Museum of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

The Museum of Copenhagen (Københavns Bymuseum) is the official museum of Copenhagen city. It documents the history from the 12th century to the present day. The museum is located close to the Central Station at Vesterbrogade, in a mansion from 1787 which used to house the Royal Copenhagen Shooting Society, and overlooks Skydebanehaven, the former shooting range now serving as a small public park.

Outside the museum's entrance is a large scale model of medieval Copenhagen. Part of the adjacent street Absalongade serves as a museum street, featuring historic street furniture.

References:

Wikipedia

Museums in Denmark

User Reviews

Jon Jorgensen (2 months ago)
One of the most beautiful museum buildings with a very tastefully collection. I highly recommend just for the architecture, the rest is a bonus. There are some impressive and important works from the Danish Golden Age in the Danish part of the building.

Joanne Macdonald (2 months ago)
This is one incredibly beautiful space. However, for a top tourist destination in a capital city, I would love there to be more multilingual provision. An audioguide option, or a range of paper guides in a few languages would improve visitors' experiences.

Yixiao Song (2 months ago)
Best art museum in Copenhagen city. Absolutely my most rememberable part of my Copenhagen trip. Definitely worth to go even if you are not into art. This museum is phenomenal!!

Giuseppe Mennella (2 months ago)
Beautiful museum. Wonderful exhibition and presence of many important and interesting works. Both the historical wing with a classic architecture and the new wing built by Larsen are interesting. There is a space for breakfast that is located in the central area in the palm garden

Konrad Osmólski (4 months ago)
One of the most beautiful museums I've ever been. Besides exhibition, the architecture itself and composition of flowers, trees, lights and all sculptures is so amazing. I love the idea of huge garden inside the main hall and the fact that each path leads you to something amazing and extraordinary. Well designed place, great exhibitions and the perfect way to spend at least two hours of your daytime. For everyone who come to Copenhagen for holidays and for those who just pass through - must see!

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

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Historic Site of the week

Beersel Castle

The moated castle at Beersel is one of the few exceptionally well-preserved examples of medieval fortifications in Belgium. It remains pretty much as it must have appeared in the 15th century. Remarkably, it was never converted into a fortified mansion. A visitor is able to experience at first-hand how it must have felt to live in a heavily fortified castle in the Middle Ages.

The castle was built in around 1420 as a means of defence on the outer reaches of Brussels. The tall, dense walls and towers were intended to hold any besiegers at bay. The moat and the marshy ground along its eastern, southern and western edges made any attack a formidable proposition. For that reason, any attackers would have chosen its weaker northern defences where the castle adjoins higher lying ground. But the castle was only taken and destroyed on one occasion in 1489, by the inhabitants of Brussels who were in rebellion against Maximilian of Austria.

After being stormed and plundered by the rebels it was partially rebuilt. The pointed roofs and stepped gables are features which have survived this period. The reconstruction explains why two periods can be identified in the fabric of the edifice, particularly on the outside.

The red Brabant sandstone surrounds of the embrasures, now more or less all bricked up, are characteristic of the 15th century. The other embrasures, edged with white sandstone, date from the end of the 15th century. They were intended for setting up the artillery fire. The merlons too are in white sandstone. The year 1617 can be clearly seen in the foundation support on the first tower. This refers to restorations carried out at the time by the Arenberg family.

Nowadays, the castle is dominated by three massive towers. The means of defence follow the classic pattern: a wide, deep moat surrounding the castle, a drawbridge, merlons on the towers, embrasures in the walls and in the towers, at more or less regular intervals, and machiolations. Circular, projecting towers ensured that attacks from the side could be thwarted. If the enemy were to penetrate the outer wall, each tower could be defended from embrasures facing onto the inner courtyard.

The second and third towers are flanked by watchtowers from which shots could be fired directly below. Between the second and third tower are two openings in the walkway on the wall. It is not clear what these were used for. Were these holes used for the disposing of rubbish, or escape routes. The windows on the exterior are narrow and low. All light entering comes from the interior. The few larger windows on the exterior date from a later period. It is most probable that the third tower - the highest - was used as a watchtower.

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Beersel Castle

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