General information about Norsk Folkemuseum for editorial use.
Norsk Folkemuseum
(The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History)
The Norsk Folkemuseum is Norway’s largest museum of cultural history. With collections from around the country, the museum shows how people lived in Norway from 1500 to the present. The more than 150 buildings in the Open-Air Museum represent different regions in Norway, different time periods, as well as differences between town and country, and social classes. The Gol Stave Church dating from 1200 is one of five medieval buildings at the museum. The contemporary history is enlightened through exhibitions and documentation projects focusing especially on children, youth and the multicultural population. Permanent indoor exhibitions include folk art, folk costumes, toys and Sami culture. There are also a variety of temporary exhibitions and audience programs all year round.
Basic Facts
- Founded: December 19, 1894.
- Number of artifacts in the collections: 230.000
- Outdoor area: 140 000 sq. meters Including The Royal Farm: app. 2 000 000 sq. meters
- Indoor area: 27 000 sq. meters
- Staff: approx. 120 employees
- Number of Buildings in the Open-air-Museum: 155
- Oldest historic building: Gol Stave Church, built 1200.
- Open to the public 360 days a year.
The Open-air Museum
Norsk Folkemuseum is one of the largest Open-Air Museums in Europe, and includes the world’s first Open-Air Museum. It features more than 150 buildings from most areas in Norway. One of the many popular attractions is Gol Stave Church, dating back to year 1200.
The Open-air Museum’s “Rural District”, with its authentic buildings and artifacts, features traditional life in the Norwegian valleys, fjords and coastal regions. The "Old Town" features traditional life in Norwegian towns.
Indoor exhibits
Norsk Folkemuseum also presents comprehensive indoor exhibits.
One of the permanent exhibits displays folk dress from different regions of Norway. Different types of clothing are represented, ranging from the perhaps most impressive of all – bridal costumes – to church attire, every day apparel and work clothes.
The exhibit on folk art features the rich heritage of Norwegian wood carving and decorative painting. Renowned folk artists are represented.
The Sami exhibit provides a glimpse into the life and culture of the Sami people.
Visitors may also enter the interior of Norway’s first Parliament Building (The Storting).
In addition, the museum features alternating exhibits on current themes.
Activities
Norsk Folkemuseum offers a varied and entertaining program throughout the year. This includes family activities, concerts, folk dancing, and guided tours. Hosts in folk dress welcome visitors during the summer season. One of the highlights is the annual Christmas Market in December.
Highlights in the Open-air Museum
The Open-Air Museum shows rural buildings arranged as traditional Norwegian farms and urban buildings set up in The Old Town.
Gol Stave Church
Gol Stave Church was built around 1200, and it is one of less than 30 remaining stave churches in Norway.
The church was built during the age of Catholicism in Norway. After the Reformation in 1537, it was altered over time in order to accommodate the Lutheran liturgy.
The term “stave church” refers to the staves, or posts, that support the roof. The church was moved from Gol in Hallingdal to Bygdøy where it underwent extensive restoration. Borgund Stave Church served as a model for the restoration. The hand carved ornaments on the south and west portals has plant and dragon motifs. The runic inscriptions on the choir wall presumably date back to the time when the church was originally built. The paintings on the choir and apse walls date back to 1652.
The Old Town
The Old Town has buildings from Christiania (now Oslo) and suburbs as well as other Norwegian towns. King Christian IV founded Christiania in 1624 after the old city of Oslo, which mainly had wooden structures, burned to the ground.
The new town, Christiania, was established on a new site near by. The layout was planned according to a grid system, making the streets and blocks form perfect squares. As a fire precaution, all buildings had to be built in brick or as timber framed brick structured. Norsk Folkemuseum’s “Old Town” has preserved some of the best and architecturally most pleasing structures from Christiania, as well as a number of more humble houses from different socioeconomic strata, including parts of the working class suburb of Enerhaugen. The way of urban living in the 20th century is shown in Wessels gate 15, a three story Oslo apartment building from 1865.
