Alesund - Art Nouveau City -24 September 2022

In 1904 Alesund burned to the ground as the result of a great fire. Aid was provided to Ålesund both from within Norway and from abroad. Kaiser Wilhelm II had been a frequent visitor to the area and expressed a personal concern for the plight of the population. As a result much of the international help was from Germany, sent in Kaiser Wilhelm’s name. He dispatched four ships loaded with all forms of necessary provisions. The town was rebuilt in the then contemporary Jugendstil (Art Nouveau). Modern historians have concluded that the fire helped rebuild a modern Alesund as the pre-fire city centre was extremely crowded, consisting mostly of old and cramped wood housing with only rudimentary sanitary facilities