The history of the museum dates back to 1960 when the Pomeranian Museum (now the National Museum) set up an independent branch under the name “Maritime Department”. Two years later this department became a separate institution based in the famous Zuraw Crane in Gdansk. The museum then took over several barns on Olowianka Island. Apart from these and the Wielki Zuraw Crane the other divisions are the Fisheries Museum in Hel, the River Vistula Museum in Tczew and two ships, SS Soldek and Dar Pomorza. The newest addition is the Centre of Maritime Culture.
The museums’ collections relate to the history of ports, shipbuilding, shipping and trade. Among them are historic examples of the craft of shipbuilding, salvage, ship fittings, navigational equipment, propulsion systems, handguns and deck cannons, etc. There are also interesting collections of models of Slavic boats, Gdansk’s medieval ships, warships from the 16th and 17th centuries, Polish merchant and passenger ships between 1920 and 1939 and river boats and tugs built after 1945. The collection also includes examples of vessels from Oceania, Indonesia and Africa. The museum houses art collections with a maritime theme.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.