Experience runestones, stand face to face with bog bodies, see The Golden Horns, be inspired by the suit worn by the first Dane in space and see an original hash stall from Freetown Christiania. The National Museum tells the history of Denmark from the earliest settlements to the life today.  Iconic treasures of Danish history Experience world-famous highlights with a starring role in Danish history. Runestones, The Golden Horns, the suit worn by the first Dane in space and the hash stall from Freetown Christiania that has become a symbol of Danish liberal-mindedness. 'THE VIKING SORCERESS' Meet the powerful sorceress of the Viking Age at the National Museum’s spectacular exhibition. Step inside the mystical universe of the Vikings and unravel their complex relationship to their own age and the future. The Children’s Museum Here you are invited to play and touch everything in sight! Join a raid in the Viking ship, discover a backyard of the 1930s or enter a classroom of the past and experience what school was like for the great-grandparents of Danes. Board the cargo ship and settle down in the berth in the cabin, or explore a Pakistani market and buy food in the bazaar. You can also cook in a Medieval kitchen, or prepare the knights’ castle for defense against enemy attacks. Special exhibition: The roots of Christmas, 15/11/24-5/1/25 (Ritzau.dk) The exhibition The Roots of Christmas is a total experience taking you into different Christmas universes. In the first you find yourself in a gigantic Advent calendar where the windows of the National Museum have been transformed into 24 calendar doors. Behind the doors are old Christmas decorations that reveal surprising stories about Christmas past. In the next universe you arrive at a dark Danish farmyard on the night of Christmas. You are actually not meant to be out here, because the dark forces of nature are even more powerful at Christmas. Next stop is a forest a thousand years ago, where Vikings have just killed a pig as an offering to the gods. As you go through the exhibition you discover that Christmas is an age-old ritual full of surprises. The traditional Danish tale Peter’s Christmas has been a source of Christmas nostalgia since the 1800s, but Christmas has much deeper roots in Christianity and the pagan winter celebration Jól. Christmas was once a seasonal ritual connecting people, nature and the gods. It marked the transition to a new year and brought prosperity and fertility. Eat Nordic With clear references to classic lunch and local dishes, restaurant Smör serves new interpretations of Danish food. NB: The Museum is closed on the 24th, 25th and 31st of December. However, you are more than welcome to visit between 10-17 on the 1st of January.

HOW TO BECOME A COPENHAGENER Copenhagen is one of the world’s most livable cities. But who are the Copenhageners and what kind of city is Copenhagen? Begin your visit in Copenhagen at the Museum of Copenhagen, located in a beautiful, historical building right behind City Hall. You’ll be introduced to all the most important places and events in the history of the Danish capital. From the city of the Viking Age, through the building boom and plague, fires and bombings, to the free city of Christiania today. A vast array of unique, original exhibits bring the city and its people to life. Our interactive model gives you an overview of the entire city – perhaps you will end up as a Copenhagener yourself! THREE HIGHLIGHTS See the 600 years old shipwreck of a keel Examine an early edition of today’s Copenhageners’ favourite means of transport – the bicycle! Get an overview of the city on the Copenhagen Panorama with our large scale, interactive model. In a hurry? Se the highlights of the museum in just 30 minutes. CAFÉ & SHOP Find an original gift in our museum shop, which offers everything from postcards to handcrafted design or relax in the café or in the ‘hyggelige’ courtyard. Special Exhibition: The Local Business – Photos from Wong’s Takeaway to RC Dry Cleaners, 01 May. - 20 Oct. 2024 Copenhagen’s small businesses are often declared in danger of extinction as they battle to survive competition from chain stores and shopping centres. Photographer Ulf Svane and historian Mathias Kobberrød Rasmussen take us to the Copenhagen dog salon, jewellers, dry cleaners and other enterprises in the Danish capital to give us a snapshot of the businesses and their proprietors. Join us on a tour of a colourful world of charismatic retailers and a hotchpotch of style and local spirit far removed from the city’s department stores. The exhibition opens to the public on 1 May at the Museum of Copenhagen just behind Copenhagen City Hall (cphmuseum.kk.dk)

