Historical museum &amp

THE MEDIEVAL COLLECTION is devoted to church art,
such as stave church doorways and sculptures of saints.
The paintings from the ceiling of the Ål Stave Church in the
Hallingdal Valley (from about 1300 AD) are the only artistic
embellishment of a large room from the Norwegian Middle
Ages. The paintings reflect the iconography of the Middle
Ages and still have their original paint. Among other sources, they take motifs from the Creation, the Fall of Man, and
the Nativity, Passion and Resurrection of Christ.
In THE ANCIENT EGYPT exhibit, you can see mummies, mummy cases and gifts for use in the afterlife.
The mummy cases are from different dynasties during the Age of the Pharaohs. Many of the artefacts in
the museum’s modest Egyptian Collection were donated to the museum as gifts back in the 19 th century.
ARCTIC AND SUBARCTIC. What do people and cultures
north of the Arctic Circle have in common, and what distinguishes them? This exhibit displays traditional clothing,
tools and equipment and arts and crafts from Greenland,
Siberia, Northern Canada, Alaska and Lapland. Don’t miss
the unique collection of artefacts from Roald Amundsen’s
expedition through the Northwest Passage between 1903
and 1906.
Map of the exhibits in the Historical Museum
1st floor:
TREASURE
CHEST
VIKING AGE
COLLAPSE (OPENS IN 2016)
2st floor:
The exhibition From Ice Age to Christianity, which
focuses on Norwegian pre-history, shall be replaced with
a new exhibition Kollaps (Collapse). The new exhibition
will open in 2016 and explore an issue confronted by many
nations and eras: what new opportunities present themselves when a system collapses? This exhibition shall
be developed around three themes: Norwegian pioneer
settlements, Polynesian cosmology and urban gardening.
ARCTIC
AMERICA
ANTIQUITY
LANDING EXHIBITS
ANCIENT
EGYPT
NORGES
BANK
ROOM
LECTURE HALL
3st floor:
The roughly 2,700-year-old case and mummy of Dismutenibtes, the daughter
of the temple guard
Photo: Ellen Holte & Lill-Ann Chepstow-Lusty, Museum of Cultural History
WC
TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS
TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS
THE RED ZONE
4st floor:
St. Olav from Fresvik, Sogn og Fjordane, ca 1250
Photo: Ove Holst, Museum of Cultural History
In In THE TREASURE CHEST, you will find a collection
of gold treasure from Viking times, the Hoen Hoard from
Buskerud County, jewellery and other gold and silver
valuables.
Swords from Steinsvik in Nordland County
and Korsgården in Hedmark County
Photo: Eirik Irgens Johnsen, Museum of Cultural History
The world’s only preserved Viking helmet from Gjermundbu
Photo: Ove Holst, Museum of Cultural History
The Hoen Hoard | Photo: Ove Holst, Museum of Cultural History
The shaman costume of the Tuvan people (submitted in 1913).
All of the textiles in the costume demonstrate the shaman’s power and strength.
Photo: Ann Christine Eek, Museum of Cultural History
Coins from the famous flight of the Norwegian National Treasury
Photo: Kirsten Jensen Helgeland, Museum of Cultural History
THE NORGES BANK ROOM exhibits the gold treasure that
was evacuated from the country when the Nazi troops from
Germany occupied Norway on 9 April 1940. Here you can
see the gold that formed the basis for the gold standard
in Norway starting in 1875, the gold that ensured Norway
membership in international organisations and the gold
that financed the resistance struggle against the Germans.
EAST ASIA
LIBRARY
From the exhibit on indigenous peoples of the Americas
Photo: Ann Christine Eek, Museum of Cultural History
AMERICA – PRESENT – PAST – IDENTITY. This exhibit focuses on the ways in which indigenous people and minorities form their identity and traditions in encounters with the
greater society. Answers to this question may be found in
the masks, wood carvings, beaded embroideries and costumes displayed in the exhibit. Here you can also see the
Hopi potter Nampeyo’s innovative designs, beautiful feather
art from the Amazon and an alter from the Santeria Religion
in Cuba.
