The library is open all work days (Monday-Friday) 9am-3pm. Closed between 11.30am and noon due to lunch.

The Bergen Maritime Museum aims to help as many as possible with maritime-related questions. However, due to limited resources, please take note of the following:

• Be prepared. Provide as much concrete and relevant information as possible concerning your inquiry. We prefer written inquiries by email (or letters).
• We answer inquires continually. It can take up to three weeks to receive an answer. If you have not received an answer by then, feel free to contact us again.
• The Bergen Maritime Museum does not loan books or archive material, but you are welcome to use our books and archive material at the library.
• The Bergen Maritime Museum is connected to the University of Bergen’s wireless system. Visitors from the University of Bergen may therefore log on to the University’s wireless system during visits. The library also has a PC and microfilm reader at its disposal.

Send an inquiry.

With more than 15,000 volumes and more than a hundred different periodicals, the museum library is one of Norway’s leading specialised maritime libraries. The book collection includes books that are difficult, if not impossible, to find elsewhere in Scandinavia. The library is used by the general public, students, pupils and researchers. You can search our catalogue HERE. Please note: books and periodicals can only be used in Our library. The “log in”-function is therefore not in use.

The museum’s archives encompass of a wide range of historical documents from shipping companies, shipyards, insurance companies, brokers and other companies and individuals Connected to Bergen’s maritime industry in particular. The archive collections mainly cover the period from the 1700s until today, and comprise of approximately 1500 shelf metres. Our collections include archives from the Bergen Steamship Company, the shipyard Bergens Mekaniske Verksteder, the Foundation Statsraad Lehmkuhl and the shipyard Mjellem & Karlsen.

List of Archives Bergen Maritime Museum

Other useful resources on the online:

• Arkivportalen
• BIBSYS
• Bergen offentlige bibliotek
• Digitalt museum
• Digitalarkivet
• Nasjonalbiblioteket

The Bergen Maritime Museum has a large collection of photos mainly of steamers, motor ships and tankers related to Bergen. We also have other pictures, such as sailing vessels, crew members, Bergen harbour, shipyards, shipwrecks, from World War I and II. The collection has so far not been digitalised.

The museum also has a large collection of maps from the sixteenth century until today and a small collection of historical film material.

Image service fee:

Digital images for home display/ academic use:

JPG or TIF: 200 NOK

Digital images for publication (Commercial):

+ 500 NOK

Additional rush service charge:

48-hours delivery, + 100%

Orders can be made at the museum or by e-mail. For practical reasons we prefer that orders are not made over the phone.

Other useful resource online:

• Digitalt museum
• Galleri NOR
• Universitetet i Bergen, Billedsamlingene

The Norwegian Yearbook of Maritime History

The Norwegian Yearbook of Maritime History has been issued by the Bergen Maritime Museum since 1966.

More information on the Norwegian Yearbook of Maritime History can be found here

Other publications

• “Bergens Sjøfartsmuseum” (free) – En liten veileder til museets samlinger som gir fin og oversiktlig introduksjon til norsk sjøfartshistorie fra de eldste tider. Gis ut gratis grunnet noe foreldet stoff. Klassesett.
• “Med kurs vestover” (free) – Et lite hefte om den norske utvandringen til Amerika. 1975.
• “Vår eldste skipsfart” – En oversikt over våre eldste skip, fra helleristningsbåter til vikingskip. Erling Virkesdal 1993.
• “Jektefarten” – Erling Virkesdal 1976.
• “Bruksbåtar” – Om båtbygging og båttyper langs norskekysten. Erling Virkesdal 1976.
• “Nordsjøfarten” (50,-) – Gir en innføring om Leif Larsen – Shetlands-Larsens innsats under 2. verdenskrig, om årsaken til nordsjøfarten og om hverdagslivet langs kysten i krigsårene. Erling Virkesdal 1995.
• “Englandsfarten – flukt til krigen” – Om de som flyktet fra Norge til Storbritannia da Norge ble okkupert i 1940. Ragnar Ulstein/Erling Virkesdal 1991.
• “Handelsflåten i krig 1939-1945” – Om innsatsen norske kvinner og menn gjorde ombord på norske skip hjemme og ute under 2. verdenskrig. Erling Virkesdal 1991.
• “En reise mellom to verdener – Den norske Amerikalinje 1913-2013.