Skansen Open Air Museum

Stockholm, Sweden

Skansen is the first open air museum and zoo in Sweden. It was founded in 1891 by Artur Hazelius (1833-1901) to show the way of life in the different parts of Sweden before the industrial era. Skansen attracts more than 1.3 million visitors each year. The many exhibits over the 75 acre (300,000 m²) site include a full replica of an average 19th-century town, in which craftsmen in traditional dress such as tanners, shoemakers, silversmiths, bakers and glass-blowers demonstrate their skills in period surroundings.

There is even a small patch growing tobacco used for the making of cigarettes. There is also an open-air zoo containing a wide range of Scandinavian animals including the bison, brown bear, moose, grey seal, lynx, otter,red fox, reindeer, wolf, and wolverine (as well as some non-Scandinavian animals due to their popularity). There are also farmsteads where rare breeds of farm animals can be seen. In early December the site's central Bollnäs square is host to a popular Christmas market that has been held since 1903, attracting around 25,000 visitors each weekend. In the summer there are displays of folk dancing and concerts.

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Address

Sollidenbacken, Stockholm, Sweden
See all sites in Stockholm

Details

Founded: 1891
Category: Museums in Sweden
Historical period: Union with Norway and Modernization (Sweden)

More Information

www.skansen.se
en.wikipedia.org
www.visitstockholm.com

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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User Reviews

Valerio Meletti (17 months ago)
Excellent for children: very interesting reconstructions of local traditional activities from all over Sweden; open air zoo with Nordic animals (always a pity, but at least they have lots of space compared to other zoos). At Xmas I'd recommend to visit during
Marcus Bernestrom (2 years ago)
Best time to visit is when the Christmas market is on, with dancing and lots of traditional foods and traditions. Any Swedish holiday deserve a visit though as interactive displays of traditional celebrations take place. Midsummer celebrations are spectacular, Christmas and New Years are great. Any time of year it is worth a visit though. Meet spring when seasons shift and animals and flowers wake up, summer with active animals and gorgeous days and nights, with ter with its coat of snow and houses to visit including where traditional bread is made, glass is blown and much more.
Martin Caruso (2 years ago)
Awesome open air museum/zoo. I went knowing very little about the place and had a grand time. The museum portion is amazing and pretty informative. They have all kinds of traditional workshops and trades going which is very unique. The zoo portion is also great where they have many of the regional animals available for viewing.
Eryn Zook (2 years ago)
Wonderful place to visit. Especially with children. In December they have a Julmarknad (Christmas Market) with booths selling all sorts of candy, clothing, and toys that are time appropriate for the theme. There are old building you can explore that are the original houses built back in the first day in Stockholm. The workers are all dressed time appropriate as well! And enjoyable experience for both children and adults.
James Skelton (2 years ago)
Amazing park! I came here by myself as I had a free day and had a great time. The open air museum is very interesting and the Nordic animals area is wonderful for those visiting Sweden on a tight schedule. Staff are all very friendly and all demonstrations were in both Swedish and English - which is very helpful!
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In 1151 King Konrad III ended a dispute over who should inherit Cochem Castle by laying siege to it and taking possession of it himself. That same year it became an official Imperial Castle (Reichsburg) subject to imperial authority. In 1282 it was Habsburg King Rudolf’s turn, when he conquered the Reichsburg Cochem and took it over. But just 12 years later, in 1294, the newest owner, King Adolf of Nassau pawned the castle, the town of Cochem and the surrounding region in order to finance his coronation. Adolf’s successor, Albrecht I, was unable to redeem the pledge and was forced to grant the castle to the archbishop in nearby Trier and the Electorate of Trier, which then administered the Reichsburg continuously, except for a brief interruption when Trier’s Archbishop Balduin of Luxembourg had to pawn the castle to a countess. But he got it back a year later.

The Electorate of Trier and its nobility became wealthy and powerful in large part due to the income from Cochem Castle and the rights to shipping tolls on the Moselle. Not until 1419 did the castle and its tolls come under the administration of civil bailiffs (Amtsmänner). While under the control of the bishops and electors in Trier from the 14th to the 16th century, the castle was expanded several times.

In 1688 the French invaded the Rhine and Moselle regions of the Palatinate, which included Cochem and its castle. French troops conquered the Reichsburg and then laid waste not only to the castle but also to Cochem and most of the other surrounding towns in a scorched-earth campaign. Between that time and the Congress of Vienna, the Palatinate and Cochem went back and forth between France and Prussia. In 1815 the western Palatinate and Cochem finally became part of Prussia once and for all.

Louis Jacques Ravené (1823-1879) did not live to see the completion of his renovated castle, but it was completed by his son Louis Auguste Ravené (1866-1944). Louis Auguste was only two years old when construction work at the old ruins above Cochem began in 1868, but most of the new castle took shape from 1874 to 1877, based on designs by Berlin architects. After the death of his father in 1879, Louis Auguste supervised the final stages of construction, mostly involving work on the castle’s interior. The castle was finally completed in 1890. Louis Auguste, like his father, a lover of art, filled the castle with an extensive art collection, most of which was lost during the Second World War.

In 1942, during the Nazi years, Ravené was forced to sell the family castle to the Prussian Ministry of Justice, which turned it into a law school run by the Nazi government. Following the end of the war, the castle became the property of the new state of Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate). In 1978 the city of Cochem bought the castle for 664,000 marks.

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