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Founded: c. 1100 BCCategory: Prehistoric and archaeological sites in Denmark
Historical period: Bronze Age (Denmark)
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Louisenlund is a site with one of Denmark's largest collection of megaliths. Some 50 stones standing upright among the trees, many of them over 2.5 metres high. The megaliths, which bear no inscription, stand on low mounds or over graves where the remains of burnt bones are buried. In the early Bronze Age and late Iron Age (1100 BC), it appears to have been common practice to set megaliths over graves of this kind. The stones stand alone or in small groups. As the site has not been archeologically investigated, it is not known why the stones were raised there. Another important megalithic site on Bornholm is Gryet, a small wooded area 5 kilometres west of Nexø. Originally it had more than 60 megaliths. Some have now been removed while half those remaining have fallen to the ground. The highest of them, once standing on the mound towards the south of the wood, was removed in the 17th century to be used as a gravestone. Louisenlund was bought by King Frederik VII when he visited Bornholm in 1851. He named it after his mistress, Countess Louise Danner.
References:The Old Town in Aarhus, Denmark (Den Gamle By), is an open-air town museum consisting of 75 historical buildings collected from 20 townships in all parts of the country. In 1914 the museum opened as the world's first open-air museum of its kind, concentrating on town culture rather than village culture, and to this day it remains one of just a few top rated Danish museums outside Copenhagen.
The museum buildings are organized into a small town of chiefly half-timbered structures originally erected between 1550 and the late 19th century in various parts of the country and later moved to Aarhus during the 20th century. In all there are some 27 rooms, chambers or kitchens, 34 workshops, 10 groceries or shops, 5 historical gardens, a post office, a customs office, a school and a theatre.
The town itself is the main attraction but most buildings are open for visitors; rooms are either decorated in the original historical style or organized into larger exhibits of which there are 5 regular with varying themes. There are several groceries, diners and workshops spread throughout the town with museum staff working in the roles of town figures i.e. merchant, blacksmith etc. adding to the illusion of a 'living' town.