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Guided tours
In addition to the tours described below special tours can be booked. All tours start with a short introduction to Den Gamle By. Den Gamle By through 100 years– Centenary tour When Den Gamle By was founded in 1909, the world’s first open-air museum of the cultural history of towns was founded. The man behind the museum was passionate school teacher Peter Holm and his ideas still form the foundation of the newest developments to the museum. The tour explains the thoughts behind the design of Den Gamle By and the houses and interiors the guests meet. You will also hear more about the museum during World War II, the newest ideas including Living History and, not least, about the modern part which is being constructed on the outskirts of the museum. The Mintmaster’s Mansion The stately home from 1683 was built by the King’s mintmaster and was originally situated in Borgergade in Copenhagen. Den Gamle By has spent DKK 60 mil. on its reconstruction which has employed an array of traditional crafting techniques. In the 1700s, mintmaster Wineke was master of the house. His masterpiece was the small heart which can still be found on the Danish coins today. We will visit the grand halls of the house with the impressive ceilings and painted tapestries. You will also hear more about the house and the history of its inhabitants. Festivities and formal wear though 100 years This tour departs in the centenary exhibition of Evening wear 1909-2009 where both elaborate dresses and more modest formal wear has been brought out from storage. There are many occasions for having parties and the tour will explain more about the different types of events which have been celebrated through the last 100 years. The focus is on clothes and accessories, their connection with fashion, and the important role they play in the festivities. The historical gardens of Den Gamle By Den Gamle By offers six charming historical gardens which each offer exciting stories and rare historical plants. The tour will begin in the renaissance garden and the romantic garden which both have influenced later garden types. The gardens detail the changing fashions of the times but also clearly show how the individual owner has made his personal contribution to beds and flowers. A walk through the market town This tour will show you what a market town is and how it is different from the surrounding countryside. It takes you round the town streets with their half-timbered houses and tells you more about life in the town including trade, crafts, livestock and small-scale farming. It will take you to the Merchant's House complete with shop, office, and private quarters as well as to some of the town's craftsmen in their shops and workshops. The tour will also show you the town officials and tell you more about the administration and the large social differences that existed within a market town. The renaissance in the Danish market towns The classic, Danish market town is formed in the renaissance. Only few places show the renaissance in such vivid ways as Den Gamle By: from the overall lay-out of the town, its streets, square and large homes to the interiors. How was the stately homes decorated in the time of King Christian 4th? What about the fashions, the food habits and the architecture? Despite economic growth and prosperity, there were many sad stories to be found among the outcasts in the streets. Who were they? What options did people have with regard to the treatment of diseases and other ailments when the hospitals located in convents and monasteries disappeared after the Reformation? The history of design departing in the Mayor’s House The large mansion from 1597 was the first house to be rebuilt in Den Gamle By. This house offers a cavalcade of Danish interior design through 300 years. When do the different types of furniture appear and for what purpose? And why does the furniture look different in the 1600s and 1800s? We follow the development from the colourful and robust rooms of the renaissance to the cosy rooms of the middle classes in the Golden Age. Under the banners of the guilds: The daily life of the masters and their journeymen What was the purpose of the unions of artisans which, since their origin in the Middle Ages, played a very important part in the development of trade and industry in the market town? How was one admitted as a member of the guild? How did the guild meetings take place and which artefacts were used in the many ceremonies? The tour shows the traditions of both craftsmen and merchants. Danish Christmas through 300 Years Christmas and “the good old days” belong together. The Christmas we celebrate today was mainly created by the citizens of the market towns between 1810 and 1890, but the celebration of Christmas itself is much older. The buildings and interiors in Den Gamle By show middle-class tastes and lifestyles through 400 years. Thus the museum offers unique opportunities for the guests to participate in the celebrations, as they have been from around 1600 and up to the beginning of the 1900s. Hans Christian Andersen’s Childhood in Den Gamle By In April 2005 it was 200 years since Hans Christian Andersen was born. This tour offers the possibility of a glimpse into his childhood by a visit to a shoemaker’s home and one of the houses where Hans Christian Andersen often visited as a young boy. We visit the Eilschou Almshouses which were situated in Munkemøllestræde in Odense, just across the street from Hans Christian Andersen’s childhood home. Who were the inhabitants; probably poor women, but of good standing? They all became important to the author and he later used them as characters in several fairy tales and novels. The life and fairytales of Hand Christian Andersen form the background to a walk around the town. The everyday life of women and children For many women and children, life changed radically during the eighteen hundreds. The industrialization was followed by substantial changes which were not always for the better. The mechanization of farming started the migration from country to town. What kind of life did the farmers’ women come to lead in the towns? We also meet the first self-supporting women. The school reform of 1814 meant compulsory education for all. We learn how a school day passed in the 1800s. We learn about child labour. The tour will finish at the Toy Museum. Were there pedagogic thoughts behind the design of toys and who had such toys? In Sickness and in Health This guided tour deals with the hygienic circumstances in the market towns, the water supply, the handling of garbage etc. We visit the pharmacy furnished as it might have been towards the end of the 1700s. We learn about the different kinds of medicine sold here and from where it came. We look at a medicine chest – the predecessor of the Falck first-aid-kit. We will also touch on the subject of superstition, a topic which not only concerned the rural population but pervaded the whole of society. |
Guided tours