"The Bautastein for those who died in the Battle of Alvøen is a war memorial in the Norwegian city of Bergen .
Position
It is located in Bergen's city centre at the back of the Cross Church on the north side of Nedre Korskirkeallmenningen street near the eastern intersection with Kong Oscars gate .
Design and history
The memorial commemorates the fallen of the naval Battle of Alvøen during the Gunboat War of the Napoleonic Wars . The battle took place on May 16, 1808, off Alvøen near Bergen between the British frigate Tartar and Bergen's armed forces. The frigate itself was forced to withdraw as a result of the fighting, and five people on the side of Bergen's defenders died. They were buried in the cemetery of the Church of the Holy Cross.
The present memorial stone was unveiled much later, on May 16, 1893, the 85th anniversary of the battle, and lists the names and origins of the fallen.
The monument consists of a tall, slender stone reminiscent of a building stone . It stands on a small pedestal of natural stone and is surrounded by six metal posts connected by chains.
On the front, the stone bears an inscription in Danish . The inscription reads:
STENEN
SATTE
VAABENBRØDRE
TIL MINDE
OM
JENS HANSEN
:KJØBENHAVN:
TORBJØRN KNUDSEN
:SOGN: GUTTORM
HAUGLAND
:VAAG:
JOHAN BEUM
:LEIRDAL:
LARS ANDERSEN
:DROTNINGEVIK:
FALDNE
I KAMPEN
VED
ALVØEN
16 MAY 1808
In German, the inscription reads roughly: Brothers in arms placed this stone in memory of Jens Hansen, Kjøbenhavn ; Torbjørn Knudsen, Sogn ; Guttorm Haugland, Vaag; Johan Beum, Leirdal; Lars Andersen, Drotningevik. Killed in action near Alvøen on May 16, 1808.
Below the text is a depiction of two crossed weapons.
After the monument's unveiling, two typos were discovered. Guttorm Haugland was mistakenly spelled Vang instead of Vaag. While this error was corrected, another remained uncorrected. Johan Beum (1781–1808) was not from Lærdal , but from Hafslo ."
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