St Jorgen's Hospital

Bergen had the largest concentration of leprosy patients in Europe in the nineteenth century, and it was here in 1873 that Gerhard Armauer Hansen identified the bacterium that causes the disease, which is why it is called Hansen's disease. St Jorgen's Hospital, rebuilt after the city fire of 1702 and in use until the last two residents died in 1946, is preserved almost untouched: a wooden courtyard building with small rooms opening off galleries, a chapel, a kitchen and the pharmacy. The museum keeps the rooms as they were and covers the medical research, the patients' lives and the segregation policy that shaped them. It is part of a wider group of Bergen leprosy archives inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World register.

History

A leprosy hospital in Bergen is documented in 1411, run by the nuns of Nonneseter Abbey, and was probably the forerunner of this hospital and its church. The hospital was rebuilt after fires in 1640 and in the city fire of 1702, the green wooden church dates from 1706, and its present appearance comes from a reconstruction in 1789-90 (Wikipedia, St George's Church, Bergen).

What you'll find

• The preserved wards - small rooms off galleries in a wooden courtyard building.
• The hospital chapel - the church used by the residents.
• The Hansen story - the 1873 identification of the bacterium in Bergen.
• The patients' accounts - records and personal histories from the archives.

When to go

May to September, the main opening season, with limited hours outside it; the museum is small and can be combined with a walk through central Bergen. It closes for events and restoration periods.

Good to know

The subject is grim and the presentation does not soften it, which some visitors find heavy going. The building is cold and the season short. The museum is small, taking about an hour.

Nearby

Bergen's centre and Bryggen are a short walk; the Bergen cathedral is nearby.