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Model of The Norwegian America Line's Oslofjord (built in 1938) in the foreground, and Britannia (built in 1890) in the background. Foto: Silje Katrine Robinson / Stiftelsen Museum Vest
Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab was founded in Bergen in 1851 as Norway's first privately owned shipping company, and it started a passenger route from Bergen to Hamburg with the DS Bergen. They were one of the players that made the city the "steamship capital" of the country. Here were risk-taking shipowners willing to invest in new and expensive technology, and by 1883, Bergen's steamship tonnage exceeded its sailing ship tonnage. It took nearly 20 years before the same was true for Norway's total tonnage.
Besides models of the DS Constitutionen - Norway's first steamship from 1826 - and the DS Bergen from 1852, the department boasts a rich selection of models of various steamships. Among them is the American paddle steamer DS Savannah, which in 1819 was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic, the so-called "fruit steamers" used in the banana trade in Central America, as well as DS Kong Sverre, which belonged to Peter Jebsen's The Norwegian-American Steamship Company.