Logen

Logen (it means Lodge; the building was originally a Masonic Lodge) is the oldest concert hall in Bergen with a long cultural tradition. Edvard Grieg, Sergei Rachmaninov, Ole Bull, Leif Ove Andsnes and Arve Tellefsen have all performed here. We feel that it is the ideal place for the Festival Centre, where audiences and artists alike can meet from early morning to late at night. If you should have a moment without a concert, seminar, interview or other Festival event to attend, the bar is open.

Logen opened as a concert hall on 18 November 1883. The programme included works by Weber, Beethoven and Svendsen, and concluded with Grieg’s Landkjenning (Land Sighting, op. 31, to words by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson – the epitome of Norwegian national romanticism). It was used as a concert hall and assembly room, and Grieg often performed there. Harmonien, as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra was known at the time, held regular concerts there. On 15 June 1903 Edvard Grieg came directly from his 60th birthday celebrations at Troldhaugen – a banquet with many courses, plenty of wine and many long speeches – to Logen, where he conducted the Peer Gynt Suite.

At the first Bergen International Festival in 1953, the Amadeus Quartet performed in Logen. However, conditions were far from ideal there, and the festival abandoned Logen as a concert venue. After a long period as a furniture store, Logen was in 1997 restored to its former glory from 1883.

Accessibility

Wheelchair access
Most events have unnumbered tickets, so special tickets are not required for wheelchair users

Wheelchair lift
Wheelchair lift gives access from entrance to 1st floor auditorium. The only access to the 2nd floor bar is by being carried by Security.

Handicap toilet
1st floor only

Facilities for reduced hearing
None

Transport and parking
Cars may be driven to the door to drop off or fetch mobility impaired passengers. Parking in Klostergarasjen or in Citypark in Markeveien. Some street parking in the vicinity.