Sedan-chair with gold-dust ornaments for a bride from Japan’s feudal period
Photo: Ann Christine Eek, Museum of Cultural History
EAST ASIA. On the museum’s top floor, you will find beautiful art and crafts from Japan, Korea, Tibet and Imperial
China. Here you will find a rich assortment of silk clothing
and imperial thrones, theatre masks, Samurai Swords and
furnishings for Buddhist alters.
Museum of Cultural History
Historical museum &
The Viking Ship Museum
MUSEUM
SHOP
MIDDLE AGES
CLASSROOM
THE HISTORICAL MUSEUM first opened to the public in
1904 and is one of Norway’s finest Art Deco buildings. In
the Historical Museum, you will find Norwegian pre-history
(formerly the Collection of National Antiquities) with the
Treasure Chest (Skattkammeret), the Norges Bank room
(formerly the Numismatic Collection) and the ethnographic
exhibits (from the former Ethnographic Museum).
THE VIKING COLLECTION introduces you to the Vikings’
lives and deaths as farmers, traders, craftsmen and warriors. The exhibit also provides a glimpse into the Viking’s
mythology and burial customs, social structure and culture
of weapons. In the Vikings’ graves, a large number of weapons, tools and ornaments have been found. The only complete helmet that has been found so far from Viking times
is exhibited together with a coat of mail and a complete
collection of weaponry.
MIDDLE AGES
Historical Museum
Adress: Frederiks gate 2, 0164 OSLO
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Sunday 15 Sept. – 14 May: 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
15 May – 14 Sept.: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Free admission for children under 18 years of age
For more info: www.khm.uio.no/barn-skole/
Events: www.khm.uio.no/besok-oss/arrangementer/
Guided tours: www.khm.uio.no/om/tjenester/omvisninger/
Getting there:
Train or underground to the National Theatre station
Tram to Kristian Augusts gate/Tullinløkka
E-mail: [email protected]
Two museums on one ticket:
Use the same ticket in the Viking Ship Museum within 48 hours
Floor plan of the exhibits in the Viking Ship Museum
E
C
D
B
A
A: Vestibule, B: The Oseberg Ship, C: The Gokstad Ship,
D: The Tune Ship, E: The Artefact Wing
E: The wagon, The sledges, The animal-head posts
Adress: Huk aveny 35, 0287 Oslo
Opening hours: 1 May – 30 Sept.: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
1 Oct. – 30 Apr.: 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Getting there:
Bus no. 30 to Bygdøy (can be taken from Oslo City Hall
among other stops). The ferry from Rådhuskaia (the City Hall Wharf)
to Dronningen Restaurant (only in the summer)
Free guided tours for school classes. More info: www.khm.uio.no/barn-skole/
Events: www.khm.uio.no/besok-oss/arrangementer/
Guided tours: www.khm.uio.no/om/tjenester/omvisninger/
Guided tours/events:
Telefon: (+47)22135280 | Faks: (+47)22135281
E-mail: [email protected]
Two museums on one ticket:
Use the same ticket in the Historical Museum within 48 hours
The Viking Ship Museum
A NEW VIKING AGE MUSEUM A NEW VIKING AGE MUSEUM at Bygdøy is in planning. The new Viking Age Museum will be three times as big as the current Viking Ship
Museum. Here visitors will be welcomed to a completely
unique museum experience- the new museum shall present
a complex Viking society. It was in the age of the Vikings
that the Scandinavian kingdoms were established, the people of Scandinavia were converted to Christianity, the first
towns came into existence and the monetary economy was
introduced and spread. The Vikings were farmers, craftsmen, lawmakers and merchants. They explored the world
and travelled to Byzantium, to the Russian interior, to the
Baltic States and Poland and to Germany, France, the British Isles and Greenland. The new museum will present
many aspects of the Vikings’ lives and deaths, arts and
crafts, war and trade and everyday life.
