SKANSEN

Description

Essentials about Skansen in brief

A visit to Skansen is a must on any trip to Stockholm. Located on the island of Djurgården, the world’s oldest open-air museum is a wonderful journey back in time to Sweden’s history and folk culture. Visitors can expect not only around 150 historic buildings, but also around 300 animal species and lots of craft and cultural activities. Skansen is a fantastic combination of information and entertainment for young and old.

The history and buildings of Skansen

Skansen goes back to the Swedish philologist and ethnographer Artur Hazelius, who is also the founding father of the neighboring Nordic Museum. The open-air museum was originally intended as an annex to the Nordic Museum, but quickly developed into an attraction in its own right.

Skansen was opened in 1891 with the aim of bringing Swedes closer to their own folk culture, which was threatened by the onset of industrialization, in the form of a living museum. This was to be achieved by relocating or reconstructing typical buildings from all over Sweden together with their furnishings. Scandinavian wooden architecture undoubtedly makes moving entire buildings a little easier, but stone houses have also been successfully relocated to Skansen.

In total, around 150 buildings from all parts of Sweden have been moved to the Stockholm open-air museum. These include numerous farms, town houses and farm workers’ cottages, a craftsmen’s quarter, the Seglora Church, the Väla school and the Skogaholm Manor house. The buildings are embedded in the flora typical of the region of origin.

The animal world in Skansen

From the very beginning, Hazelius not only wanted to show buildings in the open-air museum, but also the animal world of his country. The Sámi camp site was equipped with a reindeer enclosure, which gradually developed into an animal park that is now home to around 300 animals native to Sweden. Visitors can encounter bears, elks, lynxes, wolverines, wolves and many other typical Nordic animals.

In 2019, the zoo was expanded to include the Baltic Sea Science Center, where visitors can discover the underwater world of the Baltic Sea. And of course, an open-air museum like Skansen should not be without a children’s petting zoo. At Lill-Skansen, young visitors can stroke goats, sheep and other animals.

Activities in Skansen

As intended by founder Hazelius, Skansen is still an extremely lively museum today, with numerous activities taking place every day. These range from arts and crafts in the buildings to folk customs and concerts. In many of the historic buildings, visitors can see how work was carried out in glass factories, metal workshops and carpentry workshops in the past. They also gain an insight into how the Swedes lived over the centuries as the seasons changed, what their everyday lives were like and what traditions they maintained. Of course, Skansen also celebrates the major festivals of the year, such as Midsommar, Christmas and New Year.