[1] The fortress contains buildings dating as far back as the 1240s, as well as later constructions built as recently as World War II.

Excavations have revealed foundations of buildings believed to date back to before 1100, which might have been erected by King Olav Kyrre.

After restoration in the 1890s, and again after destruction sustained during World War II, Bergenhus is today again used as a concert venue and as a feast hall for public events.

During World War II, the German navy used several of its buildings for their headquarters, and they also constructed a large concrete bunker within the fortress walls.

It is the largest secular medieval building in Norway and the likely inspiration to similar great halls that were built on the royal estates in Oslo and Avaldsnes.

It does, however, state that it was used during the wedding celebrations of King Magnus Håkonsson and the Danish princess Ingebjørg Eriksdatter on 11 September 1261.

The hall's similarity to English structures of the same time, and the fact that monumental stone building was relatively uncommon in Norway at the time, has led to an assumption that the hall was designed by English architects, possibly the court architect of King Henry III of England, with whom King Håkon was on friendly terms.

From 1380 until 1814, Norway was in a personal union with Denmark, which meant that the royal castle in Bergen gradually fell into decay.

In 1429 it was captured and burnt by the Victual Brothers (viktualiebrødrene), but a new stone portal from the mid-15th century shows that the hall was rebuilt after this event.

In 1840, it was proven that the great stone building in Bergenhus fortress was, in fact, King Håkon Håkonsson's old feast hall.

The hall was finally restored in the 1890s, and in the 1910s it was decorated with frescos with motives from Håkon Håkonsson's saga, and stained glass windows.

The hall is occasionally used for concerts, especially choir song and chamber music, and for banquets, mainly for official functions.

1520, then extensively modified and expanded in the 1560s by Scottish stonemasons and architects in the service of Erik Rosenkrantz to attain its present form.