Frilandsmuseet, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

Frilandsmuseet (The Open Air Museum), opened in 1897 and covering 40 hectares, it is one of the largest and oldest open-air museums in the world. It is a department under the Danish National Museum. The museum features more than 100 buildings from rural environments and dating from 1650-1950. All buildings are original and have been moved piece by piece from their original location save a windmill that is still found in its original location.

The museum contains rural buildings from all regions of Denmark, including many of the small and remote Danish islands like Bornholm, Læsø. Represented are also buildings from the Faroe Islands, as well as the former Danish possessions of Southern Schleswig in Germany and Scania andHalland in Sweden. The distribution demonstrates how life has been adapted to regional living conditions and availability of materials. Buildings include a farmhouse from the island of læsø thatched with kelp

Represented in the collection are also all social living conditions, from a manor house to a poorhouse, different types of buildings like farms, mills and workshops, and numerous professions. The museum include six mills including a post mill from 1662. Some of the mills are regularly operated by a guild of volunteers.

The grounds of the museum also features 25 historic gardens and cultural landscapes and livestock of old Danish breeds. The gardens and animals are displayed in connection with the socially and geographically corresponding buildings.

References:

Wikipedia

Museums in Denmark

User Reviews

Lijing Zhang (4 months ago)
Nice outdoor museum, ideal for family visit

Румяна Стоянова (6 months ago)
Very interesting place where you can see how the Danes lived in the past. There are a lot of houses and farms, also some farm animals - cows, horses, goats, sheep, etc. The place is huge but it is very interesting and offers great walks like if you are really in the countryside. It is popular place for the little children. It would have been better if there was more information or people telling more about the differerent houses or demonstrating what life was.

Twinkle Twinkle (7 months ago)
Very charming and a beautiful set up of the old country houses. A little bit more information about the different houses would be appreciated! Maybe stories about how there daily life could have been.

Jaqueline C. Acosta (7 months ago)
Simply just a very calming and beautiful environment. And the scenery is amazing. My kid who’s 8 who normally don’t like museums she couldn’t stop talking about It weeks after, she wanted to go back. That says a lot ☺️

NiWoLu Creations (9 months ago)
Fantastic place to bring kids. Lots of outdoor space to run around and it's easy to experience "the olden times" without reading signs. During summer there are kids activities and theatre too.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

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Cesis Castle

German crusaders known as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword began construction of the Cēsis castle (Wenden) near the hill fort in 1209. When the castle was enlarged and fortified, it served as the residence for the Order's Master from 1237 till 1561, with periodic interruptions. Its ruins are some of the most majestic castle ruins in the Baltic states. Once the most important castle of the Livonian Order, it was the official residence for the masters of the order.

In 1577, during the Livonian War, the garrison destroyed the castle to prevent it from falling into the control of Ivan the Terrible, who was decisively defeated in the Battle of Wenden (1578).

In 1598 it was incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Wenden Voivodship was created here. In 1620 Wenden was conquered by Sweden. It was rebuilt afterwards, but was destroyed again in 1703 during the Great Northern War by the Russian army and left in a ruined state. Already from the end of the 16th century, the premises of the Order's castle were adjusted to the requirements of the Cēsis Castle estate. When in 1777 the Cēsis Castle estate was obtained by Count Carl Sievers, he had his new residence house built on the site of the eastern block of the castle, joining its end wall with the fortification tower.

Since 1949, the Cēsis History Museum has been located in this New Castle of the Cēsis Castle estate. The front yard of the New Castle is enclosed by a granary and a stable-coach house, which now houses the Exhibition Hall of the Museum. Beside the granary there is the oldest brewery in Latvia, Cēsu alus darītava, which was built in 1878 during the later Count Sievers' time, but its origins date back to the period of the Livonian Order. Further on, the Cēsis Castle park is situated, which was laid out in 1812. The park has the romantic characteristic of that time, with its winding footpaths, exotic plants, and the waters of the pond reflecting the castle's ruins. Nowadays also one of the towers is open for tourists.

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