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National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen. By Richard Mortel

Top 10 Intriguing Facts about the National Museum of Denmark

The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) is the largest museum of cultural history in the country.

The museum hosts a broad variety of exhibitions covering 14,000 years of Danish history from the Stone Age, the Viking Age, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and modern Danish history.

The museum is located in The Prince’s Palace, which was built in 1743-44. The collection boasts a large ethnographic collection, classical and near eastern antiquities, coins and medals, and a toy collection.

Objects are as diverse as Viking archaeological artifacts and Egyptian mummies to an original hash sale tall from Christiania and an authentic Victorian home from 1890. Some of the most famous historical finds from ancient times can be found in the National Museum.

1.   The largest museum in Denmark

National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, the largest Museum in Denmark. Picture Courtesy of Jinny

Denmark’s largest cultural history museum, the National Museum of Denmark offers visitors a veritable treasure trove of renowned and unique finds.

Here you can immerse yourself in the Viking Age’s people and their fascinating lives. If you give yourself enough time to go through several of the exhibitions, you get the entire history of Denmark. This is where the Vikings are a crucial part – the odyssey from the Stone Age to the present day. 

2. Has a very large ethnographical collection

The National Museum also boasts a very large ethnographical collection, a collection of classical and near eastern antiquities, a coin- and medal collection, and a toy museum.

You can also visit the  Victorian Apartment Klunkehjemmet practically unchanged since 1890. Note that it has different opening hours.

3. Restaurant SMÖR

Besides the café and a museum shop, the museum is home to the excellent Restaurant SMOR.

Here you will find Danish classics like smørrebrød (open-faced sandwiches) with a new twist. On the weekends you can try The National Museum’s giant cake table with everything you could wish for.

The restaurant focuses on local, seasoned ingredients and sustainability. No entrance is required when visiting the café, shop, or restaurant.  

4. The Museum is located in The Prince’s Palace

It’s not just the exhibits in the museum that have historical significance – the building does too. The National Museum is located in The Prince’s Palace, built by court architect Nicolai Eigtved in 1743-44.

It is no longer used by the royal family, but the Great Hall still appears elegant enough to fit princes and princesses.
 
The Gallery consists of a wide corridor that linked rooms and sleeping quarters and featured plenty of space for exquisite handicrafts.

The stucco in the ceiling, the panels, and the oak parquet floor are all thought to be original. The furniture and stove are from the early 18th century.

5. The Children’s Museum

One section, dedicated especially to the very young museum visitor, is  The Children’s Museum What was the school of your great-grandmother like? Try a trip on a Viking ship, discover a kitchen from the Middle Ages, or admire the beautiful colors and feel the smooth silk in a shop in Pakistan. This hands-on part of the museum is great for children who want to play and explore.

6. Gundestrup cauldron at the Museum

Gundestrup cauldron in The National Museum of Denmark. Picture By Marie-Lan Nguyen

The Gundestrup cauldron is a richly decorated silver vessel, thought to date from between 200 BC and 300 AD, or more narrowly between 150 BC and 1 BC.

This places it within the late  La Tene period or early  Roman Iron Age The cauldron is the largest known example of European Iron Age silver work (diameter: 69 cm (27 in); height: 42 cm (17 in)).

It was found dismantled, with the other pieces stacked inside the base, in 1891, in a  peat bog near the hamlet of Gundestrup in the Aars parish of  Himmerland, Denmark.

It is now usually on display in the  National Museum of Copenhagen in Denmark, with replicas at other museums; during 2015–16, it was in the UK on a traveling exhibition called The Celts.

7. Trundholm Sun Chariot in The Museum

Trundholm Sun Chariot, depicted in the National Museum, Denmark. By Nationalmuseet

The Trundholm Sun Chariot is a Nordic Bronze Age artifact from about 1400 BC and represents the sun chariot. The artifact was cast in the lost wax method. The main features of the bronze horse are highly decorated. The horse stands on a bronze rod supported by four wheels.

The rod below the horse is connected to the large bronze disk, which is supported by two wheels. All of the wheels have four spokes. The disk consists of two bronze disks that are joined by an outer bronze ring. It has a thin sheet of gold applied to one face only. It is assumed that the chariot was used during religious rituals to honor the motion of the Sun in the heavens.The sculpture was discovered in Denmark in 1902 in a peat bog on the Trundholm moor in Odsherred in the northwestern part of Zealand, Denmark.

8. The Museum is too big to see in a single visit

The National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen is much too big to see in a single visit. Visitors without a specific interest in other themes should concentrate on the Danish history sections. Even these collections are vast – the Stories of Denmark (1660 – present) section alone has more than 5,000 items on display.

For visitors with limited time, it may be sensible to focus on the Danish Prehistory to Viking era section on the ground floor of the museum. The items here are unique and unlike items that can be seen in museums throughout Europe.

Even here, don’t get bogged in details at the start of the display to suffer from museum fatigue, or run out of time, when the really good stuff appears.

9.  Viking history is exhibited in the Museum

The last rooms cover around two centuries of Viking history including rune stones, silver hoards, and fine goldsmith items from the Viking Age.

This section is currently closed with many items in the special Vikings temporary exhibition on the second floor of the museum. (For Viking boats visit the Viking Ship Museum in  Roskilde to the west of Copenhagen, or the fantastic Moesgaard Museum near Aarhus.)

10. Frederik III led to the establishment of the National Museum of Denmark

Portrait of Frederick III of Denmark. Picture By Paul Prieur

Following the disastrous war with Sweden, Frederik III established the absolute monarchy in a coup.

The glamour of the court and nobles was in stark contrast to the poverty of especially farmers and laborers.

Denmark’s disastrous support for Napoleon led to the bombardment of Copenhagen by the British navy and the loss of Norway at the Peace of Vienna (1814-15).

Later Fredrik III led to the establishment of this Museum. The Museum entails a lot of information that includes the histories of Danish and foreign cultures.

 

The museum  opens on  Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m but the children’s museum closes at 4:30 p.m