among the town’s many prides. Mind you, not everyone praised the building’s architecture in 1903…