The Sailors’ Monument

The seafarers' monument, in Bergen

The seafarers' monument, seven metres high, pays tribute to the sailors of Norway on a great pedestrian square of Bergen. The Bergen audio-guided tour stops here, with respect, to evoke this work of the sculptor Dyre Vaa, inaugurated in 1950, celebrating the age-old link of the nation with the sea.

The tribute to the people of the sea

Arrived on the immense pedestrian square of the town centre, you cannot miss the monument of seven metres high to the glory of the sailors of Norway. It is the work of the sculptor Dyre Vaa, and it was inaugurated on the 7th of June 1950. On each of its four faces, the monument pays tribute to a different era of Norwegian maritime history, from the ancient times of the Vikings, these formidable navigators, to the sailors of the modern era, passing by the great periods of the navigation and the trade. It celebrates thus the deep and ancestral link that unites Norway to the sea: a country of fjords, coasts and islands, the nation has always lived from the ocean, the fishing, the maritime trade and the navigation, and its sailors have sailed all the seas of the globe. The monument honours the courage, the labour and the sacrifices of these men of the sea, often confronted with the dangers and the storms, and celebrates an essential part of the Norwegian identity. Imposing and solemn, it dominates the square and constitutes a major landmark of the centre of Bergen. An emblematic monument and a tribute to the sailors, the seafarers' monument is discovered with respect.

What to see

Here you discover, with respect, the monument of seven metres high to the glory of the sailors of Norway, work of the sculptor Dyre Vaa inaugurated in 1950; its four faces pay tribute to a different era of Norwegian maritime history, from the Vikings to the modern sailors, celebrating the ancestral link of this country of fjords with the sea and honouring the courage and the sacrifices of the people of the sea. The seafarers' monument is an emblematic tribute of Bergen. It is a stop to be discovered with respect.

Practical information

The seafarers' monument stands on a great pedestrian square of the centre of Bergen, reachable on foot. It is an open-air monument, freely accessible, a major landmark of the town centre. You discover it during a walk, with the respect due to this place of tribute.

What does the seafarers' monument of Bergen represent?

A tribute to the sailors of Norway: seven metres high, work of the sculptor Dyre Vaa inaugurated on the 7th of June 1950, it pays tribute on each of its four faces to a different era of Norwegian maritime history, from the Vikings to the modern sailors, celebrating the ancestral link of this country of fjords with the sea and the courage of the people of the sea.

Where is the seafarers' monument in Bergen?

On a great pedestrian square of the centre of Bergen, in Norway.