Go underground and experience the Danish World War II resistance fight up close. In the dark, shadowy streets of the occupation period, you'll meet five historical figures. Each has chosen a side, and now everyone must face the consequences. Dive into acts of sabotage, produce illegal newspapers, crack codes and intercept telephone calls.  See how Danes had to choose between whether they wanted to join the resistance, collaborate with the Germans - or try to continue with their everyday lives. The Museum of Danish Resistance is about the men and women who chose to resist the occupation and shows why that decision wasn’t always black and white. The museum is located at the Citadel and is within walking distance from The Little Mermaid, Amalienborg Palace and Frederik’s Church (Marmorkirken). Go underground in the German-occupied Denmark of the 1940s and experience the Danish resistance fight. In the shadowy streets of the occupation, you will meet five historical people, who each in their own way chose a side during the harsh resistance fight during World War II. You will gain a unique insight into their difficult choices and dilemmas. You can have a go at printing illegal magazines, intercept phone calls and break the Germans’ Enigma code. It is possible to buy a guide book, which goes even deeper down into history about the resistance fight and the occupation during World War II.

The Workers Museum in Copenhagen invites you to step into everyday life of Copenhageners in the 1950's. HOME TO YOUR HISTORY The Workers Museums is located at the Workers Assembly Hall, built in 1879. The building includes the impressive Banquet Hall and the former Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning's office. Experience everyday life of the 1950s and taste chocolate biscuit cake and chicory coffee. Visit the Sørensens family who moved to Copenhagen in 1885 and explore the development of industrial work. Step into everyday life of working class children in "The Workers Museums for Children".  Enjoy a lunch in the Café & Øl-Halle "1892", the only listed basement restaurant in Copenhagen.  The Banquet Hall The Banquet Hall is the heart of the old Workers’ Assembly Building, which dates from 1879. It features an abundance of decorations and artistic details – testament to the pride of the countless different trades and craftsmen who used the building on Rømersgade. The Banquet Hall formed the setting for innumerable meetings, political discussions, congresses and parties, and here thousands of workers became accustomed to participating in democracy and civic life. In 2021, the Banquet Hall underwent major refurbishment.Come and enjoy this beautiful hall, filled from floor to balcony with a myriad of stories. Explore the life that went on in the hall across the years, visit the museum’s exhibitions and experience the unique sound and light installation. The 1950's The decade when Denmark bid farewell to war and deprivation and when working-class families joined the ranks of consumers. After the 2. World War there was still lack of many goods and they were still rationed by the use of coupons which characterized life for the working class. However, during the decade the families slowly earned more and consumerism emerged heavily influenced by the United States. The exhibition takes you to the worker family’s apartment where the growing wealth is shown, as well as taking you down the street where lack of goods from the war and post-war is slowly replaced with a larger supply.   The Children’s Workers Museum Through games and using their senses children can experience how it was to be a working-class child generations ago. Playing at the Kids’ Workers Museum, our youngest visitors can experience and imagine the life of working-class children around 1930. Both children and adults can listen to the story of the working-class boy Thorvald, who went on to become Denmark’s longest serving prime minister. Kids visiting the museum can try working as a delivery boy or girl in the grocer’s shop, sort bottles at the brewery, or use a typewriter in the union office. They can also dress up in a sailor’s suit, dance at the dance school, play in a 1930s flat, or visit the pawnbroker and see if they can get a few pennies for an old coat.  

Step into the Danish Golden Age Bakkehuset was an essential meeting place in the Danish Golden Age, hosted by Kamma and Knud Lyne Rahbek and frequently visited by Hans Christian Andersen, Oehlenschläger, H.C. Ørsted and other poets, scientists and opinion formers of the romantic period. Today, Bakkehuset is buzzing with art and culture. The historic house and its surrounding gardens provide an authentic insight into the way of life in the early 19th century, its atmosphere and style. A visit to Bakkehuset is a visceral experience of one of the most central periods in Danish cultural history; the period that would become known as the Golden Age. Hans Christian Andersen visited Bakkehuset as a young man and here he found inspiration and support to become a writer. His famous tales work as inspiration for creative activities in the cozy family area, Eventyrakademiet (the Fairytale Academy) Experience the newly renovated romantic garden around Bakkehuset. You can enjoy coffee and historical food in the orangery, beautifully situated in the middle of the blossoming garden. The café is set in the historical garden and serves traditional open sandwiches.