Das Schloß Bahuk in Norwegen

Title

Das Schloß Bahuk in Norwegen

Description

Representation of the castle Bahuk in Norway.

ca. 1650

Artist

Merian (1593-1650)

Matthäus Merian (1593 – 1650) , born in Basel, learned the art of copperplate engraving in Zurich and subsequently worked and studied in Strasbourg, Nancy, and Paris, before returning to Basel in 1615. The following year he moved to Frankfurt, Germany where he worked for the publisher Johann Theodor de Bry. He married his daughter, Maria Magdalena 1617. In 1620 they moved back to Basel, only to return three years later to Frankfurt, where Merian took over the publishing house of his father-in-law after de Bry's death in 1623. In 1626 he became a citizen of Frankfurt and could henceforth work as an independent publisher. He is the father of Maria Sibylla Merian, who later published her the famous and wellknown studies of flowers, insects and butterflies.

Historical Description

The Neolithic funnel cup culture of Scandinavia was followed by Germanic influences in the Bronze and Iron Ages. In the Viking Age (800-1050), Norway was unified by King Harald Hårfagre around the year 900. During this period, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland were settled from Norway. Some Vikings - under the leadership of e.g. Bjarni Herjúlfsson, Thorvald Eiriksson and Leif Eriksson - even reached Newfoundland off the northeast coast of the continent called America about 500 years later on several voyages around 1000 AD. The Orkney and Shetland Islands were also taken possession of by Norwegian Vikings and belonged to Norway until 1472. In personal union with Denmark from 1380, Norway joined the Kalmar Union in 1397 and became a relatively insignificant member in this. The Kalmar Empire lasted formally until the departure of Sweden (1523), with Denmark until 1814. Because of political support from France, Denmark had to cede Norway to the King of Sweden in the Peace of Kiel on January 14, 1814, after the Napoleonic Wars. However, there was no direct surrender, so Norway became independent for a short time and gave itself a constitution in a national assembly in Eidsvoll on May 17, 1814, which is still valid today with slight changes. The Storting arranged the first May 17 celebration in 1836, since that day, May 17 has been considered Norway's national holiday.