The Haunted Restaurant Bryggen Tracteursted

The Medieval buildings on the old harbour in Bergen, there is a restaurant that has continued with the old tradition. And on Bryggen Tracteursted, it is said that a ghost still lingers.

Behind Bryggen in Bergen, Norway there are small restaurants and shops in the old Hanseatic wooden buildings that are an old fusion of German and Norwegian culture. Bryggen Tracteursted was one of the schøtstuene or an assembly room that people gathered to eat, originally built way back in 1708.

Today Bryggen Tracteursted is a fancy restaurant serving traditional food in the UNESCO world heritage place as it has done since medieval times when the schøtstuene started to be a thing. But although the restaurant has been modernized, there are still some ghosts from the past still clinging to the old buildings.

The Ghost in the Kitchen

Of course this old building filled with history is allegedly haunted, and many of the guests as well as the staff working at Bryggen Tracteursted have a story or two to tell.

The Medieval buildings on the old harbour in Bergen, there is a restaurant that has continued with the old tradition. And on Bryggen Tracteursted, it is said that a ghost still lingers.

A chef was working one night while he played some music to keep him going. Suddenly, all the pans on the shelves came flying up. As the chef was all alone in the kitchen, he was sure that there had to be something supernatural afoot.

Why was this particular place haunted? According to the legends, it is by one of the former apprentices that worked there that died. They had a rather peculiar hazing ritual for the newcomers.

The Hazed Apprentice

On Bryggen in the 1700s they had a particular punishment towards the apprentices that misbehaved or did something wrong. They gathered a lot of trash and lit a pyre in the outhouse with a fireplace where they processed food. The apprentice was placed over the fire and had to hang there for half a day. If you lived you were considered to be a true hanseater and forgiven.

Unfortunately not everyone survived the trials and it is said that more than one of the apprentices diede and are now haunting the place. Because the place they were hazed today is located where the kitchen of the Bryggen Tracteursted restaurant now is.