St Jørgen's Hospital & Leprosy Museum
St Jørgen's Hospital & Leprosy Museum features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Bergen. Give it roughly ~45 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type museum
- Suggested visit ~45 min
- Bergen Bergen guide
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About St Jørgen's Hospital & Leprosy Museum
A hushed courtyard of timber buildings where Bergen doctor Armauer Hansen identified the leprosy bacillus in 1873; a hospital that cared for patients until 1946, now a museum.
St Jørgen's Hospital cared for people with leprosy in Bergen; a leprosy hospital is documented on the site from 1411, once run by the nuns of Nonneseter Abbey. The present timber buildings largely date from the rebuilding after the great fire of 1702, as nothing survived the city's repeated fires. The hospital operated until 1946, when its last two residents died. Between 1850 and 1900 Bergen had three leprosy hospitals and, by the museum's account, the largest concentration of leprosy patients in Europe.
In 1873 the Bergen physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen identified the leprosy bacillus, later named Mycobacterium leprae, giving the disease its alternative name, Hansen's disease; he observed the organism but did not prove causation. The site is now the Leprosy Museum (Lepramuseet), part of Bergen City Museum, and opened to the public in 1970. St Jørgen's Church, rebuilt after 1702, stands on the same site, and the buildings have been heritage-protected since 1927.
Did you know? In 1873 Armauer Hansen identified the bacillus behind leprosy, among the first microbes tied to a chronic human disease; he observed it but never cultured it, and Albert Neisser later disputed the credit.
How long is a visit to St Jørgen's Hospital & Leprosy Museum?
Set aside roughly ~45 min for St Jørgen's Hospital & Leprosy Museum. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is St Jørgen's Hospital & Leprosy Museum worth your time?
St Jørgen's Hospital & Leprosy Museum is among the 21 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Bergen, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Bergen
Day 2 of the Bergen in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of St Jørgen's Hospital & Leprosy Museum
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