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Designmuseum Danmark Photo by Patti Manolis

Top 10 Facts about Designmuseum Denmark

Designmuseum Danmark famously know as The Designmuseum Denmark is a museum in Copenhagen for Danish and international design and crafts. It features works of famous Danish designers like Arne Jacobsen, Jacob Jensen and Kaare Klint, who was one of the two architects who remodeled the former Frederiks Hospital (built 1752–57) into a museum in the 1920s.

The exhibition also features a variety of Chinese and German porcelain.The museum was known as the Danish Museum of Art & Design (Danish: Kunstindustrimuseet) until 2011 and known as the Danish Museum of Decorative Art prior.Let’s take a look at some of the top facts about it;

1.The museum was founded in 1890

The museum was founded in 1890 at the initiative of Industriforeningen. A purpose-built building designed by Vilhelm Klein and located next to Industriforeningen’s premises on City Hall Square was completed in 1894 and opened to the public the following year.

The exhibitions were housed in separate galleries, each dedicated to a particular field such as porcelain, faience, silver, furniture, glass and textiles. This arrangement reflected the primary aim of the museum which was to serve as a source of inspiration for craftsmen and manufacturers.

2.The museum moved to its current building, the defunct Frederick’s Hospital in 1926

In 1926 the museum moved to its current building, the defunct Frederick’s Hospital from 1757, a gift from the banker Emil Gluckstadt. The architects Kaare Klint and Ivar Bentsen had undertaken the necessary alterations and furnishings. 

The museum highlights the very best in craftsmenship and design from different ages. The Danish Design Archive and the Poster Collection are located on the museum’s first floor.It is one of the most historical museums in Denmark. 

3.The museum is home to the largest library in Scandinavia

The library designed by Kaare Klint at Design Museum Denmark Photo sourced from

The museum is home to the largest library in Scandinavia dedicated to decorative arts and industrial design. Open to the general public, the library is at once a museum library, research library, and Danish central library within its field. Opening hours are Tuesday–Friday from 11–17. The library contains more than 1,000 journals.

The latest issues of the 75 journals and magazines which the museum subscribes to can be read in the library’s reading room.The reading room of the library hosts public lectures on design-related topics which draw upon the collections in both the museum and the library.

4.The museum hosts furnitureindex

Designmuseum Denmark hosts the Furnitureindex, an online database of Danish furniture from the 20th and 21st centuries. The database is in English and contains over 12,000 records. The database was founded in 2000 by Marilyn and Reese Palley as the Palley Index Of Danish Furniture: 1900-2000.

Designmuseum Denmark made the database publicly available online in 2003 after it was acquired by the Realdania Foundation. Most of these records are read online and the museum goes digital in these records. The museum has a small auditorium on the first floor seating 120 people. It is rented out for lectures, concerts, receptions and other events

5.The museum has a cafe which has direct access to the green museum garden

The courtyard at Designmuseum Danmark in Copenhagen, Denmark Photo by Rob Deutscher

The museum has a cafe known as Format which has direct access to the green museum garden. Enjoy your lunch, coffee or cake in the museum’s historic and authentic environment with a concept of animal welfare, health, ecology and support for local producers are important topics for their kitchen.

They also show concern for nature by having special collaborations with local producers, where they follow the seasons, which they combine in the kitchen with gastronomic aesthetics.Their values are honesty, simplicity and good craftsmanship. 

6.The museum offers displays of decorative art, crafts, and industrial designs

A piece of art at the Design Museum, Copenhagen Photo by Matt Kieffer

Designmuseum Danmark offers displays of decorative art, crafts, and industrial designs from different worlds including ; the Western world and Asia from the late Middle Ages and up to the present.It is among the most visited places in Denmark. 

Apart from the permanent collection, the museum also presents temporary exhibitions. Internationally acclaimed Danish designers have left their indelible mark on Danish design and architecture as reflected in some of the museum’s collections. 

7.The Museum has an excellent showroom 

The museum shop or showroom is an excellent place to buy Danish industrial designs, ceramics, glass, and fabrics! In summer, the cafe has outdoor seating in the beautiful Gronnegard courtyard.The showroom ‘Officinet’ hosts an exhibit of crafts by specially selected Danish artists.

Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday 12:00 – 16:00.The museum acquire objects relating to the process of design, from tools, drawings and prototypes, speculative designs and finished production models.It also offers exhibitions where guests can explore new perspectives on design, along with the Danish design legacy and historical collections. 

8.The highlight of the recently renovated museum is a room dedicated to tsubas

A highlight is a room dedicated to tsubas, exquisitely decorated disc-like guards between the blade and the handle on a samurai sword, of which the museum has one of the world’s finest collections, amassed by Dr Hugo Halberstadt. 

The collection was originally housed in a cabinet made by Arts and Crafts designer Johan Rohde in lemon wood and ebony.In the 1950s it was transferred to a larger drawer cabinet by Klint. This cabinet is installed in the room along with a new piece created by Copenhagen-based Mentze Ottenstein to house a second, never exhibited collection.

9.There are several hotels and restaurants near the museum

There are several hotels and restaurants near the museum including; Babette Guldsmeden – Guldsmeden Hotels (0.08 mi) De La Cour Bed and Breakfast (0.10 mi), First Hotel Esplanaden (0.07 mi), NO 56 – Luxury Apartments by Habitat (0.10 mi, Boutique Hotel Apartments By Amalienborg (0.14 mi). 

The restaurants include;Klint – Designmuseets Cafe which is 0.03 miles away, Cafe Petersborg (0.07 mi), Bistro Boheme (0.09 mi) Cafe Oscar (0.09 mi)and Restaurant Salon (0.04 mi). 

10.The museum is open on different days and different hours

The museum is open on Tuesday – Sunday at 10 AM – 6 PM and Thursday at 10 AM – 8 PM. The entrance fee is; Adults: 130 DKK, Children 0-17 years: Free, Young (18-26 years/student): 90 DKK, Group ticket: 110 DKK (per person). Membership;1 person: 290 DKK, 1 + 1: 390 DKK and Young (u. 27 / student): 130 DKK. 

Drawing on the materials of the Rohde cabinet and the detailing of Klint’s, Mathias Mentze and Alexander Ottenstein used ebony paired with walnut, making a table vitrine so the full collection can be seen. 

This particular collection has inspired generations of designers and artists. Design is a prism through which we can understand human need, human dreams, and human behaviour in various eras.