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Nordiska museet. Photo by Leszek Szleg.

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Nordiska Museet

The Nordic Museum (Nordiska Museet) is a Swedish cultural heritage, ethnography, and folk art institution. The museum’s collection spans 500 years and includes textiles, clothes, dollhouses, and other objects that depict Swedish life, culture, and traditions. It is located on the island of Djurgrden in Stockholm.

Artur Hazelius, a Swedish teacher and folklore expert, founded the Nordic Museum in the late 1800s. The vast collection provides a comprehensive overview of Sweden’s cultural history since the 16th century. The massive structure, designed by Isak Gustaf Clason, was originally intended to house the nation’s material inheritance as a national monument. The grand main hall is dominated by a massive sculpture of Sweden’s founder, King Gustav Vasa.

1. Nordiska museet is Sweden’s largest cultural history museum

Stockholm, Nordic Museum. Photo by Rainer Halama.

It tells stories about the lives and people of the Nordic countries. Discover homes and furniture from the past 500 years, as well as traditions and everyday life, fashion, clothing, textiles, and jewelry. The Arctic – While the Ice Is Melting, a major exhibition in the Great Hall, allows visitors to meet people from some of the world’s coldest places, where the environment and living conditions are changing at a rapid pace. Nordiska museet received a special mention in the 2022 European Museum of the Year Awards.

2. After Globen, it has the most non-denominated space in Sweden

After Globen, the main hall is Sweden’s largest non-denominational space. It measures 126.5 meters long and 24 meters tall. The project was supposed to be four times as large, but due to a lack of funds, they had to scale back. The grand main hall is dominated by a massive sculpture of Sweden’s founder, King Gustav Vasa.

3. Nordiska Museet is open to the public on a daily basis

Nordic Museum grand hall. Photo by Esquilo. Wikimedia Commons

Between October and May, admission is free between 1 and 5 p.m. on Tuesdays. Otherwise, an adult ticket costs 140 kroner (approximately 14 euros). There is no charge for anyone under the age of 18. The Go City Stockholm Card also includes admission.

Because there is only advanced booking, one cannot just walk in. Inside, there is timeless elegance, exquisite craftsmanship, and tailor-made dreams. The French Couture Atelier at the NK department store in Stockholm transports visitors to the golden age of haute couture and the northernmost outpost of Â鶹APP fashion.

4. During the holiday season, Nordsika Museum decorates with a large Christmas tree

Christmas tree. Photo by Felicia Buitenwerf.

Christmas in Stockholm is a time of coziness, flickering candlelight, copious amounts of food and drink, and some very special traditions ranging from solemn to ridiculous. There’s enough going on in Stockholm at Christmas to fill a daily calendar, but there are a few things that visitors or newcomers must do while in the city during the holiday season. During the holidays, they also put up a large Christmas tree and light it up.

5. The Nordic Museum is located on Djurgrden, a central Stockholm island

Nordic Museum. Photo by Martin Falbisoner.

Since the 15th century, the Swedish monarchy has owned Djurgrden Island. Djurgrden is a great place to spend the day because it is home to many of the country’s cultural institutions, including the Vasa Museum, which houses a massive 17th century warship, and Skansen, the world’s oldest open air museum. From Stockholm’s Gamla Stan, or old town, it’s a scenic half-hour walk or a five-minute taxi ride.

6. The Nordic Museum depicts more than 500 years of Nordic life in stunning detail

The Arctic – While the Ice Is Melting, a major exhibition in the Great Hall, allows visitors to meet people from some of the world’s coldest places, where the environment and living conditions are changing at a rapid pace.

Nordiska museet received a special mention in the 2022 European Museum of the Year Awards. Fashion and textiles, furniture and interiors, china and table settings, folk art, jewelry, photography, trends, and traditions are among the exhibits. There are also exhibits on the indigenous Sami people’s history and lifestyle, as well as a thought-provoking exhibit on the impact of environmental changes in the Arctic.

7. The museum’s collection includes over 1.5 million objects, including buildings

The Nordic Museum’s collection includes buildings such as the Julita farm in Södermanland, Svindersvik in Nacka, Tyresö Palace in Tyresö, and the chaplain farm at Härkeberga near Enköping. The museum archive also houses a large collection of documents as well as approximately 6 million photographs dating from the 1840s to the present. The museum research library has 3,800 shelf meters of literature dating from the 16th century to the present.

8. After a 19-year construction period, the museum building was completed in 1907

The current structure, designed by Isak Gustaf Clason, was completed in 1907 after a 19-year construction period. It was originally intended to be a national monument housing the nation’s material inheritance. It was, however, only half-finished for the Stockholm Exposition 1897, and it was never completed to the extent originally planned, which was three times the actual size.

Its style is influenced by Dutch-influenced Danish Renaissance architecture, such as Frederiksborg Palace, rather than any Swedish historical models. The heart of the “cathedralesque” structure is a massive main hall (126 meters long) that runs through all the stories up to the roof and is dominated by a massive sculpture of King Gustav Vasa, Sweden’s so-called founder-king. The walls were built with brick and granite, and the roof was built with concrete.

9. The Scandinavian Ethnographic Collection was the original name for the Nordic museum

Nordiska museet. Photo by Leszek Szleg.

In 1873, the museum was known as the Scandinavian Ethnographic Collection (Skandinavisk-etnografiska samlingen), and in 1880, it was renamed the Nordic Museum (Nordiska Museum, now Nordiska museet). When Hazelius founded the open-air museum Skansen in 1891, it was only the second of its kind in the world.

10. Despite insufficient government funding, the Nordic Museum was completed

Nordiska museet. Photo by Holger.Ellgaard.

The Society for the Promotion of the Nordic Museum (Samfundet för Nordiska Museets främjande) had 4,525 members by 1898, thanks to Hazelius’ widespread support and donations. The Riksdag appropriated funds for the museums in 1891 and more than doubled the amount in 1900, the year before Hazelius died.