THE OSEBERG SHIP was built around 820 AD. The ship is
constructed from oak timbers and is decorated with beautiful carvings. The ship is about 22 metres long and about
5 metres wide. The ship was fully manned with a crew of
thirty oarsmen, a helmsman and a lookout.
In 834 AD, the ship was used as a burial ship for two powerful women. The elder of them was between the ages of
70 and 80 when she died; the younger was a little over age
50. On their final journey to the realm of the dead, the two
women were given a fantastic collection of burial gifts; e.g.
three elaborate sledges, a wagon, five carved animal-head
posts, five beds and fifteen horses, six dogs and two cows.
Many of these burial artefacts are exhibited in the Viking
Ship Museum, e.g. the three elaborate sledges, the wagon
and four of the carved animal-head posts.
In the current VIKING SHIP MUSEUM, you will find the
world’s best preserved Viking ships, together with the
fantastic artefacts from the burial ships from Oseberg,
Gokstad, Tune and Borre near the Oslo Fjord. Before these
ships were drawn ashore and used as burial ships, studies
show that they were used as ocean-going vessels. When
the ships were buried in the burial mound, the dead were
buried in a separate burial chamber in the ship, where they
were well-equipped for the afterlife.
THE GOKSTAD SHIP was built around 900 AD and later
used as a burial ship for a powerful man. The ship was very
seaworthy and well-suited for voyages across the open
sea. The ship is constructed from oak timbers and is about
23 metres long and about 5 metres wide. It was equipped
with 32 shields hanging on either side of the boat and painted alternately in gold and black. In the burial chamber lay
the body of a man in his 40s. Signs of cutting blows to both
legs indicate that he died in battle.
THE MUSEUM OF CULTURAL HISTORY is a
separate faculty under the University of Oslo
THE TUNE SHIP was already discovered in 1867, and that
makes it the first Viking ship to be excavated and preserved
in modern times. The ship was clinker-built of oak and
dates back to about 900 AD. The Tune ship was probably
a fast, ocean-going vessel. The remains of a man’s body
lay in the burial chamber. Among the artefacts found in the
grave were the remains of weapons and a suit of chain mail,
a die, pieces of a ski and the skeleton of a horse. The ship
is exhibited as it was found.
THE COLLECTIONS at the Museum of Cultural History consist of almost one and a half million artefacts collected over
a period of 200 years: national antiquities and medieval
church art from Norway, classical antiquities including artefacts from ancient Egypt, a coin collection, and Norway’s
largest ethnographic collection. A selection of these artefacts is exhibited in the Historical Museum and in the Viking
Ship Museum.
Grave robbers had long since plundered the grave; no
weapons or jewellery were found among the burial gifts.
However, the finds included a game board with game pieces, a harness fitting of iron, lead and gilded bronze, kitchen
utensils, six beds, a tent, a sledge and three small boats.
Also buried in the grave were 12 horses, eight dogs, two
peacocks and two goshawks. In the museum, you will find
bedposts, a harness fitting and several small boats from
the grave.
Research on cultures in the past and present opens up new
perspectives on the world’s cultural heritage and helps increase our cultural understanding. The Museum and the
University of Oslo are collaborating on developing better
architectural solutions to house the Museum’s collections
and exhibits.
The Historical Museum | Photo: Nina Wallin Hansen, Museum of Cultural History
The Tune ship | Photo: Eirik Irgens Johnsen, Museum of Cultural History
Wagon from the Oseberg burial mound
Photo: Eirik Irgens Johnsen, Museum of Cultural History
The Oseberg ship | Photo: Eirik Irgens Johnsen, Museum of Cultural History
The Gokstad ship | Photo: Eirik Irgens Johnsen, Museum of Cultural History
Burial chamber and small boats from the Gokstad burial mound
Photo: Eirik Irgens Johnsen, Museum of Cultural History
The Viking Ship Museum | Photo: Eirik Irgens Johnsen, Museum of Cultural History
Animal-head posts from
the Oseberg burial mound
Photo: Kirsten Jensen Helgeland,
Museum of Cultural History