The Setesdal Farmstead
Norsk Folkemuseum’s Open-air museum consists of farmsteads from different regions in Norway. The farmstead from Setesdal is built for two households, which was common before the land reforms in the 19th century. There are two “årestuer” (a dwelling with open fire and no chimney) in medieval style, and two lofts from respectively 17th and 18th century. One is a three stories log structure. These lofts served as the guestrooms, and were often the most attractive buildings.
Before industrialization, Setesdal was fairly isolated. Elements of medieval style were commonly used in folk art and architecture as late as the 19th century. This is visible in the museum’s buildings and artifacts.
In order to convey life in Setesdal during the 17th and 18th century, the museum has made a replica of one “årestue” from the Setesdal farmstead. The public is invited inside to taste the porridge cooked on the open fire or watch the making of traditional arts and crafts.
The Apartment Building from Wessels gate 15
The apartment building from Wessels gate 15 was built in 1865, in an architectural style that is recognized all over Oslo. In 1999 the three-story brick building was rebuilt in the Old Town of the Norsk Folkemuseum, with support from OBOS. Today it shows six apartments presenting interior styles of different periods of the 20th and 21st century.
The History of the Museum
Norsk Folkemuseum was founded by Hans Aall in 1894. This time period was marked by strong national fervor and a desire for a more independent position in the union with Sweden. In 1898 the new museum was permanently established on the Bygdøy peninsula near Oslo, where the first comprehensive exhibit on cultural history was opened in 1901.
The World’s first open-air museum established in 1881, King Oscar’s Collection, was incorporated in 1907. Thus Gol Stave Church and five other buildings were added to Norsk Folkemuseum. An ambitious plan for further expansion was successfully completed in 1934, adding new exhibit and storage area. The museum played a central role as a research institution and issued its own publications. During the 1950s and -60s this trend continued, and the research branched out to include many academic fields.
Efforts to improve the museum's economy in the 1990s were successful and gave way to new research projects, new exhibits and new audience attractions.
The focus of research was now shifted to center on the 20th century, adding 20th century buildings and artifacts to the collections. Buildings from this the last century are now being rebuilt on the museum grounds. Among these is a sizable red Norwegian barn from the 1950s. Another is a typical Oslo apartment building. Documentation projects have been made to conserve knowledge about today’s society. A main focus has been directed towards the situation for children youth and the multicultural population of Norway.
Based on a solid foundation of research, Norsk Folkemuseum is continuously upgrading its collections and exhibits, and thus defining its position among the great museums of Europe.
Information
For further information contact: Paal Mork, Director of Communications. Phone: (+47) 22 12 37 25, e-mail: paal.mork@norskfolkemuseum.no
Address
Norsk Folkemuseum
Museumsveien 10
N-0287 Oslo
Phone: (+47) 22 12 37 00
Fax: (+47) 22 12 37 77
E-mail: post@norskfolkemuseum.no
Website: www.norskfolkemuseum.no
How to get there
Norsk Folkemuseum is located at Bygdøy peninsula, ca. 4 kilometers west of downtown Oslo. Other museums are also located here: The Viking Ship Museum, The Kon-Tiki Museum, and The Fram Museum.
Use bus no. 30 to Bygdøy from downtown Oslo. (Bus stops: Oslo Central Station and the National Theatre).
Or take the ferry from the Town Hall during the tourist season: April - October.
By car: Highway E18 westbound from downtown, – Exit”Bygdøy” approx. 4 kilometers from downtown.
Hours - Exhibits
Summer: May 15 - Sep 14
Every Day: 10.00 - 18.00
Winter: Sep 15 - May 14
Weekdays: 11.00 - 15.00
Sat. & Sun: 11.00 - 16.00
Closed: 1 January, 24, 25 and 31 December
Admissions
Winter Summer
Adults NOK 70 NOK 95
Reduced fee* NOK 50 NOK 70
Children NOK 25 NOK 25
Children under 6 Free admission Free admission
Family** NOK 150 NOK 200
*Groups over 15 persons and students.
** (Grand) Parents with children