Damsgård manor house
The manor house Damsgård (Norwegian: Damsgård hovedgård ), also called Jansongård , is considered to be one of the main Rococo works in Norway and is one of the best-preserved mansions of wooden architecture of the 18th century in Europe. The building is located at Alléen 29 in the Damsgård district of the Laksevåg district in Bergen . Today it is part of the city museums in Bergen.
history
Damsgård manor was built in the Håsteinar area. Håsteinar is the former name of the house and is derived from the old Norse Hásteinar, which means high stone. There are two theories about how the name came about. It is believed that it was derived either from the 284 meter high Damsgårdfjellet or from a group of large stones in Damgård Bay.
The settlement on the area goes back to the Middle Ages and there are assumptions that the place was settled as early as the beginning of the 12th century. The first written mention comes from Munkelivs jordebok , a land register of the Munkeliv monastery , from 1427. In the course of the Reformation , the area - like the other church properties - was in 1536 by King Christian III. confiscated. King Frederick II sold the property to Tønnes Claussøn in 1562. With the purchase contract, he committed himself to building a merchant's house. Various private owners followed after Claussøn. The author Fossen names people from Bergen, but also Dutch, Germans, Danes and French.
Merchant house
There is no evidence that a merchant's farm existed before the 17th century. A merchant's house is shown on a map by J. van Geelkerck from 1653, which is now in the city collection of the Historisk Museum in Bergen. It is the building at Damsgårdveien 174. In the 17th century, Dam Tønnessøn took over the property from his father Tønnes Clausson. He is considered to be the namesake of the farm and the name Damsgård is first mentioned in the Bergens sagefallsregnskap , the repayment book of Bergen, in 1643. During this century both names - Håsteinar and Damsgård - are used interchangeably.
According to an appraisal from 1731, the tile-roofed house was equipped with a living room, an everyday room, chambers and a kitchen with a chimney, pantry and earth cellar . Two tiles from the Beilegerofen , which were found during a restoration, were marked with the dates 1673 and 1699.
Damsgård manor house
The oldest part of the manor house that exists today probably dates from the time of Severin Seehusen (1664–1726). The building was currently also used as a pleasure house , but at the same time it also functioned as a normal residential building. It was painted in the strong colors of red and green. This and the room layout are known from a tax document from 1731.
In 1769 the General War Commissioner Joachim Christian Geelmuyden Gyldenkrantz (1730–1795) took over the property. A year later he decided to renovate and in the late 1770s the building got its U-shape, a tower on top of the main building and the famous rococo facade. Gyldenkrantz died on the property at Christmas 1795 and it was auctioned in 1796 to the court factor Herman Didrich Janson (1757–1822), currently one of the richest merchants in Bergen.
Janson carried out minor renovations and the house remained in the family until 1983. In 1865 an extensive interior renovation took place, during which many rooms were painted and papered. The house was inhabited all year round from around 1870 until it was handed over to the state and the Vestlandske Kunstindustriemuseum Bergen in 1983. The building needed another major renovation, but was relatively well maintained. The restoration work took ten years before the museum could open on June 28, 1993. Since 2005, the management of the house has been the responsibility of the Bymuseet i Bergen , the Bergen City Museum.
In April 2013, an accident occurred in which a car rolled over the main gate and drove into the rear facade of the main building.
Damsgård manor has been a listed building since February 27, 1924.
architecture
The main facade of the U-shaped building faces the port entrance to Bergen. It is larger than the house itself and designed in the Rococo style. In order to create a perfect symmetry of the facade, some windows to the Herrengarten are only painted on the facade.
The seated pillar - a curiosity
The main portal is flanked by two pillars with decorative gables. The pillars stand on base elements, so-called pedestals , which curve towards the door. This architectural detail is not known from other places and it contradicts the supporting function of the column. However, it can be found on several altar panels in Vestlandet , Norway , all of which were probably produced in Bergen. On some of them there is the same curved column. Valentin Wedel's drawing of the main facade bears a striking resemblance to the upper piece of the altarpiece in Sykkylven , so that the author is probably the same. The current main facade, however, was subsequently changed around 1800 on the triangular gable. The art historian Jan Hendrich Lexow is of the opinion that the book Prospettiva de pittori e architetti (Rome 1693–1700) by the Jesuit father Andrea Pozzo is the background of this Vestland phenomenon. Pozzo rendered 13 different altar compositions in one and declared them as altare capriccioso , which also has curved columns. The book was widely distributed in Europe, but this architectural motif is not knowingly used anywhere outside of Vestlandet.
