Bergens tekniske skole

Bergens tekniske skole, Strømgaten 1, (1875 - 1962)

Procession by students of the School on 17th May

Bergen Technical School (Bergens tekniske skole) opened its doors in 1875, which owed its origin very largely to the initiative of the Bergen Handicrafts Society (Håndverksforening) in 1870. What the society wanted was a practical trade school that would help preserve and foster the handicrafts of the old Hansa city. After 1890, in accordance with a new plan, the Bergen school offered special departments in mechanics and chemistry, thus going the way of the Christiania school. The list of its distinguished graduates includes a number of prominent American engineers.

Students entering the school were required to be at least fifteen years old and confirmed in the state church; furthermore they must have received in the middle-school examination at least an average grade (middelkarakter) in mathematics or have passed an entrance examination of a character similar to the one required for completion of the intermediary school. In addition to mathematics the school required a comprehensive knowledge of Norwegian and the ability to translate a German letter not previously seen.

The thoughts that entered the mind of a young Norwegian engineer just out of college are vividly told in the ease history of a 1905 graduate of the Trondhjem Technical School:
I remember while attending the Technical School at Trondhjem that the newspapers reported farm laborers in the U.S. as receiving up to $5.00 a day during harvest season. Well, eighteen crowns per day for ordinary working-men certainly impressed me! I also remember that my classmates had information from the U.S.A. that men with an engineering education may earn from 60 to 70 dollars a month at the start. 220-260 crowns per month looked very good to me! In Norway I could earn 125 crowns per month, and after ten years perhaps 250. By that time I could be earning 500 crowns per month in the land of boundless opportunities!

Students liked to make jokes about the Engineer

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