Den Gamle By (The Old Town) in Aarhus is a living museum founded in 1909 as the world’s first open-air museum of a city’s cultural history. It is called a living museum because you will meet many people dressed in historical costumes, working, and behaving like in the old days while walking down the streets. They cook, chop firewood, do handicrafts or serve customers in the store.
Today, the Old Town consists of 80 historic houses comprised of numerous homes, workshops, and shops from 25 cities all over Denmark. All those houses are furnished and open for visitors. So go on an adventure and find out how people used to live in the old days. We spent most of the day looking into every nook and cranny! And don’t forget to buy yourself a sweet souvenir – the meringue I bought was heavenly!
The museum is divided into three periods: the time before 1900, modern times (1927), and welfare and freedom (1974).
To know more, check out their website.
Aarhus Fortæller
In addition to different houses and boutiques, there are also small museums and galleries in some buildings. We really enjoyed one of the museums, Aarhus Fortæller, which showed how Aarhus changed from Viking times to the viral and happy city we know today.
It is a chronological tour through the history of Aarhus expressed by historical environments, cinematic effects, games, and activities, among other things.
