Old Bergen Museum opened in 1949 and is built around the summer house Elsero which shipbuilder Rasmus Rolfsen built for his wife Elsebe.

The property was owned by the Rolfsen family from 1784 to 1903. Here, the family built a shipyard and a summerhouse, and later a park in the style of a formal English garden.

Old Bergen foundation succeded in establishing the museum as a safe haven for Bergen's old buildings, which were threatened with being torn down.

The houses which you will find at the museum arrived between 1945 and 1981.

The open air Museum has 55 wooden houses, most of which originally stood in the centre of Bergen. The museum is run by Bymuseet i Bergen.