Division of the building
The front hallway is at the main entrance and is used to receive guests. The walls are decorated with supraports depicting themes from Munkholmen near Trondheim , Fredriksberg in Copenhagen and whaling in the North Sea. The floor is covered with marble slabs from mountains. To the right of the hall is the Blue Room, to the left the Golden Room and straight ahead you come to the rear hallway that leads out to the courtyard.
The rear hallway faces the courtyard. The door to the courtyard dates from the 18th century. It was originally located in the main facade and was installed in the courtyard facade in the course of the renovations under Gyldenkrantz around 1770. You can also see traces of the first staircase, which was also built in the 18th century. An extinguishing bucket from the time of the first Janson is also here.
The Blue Room is a walk-through room and is located to the right of the entrance and to the left of the Red Cabinet. The room has a view of Laksevåg Church and the Kirkebukt. The room got its name from the blue and white velor wallpaper that was attached under Gyldenkrantz during the renovation work. The bottom is more recent. There are many portraits and engravings on the walls, including a portrait of Gyldenkrantz made by JCC Michaelsen in 1783. In the room there is a chandelier and a magnificent stove with dark tiles, which is relatively rare in Norway. The stove was manufactured in Germany in the middle of the 18th century. Several silver objects are kept and exhibited in a cupboard.
The red cabinet is directly connected to the blue room and offers the same view. The room got its name from its red wallpaper, which dates from around 1865. The furniture dates from the middle of the 19th century.
The women's room is on the west side of the main house. It connects to the red cabinet and you have access to the small kitchen. From the window you can see the women's garden. A large late 18th century four-poster bed is in the bedroom.
The small kitchen adjoins the women's room and has a view of the courtyard. This kitchen was used when there were no festivities in the manor house. The room is still designed as the Janson family left it in 1983.
The Golden Room is on the main facade, opposite the Blue Room. It is richly furnished, but the furnishings are from the first half of the 19th century. The gold tone of the walls comes from the period when Herman Didrich Janson took over the house.
The medallion room adjoins the golden room and forms a corner room on the main and east facade. The room is decorated in light red tones and there are five painted medallions on the walls, which are decorated with frames and infills. The paintings show landscapes and one depicts Janson's boats. The furniture and the chandelier date from the second half of the 19th century. In 1887 the medallion room got a door to the garden, this is on the east side of the house.
The mansion is located on the west side of the main building and can be entered from the medallion room and the kitchen. The room has a view of the Herrengarten. A border is attached to the walls below the ceiling, on which running dogs can be seen. The furniture is from the beginning of the 20th century.
The kitchen is at the rear of the main building. It can be entered through the rear corridor, but also has doors to the golden room, the mansion and a small corridor through which the porcelain room can be reached. You can see into the courtyard through large windows. The kitchen is rich in color, as was the case in the late baroque. During the last restoration, the room was restored in the style of the 18th century: with purple walls, light blue window sills, light green doors and moldings and ocher and red-brown inlays. A large fireplace, which was used to prepare the food, dominates the room.
The porcelain room in the east wing is behind the master bedroom and was furnished by Herman Didrich Janson in 1796. After the restoration, the original colors of the walls in gray and green were restored. The extensive inventory was sold or inherited over time. A breakfast service from the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory, bought in 1798, can be viewed. It contains several pieces of glass, including a punch bowl that originally belonged to Danckert Danckertsen Krohn.
The ballroom is located on the second floor of the main building. It is equipped with doors and a rococo-style chandelier. The walls are decorated with dark draperies, various portraits and mirrors. The furniture dates from the 18th century. The gilded leather upholstery of the chairs testifies to how rich the residents of the house must have been.
Garden design
The garden of the manor house is divided into three areas: the eastern garden - called Herrengarten, the western garden - called Frauengarten and the English garden. The women's garden and the men's garden are surrounded by walls that keep the wind out and keep the warmth. Immediately behind the house, facing away from the lake, is the English Garden, separated by a street. The gardens were honored with the Årets grønne parken award (Green Park of the Year) in 1999.
