Løvstakksiden, commonly shortened to Løvstakken or simply Stakken, is a neighbourhood in the city of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Currently it is part of the borough of Årstad, but before 2000 it was part of a borough called "Løvstakken" which covered the eastern and western sides of the mountain

Løvstakken Løvstakken is one of the Seven Mountains that surround the center of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The tall mountain is located between the Fyllingsdalen and Bergensdalen valleys on the Bergen Peninsula. Løvstakken and the fo ...

, consisting of

Fyllingsdalen Fyllingsdalen () is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough is located southwest of the city centre in the Fyllingsdalen valley, west of the mountain Løvstakken. The neighbourhoods of Fyllingsdalen mainly consist ...

in the west and Løvstakksiden in the east. Although the neighbourhood has no official boundaries, it can be said to cover the urban area to the northeast of the mountain Løvstakken, or parts of western Årstad. Løvstakksiden is not considered a "traditional" neighbourhood of Bergen, because it is located outside the core borough of

Bergenhus Bergenhus is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. This borough encompasses the city centre and is the most urbanized area of the whole city. The borough has a population (2014) of 40,606. This gives Bergenhus a populatio ...

. However it remains inside Bergen's urban area, in the borough of Årstad. Løvstakksiden is also a local

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

in Bergen with two churches, Solheim Church and St. Markus Church.

History

In the early 20th century, Løvstakksiden was predominantly a traditional

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

neighbourhood. However, in the 1970s many industrial work places closed down, and so the character of the neighbourhood changed. With many smaller apartments in the area, it became more attractive for

senior citizens Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human biological life cycle, life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage ...

and

low-income Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

families, and other young single people. Until recently housing was inexpensive. However, with the northern parts being close to the

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and other schools, a number of students have moved into the area, thus increasing the rental prices. Løvstakksiden has a large amount of

housing projects Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

, with one third of buildings in the area being owned by the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, the highest concentration in all of Bergen. When working-class families started moving out of these, the municipality placed more needy individuals in them, many with

drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

-related problems. In the local newspaper ''

Bergensavisen ''Bergensavisen'' (lit. "the Bergen newspaper"), usually shortened to ''BA'', is the second largest newspaper in Bergen, Norway. The paper is published in tabloid format. The newspaper's webpage ba.no is Bergen's largest local newspaper webpage ...

'' in the 1990s, the leader of the

child protection Child protection is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the protection of children in and out of the home. One of the ways to e ...

services was quoted as saying that children should not live in the neighborhood. He meant there was too much

drug abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...

, and police action there. Local residents protested at this, saying the whole neighbourhood was being

stigmatized Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, rac ...

, when only part of it had such problems. In recent years, the neighbourhood has received a number of immigrants. The proportion of immigrants increased from 4.1% in 1990 to 11.7% in 2000. In 1990 the largest immigrant group came from

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

; in 2000 the majority came from

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Demographics

The population of the neighbourhood was claimed to be about 3,435 in 2000, although this figure depends on how the neighbourhood is defined. Løvstakksiden is an unofficial area, and is often considered to extend somewhat further south than in this example. In the Municipality Living Standards Report of 2008 the areas named "Solheim nord" and "Solheim sør" (identified as roughly corresponding to Løvstakksiden) had a combined population of 7965 (5422 and 2543 respectively). It is also the neighbourhood in Bergen which has the largest immigrant population. In 2000 one third of all arriving

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s to Bergen were placed in the neighbourhood.

Education

The main school of Løvstakksiden is the combined elementary and lower secondary school, Ny Krohnborg skole. Because of the relatively large immigrant population of Løvstakksiden, Ny Krohnborg is home to a large diversity of pupils. In 1998 the proportion of pupils from minority backgrounds was 34%. In 2005, about 75% of the pupils in the first grade were from a minority background.

Economy

The average income of the inhabitants of Løvstakksiden was in 1999, which was clearly lower than for the city of Bergen as a whole at that time. In the Municipality Living Standards Report of 2008 the area Solheim nord had an average income of , while Solheim sør had an average income of . These areas had practically the lowest average incomes for the whole city.

Crime

In 2013, the police decided to close down the local police station, ''Løvstakken Nærpoliti''. Løvstakksiden is also home to ''Løvstakken Nærpoliti'', which is a local

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

force, the only one in Bergen other than the main police force. This was moved from

Landås Landås is a neighbourhood in the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. Landås is located by the western side of the Ulriken mountain massif, from southeast of Haukeland University Hospital to the neighborhood of Nattland almost further sou ...

to Løvstakksiden in 1999 due to the higher crime rates in the area. For two years this was a very effective move which helped reduce the crime rates, however after 2001 crime again started to increase. Most criminal activity is in the areas of drugs, robbery, and violence.

"Archery brigades" (''buekorps'')

The neighborhood has an "archery brigade"About Buekorps and the Museum
/ref> (or ''

buekorps Buekorps (; literally "Bow Corps" or "Archery Brigade") are traditional marching neighbourhood youth organizations in Bergen, Norway. The tradition is unique to Bergen. The organizations, which are called ''bataljoner'' (battalions), were first ...

'')—Løvstakkens Jægerkorps—founded in 1903.

Krohnvikens Bataljon Krohnvikens Bataljon was a buekorps in Bergen which existed from probably before 1854Sletten, 1972, p. 99. (1852?) to 1916. The proof of its early foundation is that the man who allegedly painted its first banner died in that year, 1854. It was th ...

, a now defunct buekorps probably founded before 1854, was a predecessor of Løvstakkens Jægerkorps.

In Culture

Stig Holmås' Norwegian novel "Regn" published in 2008 () is set in Løvstakksiden during the 1950s. The shipyard

Bergen Mekaniske Verksted Bergen Mekaniske Verksted, later Bergens Mekaniske Verksteder, was a shipyard in Solheimsviken in Bergen, Norway. Established in 1855, it later also built a drydock in Laksevåg Laksevåg is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, ...

, Kronsminde sports stadium and Ny Krohnborg school and are all important locations in the story. The buekorps is mentioned as well as several streets and Solheim kirke.

References

Footnotes

Literature

External links

Et liv uten filter
life without filter {{DEFAULTSORT:Lovstakksiden Neighbourhoods of Bergen