Historical Museum

Historisk museum

The Historical Museum is Oslo's grandest monumental building, and is one of the most significant examples of the Jugend architectural style to be found in Norway. It was designed by the architect Henrik Bull who also designed the building for the Ministry of Finance. The building has been officially declared a protected building and is under the jurisdiction of the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage with regard to any proposed alterations to its construction.

In the Historical Museum you will find on the first floor the exhibition "From the Ice Age until Christianity "; on display are artefacts that tell of people's lives in Norway throughout the course of 9000 years, dating back to and including the Viking Era. In the first floor you also find the Treasure Chest, an exhibition of gold and silver treasures from all over the country and every time period. Lastly, on the first floor is the Medieval Exhibition designed by architect Sverre Fehn in 1979. The exhibition is primarily a church exhibition, with among other things the Ål stave church chancel ceiling from the 14th century as one of its main attractions. The exhibition also includes figurative sculptures, stave church portals and a number of everyday objects.

On the second floor of the museum you will find the Ethnographic Exhibitions and the Coin Cabinet. Here the museum's new, small collection of antiques is also to be found, with objects from ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. From here visitors move on into the Arctic with an exhibition on indigenous populations in Polar Regions. Roald Amundsen met the Netsilik Inuits and spent the winter with them in 1904-1905. A large number of Amundsen\'s photographs and artefacts from this stay are on display in this exhibition. From the Arctic the journey continues on to Indian tribes in South and North America. The innermost room of this floor is dedicated to the Coin Cabinet. The Coin Cabinet displays Norwegian coins from throughout a 1000-year period.

The third floor of the museum is allocated to special exhibitions and African cultures. The African Exhibition is built up around different themes. The artefacts are gathered from many countries and from many different periods and combined together in a dynamic whole. There are two rooms for special exhibitions on the floor. Each year from two to four exhibitions are held on different themes.

In the fourth floor is the exhibition from East Asia and Japan, China and Korea. This exhibition is designed for reflection and in-depth study. Here you can see Chinese Emperors\' thrones, a Japanese Bridal palanquin, the Samurais\' weapon and armour traditions and Buddha figures.

The Museum also has a large and newly renovated museum shop with books, post cards, posters, jewellery and souvenirs.

Other venues

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Museum of Cultural History

Frederiksgate 2, Oslo, Norway

Viking Ship Museum

Huk aveny 35, Oslo, Norway