The restoration of the men's and women's gardens was carried out by the leisure department of the municipality of Bergen according to plans by the Swedish landscape architect Sven-Ingvar Andersson. The gardens were completed on August 25, 1988 before the house was reopened. The aim of the restoration was to restore the garden as it looked in the 18th century, both with the plants that were common at the time and with the garden architecture. Botanists at the University of Bergen selected ornamental and useful plants that are most likely currently grown. Were selected roses and crops such as cabbage and onions , but also a collection of herbs from thyme , mint and sage . Several statues adorn the garden . They are copies of contemporary garden art. In the east garden was a statue of Neptune , in the west one of Mercury . They symbolize seafaring and trade , the basis of life in the city of Bergen.
The Herrengarten has a strictly geometric structure with six squares and an avenue of yew trees . The paths are made of white gravel.
The women's garden follows less strict architectural lines than the eastern garden. There is a duck pond and a carp pond here. The duck pond is in one axis with the window of the woman's bedroom. This transverse axis runs through the whole house to the Herrengarten, where the Neptune statue gushes water into a small basin.
The English Garden was probably laid out in the middle of the 18th century in a semicircular shape with linden trees . It was not until 1830 that it was transformed into an English landscape garden and got a bridge over the stream, a pond with creepers and paths. This garden has also been restored and is accessible all year round.
restoration
The extensive restoration in 1983 took place under the direction of the Miljøverndepartement in cooperation with the Riksantikvaren . The conservation work was carried out by the Hansteen architectural office. The restoration began immediately after the Janson family took over the mansion.
Before the restoration, the house was examined, secured and assessed with regard to its future function as a museum. When the work began, the damage to the load-bearing structure and the foundations turned out to be more serious than initially thought. The first five years were spent repairing the roof and walls and stabilizing the house as a whole. Instead of simply replacing the construction, the main aim of the restoration was to preserve it as much as possible and only repair the defective areas. Many parts of the building are still in their original form. In addition to the necessary structural measures, restoration work also started, led by Jon Brænne. All the surfaces of the house have been thoroughly examined and several layers of wallpaper and gold coatings have been stripped away. During this work, a caretaker's apartment was set up in the west wing of the house.
The walls of some rooms were painted according to the state of the art at the time, others were furnished with copies of former wallpaper. The different rooms were brought to life in such a way that they represent different times in the history of the house. Visitors to the museum are made aware of the earlier paintings and wallpapers in all rooms. The restoration and securing work was one of the most extensive in Norway.
See also
literature
- Gunnar Hagen Hartvedt: Bergen Byleksikon . Kunnskapsforlaget, 1999, ISBN 82-573-1036-0 .
- Trond Indahl: Damsgård . In: Issue of the Vestlandske Kunstindustrimuseum . 1994.
- Trond Indahl: Damsgård hovedgård, en festlig krusedull in norsk arkitektur . In: Foreningen til norske fortidsminnesmerkers bevaring (ed.): Yearbook 1989 . 1989, p. 11-26 .
- Tale and Hansteen Kristina, Jacob Hans: Damsgårds istandsetting, intensjoner and arbeidsmåter . In: Foreningen til norske fortidsminnesmerkers bevaring (ed.): Yearbook 1989 . 1989, p. 27-46 .
- Jon Brænne: Fra barokk til louis-seize, Undersøkelser, funn and konservering på Damsgård . In: Foreningen til norske fortidsminnesmerkers bevaring (ed.): Yearbook 1989 . 1989, p. 47-62 .
- Multiple authors: Damsgård have . In: Foreningen til norske fortidsminnesmerkers bevaring (ed.): Yearbook 1989 . 1989, p. 63-84 .
- Jan Hendrich Lexow: Den sittende søyle i Bergen . In: Foreningen til norske fortidsminnesmerkers bevaring (ed.): Yearbook 1954 . 1954, p. 129-143 .
- Kristian Bjerknes: De Bergenske borgerhus . In: Byborgernes hus i Norge . Oslo 1963, p. 160-198 .
Web links
- Bymuseet i Bergen (Norwegian, English) - accessed August 24, 2013
- Images on the page Art History - (Norwegian) - accessed on August 24, 2013
Individual evidence
- ↑ according to WM Schelderup
- ↑ Krasjet inn i Damsgard Hovedgård. In: Bergens tidene. (Norwegian) - Retrieved August 24, 2013.
- ↑ the church burned down today
- ↑ Image of the altare capriccioso ( Memento of the original from January 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - accessed on August 24, 2013.
- ↑ Årets grønne parken ( Memento from September 20, 2011 on WebCite ) (Norwegian) - accessed August 24, 2013.
Coordinates: 60 ° 23 ′ 0 ″ N , 5 ° 18 ′ 7.6 ″ E