Grieghallen

The imposing municipal philharmonic, opened in 1978, is home to the orchestra of the ‘Harmonien’ Music Society (since 1987, officially named the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra). The Grieg Hall has a capacity of 1500, with the Peer Gynt Chamber Hall seating 450.

On 1 November 1894, in a letter sent from the Grand Hotel in Christiania to the consul Joachim Grieg, Edvard Grieg enumerated the following individuals who had joined the campaign for the building of a philharmonic hall: Conrad Mohr, Klaus Hanssen, C. Sundt and Didrik Smit. The design was for a wooden concert hall in Engen, and the composer recommended the architect Sverre, ‘who has built in wood in various styles for the German kaiser’. The financing of the building was to be based on the purchase of shares offered by Klaus Hanssen and Edvard Grieg.

Grieg’s plan was realised eighty-four years later.