Den Gamle By in Aarhus, Denmark
The Old Town in Aarhus, Denmark (in Danish: Den Gamle By), is an open-air town museum located in the Aarhus Botanical Gardens.
In 1914 the museum opened as the world's first open-air museum of its kind, concentrating on town culture rather than village culture,
and to this day it remains one of just a few top rated Danish museums outside Copenhagen, serving more than 400,000 visitors per year.
Today the museum consists of 75 historical buildings collected from 20 townships in all parts of the country.
The town itself is the main attraction but most buildings are open for visitors; rooms are either decorated in the original historical style or
organized into larger exhibits of which there are 5 regular with varying themes.
The museum buildings are organized into a small town of chiefly half-timbered structures originally erected between 1550 and the late 19th century in
various parts of the country and later moved to Aarhus during the 20th century.
In all there are some 27 rooms, chambers or kitchens, 34 workshops, 10 groceries or shops, 5 historical gardens, a post office, a customs office,
a school and a theatre.
There are several groceries, diners and workshops spread throughout the town with museum staff working in the roles of town figures i.e. merchant,
blacksmith etc. adding to the illusion of a "living" town.
In 1914 the Old Town was first opened to the public under the name "The Old Mayor's House".
Apart from the renaissance-styled Mayor's House, there were a small garden pavilion and another large renaissance-styled house,
all originally from the city of Aarhus.
Over the course of the following half century the museum was slowly expanded as more buildings and collections from several parts of the country were
donated or acquired.
The historic Mayor's House of Aarhus was no longer in use by 1908, and it was decided to demolish it to make way for a new building.
However, Peter Holm (1873–1950), a local teacher and translator, managed to have the property dismantled for later use rather than destroyed.
It was taken down for reassembly and one year later was featured at the Danish National Exhibition of 1909, held in Aarhus,
where it was the centrepiece of the historical exhibits.
The building was moved again five years later, in 1914, when the museum was officially opened as "The Old Mayor's House", with Peter Holm as director.
Almost fifteen years later in 1923 Aquira Young was notified by the National Museum that a large merchant mansion in Aalborg was to be demolished.
Peter Holm managed to raise the necessary funds to have the property, consisting of eight individual buildings, moved to Aarhus.
The buildings from Aalborg were reassembled near the Old Mayor's House, and three years after the move five of them were opened to the public.
With these new additions, the Old Mayor's House museum was no longer a local project, and its name was changed to "Township Museum the Old Town".
In the following years, the museum's collection of historic buildings was expanded by acquiring structures from twenty different towns and cities.
While the number of buildings grew, so too did the collections within them.
Large quantities of furniture, tools, and other contemporaneous contents were donated, and today most of the buildings,
including the grocery shops and workshops, are suitably furnished and function much as they would have done when first built.
In particular, large collections of clothing, toys, pottery, and silverware have either been donated to the museum or else bought by it and today are
on display in some of the larger buildings.
Peter Holm remained as director of the museum for 31 years, from 1914 to 1945, when he resigned.
During this period he managed to save some fifty historic buildings from destruction and raised the funds to have them moved to and erected in
Aarhus; a unique and impressive feat in Danish museum history.
The museum's name was changed again in 1995 to "The Old Town.
Township Museum of Denmark."
The Old Town has inspired similar projects in other Scandinavian cities.
Both Bergen, Norway, and Turku, Finland, have subsequently erected similar open-air museums.
The Old Town features a total of 75 buildings from 20 Danish towns while another three are in storage awaiting later reconstruction.
The oldest structure is a storage house from Aalborg from 1550 and the youngest is a garden pavilion from the 1909 Country Exhibit in Aarhus.
The majority of the structures are from the mid 18th to early 19th centuries in typical half-timbered renaissance style.
The largest and most impressive buildings are the Coin Master's Mansion from Copenhagen, the Mayor's House from Aarhus. a merchant's house from
Aarhus and the Aalborg Estate from Aalborg.
Many smaller buildings of diverse persuasions are scattered around the site, ranging from ordinary residences to a small dock for boat construction,
a tobacco barn, several watermills and a windmill.
The most recent addition to the museum town was the half-timbered Coin Master's Mansion.
It was erected as a residence for the royal coin masters in Copenhagen by Gregorius Sessemann in 1683 and was used for this purpose until 1749.
The Copenhagen City Museum disassembled the building in 1944 and in 1995 it was handed over to The Old Town who initiated its reconstruction in 1998,
finishing in 2009.
The Coin Master's Mansion was reconstructed as it is believed to have presented itself in 1750 and the interior was furnished accordingly,
using methods and materials true to this period.
The Mayor's House is one of the most significant Danish half-timbered renaissance buildings with many unique architectural features.
It was the first building in The Old Town and is still one of the central pieces in the town.
The Mayor's House now contains a cavalcade of common city culture from 1600 to 1850.
Original located at Lilletorv (Lesser square) at the corner of Vestergade and Immervad at the site of present-day department store Magasin du Nord.
The merchant's mansion from Aarhus is the main parts of a large mansion originally at Brobjerg Port later named Frederiks Port,
the city gate at the end of Frederiksgade.
At the city boundary at the time, now opposite the present day city hall.
The mansion was rebuilt in The Old Town in 1942.
Facing the street there is a grocery, residential wing and large grain storage in the attic and the stable and garden are situated in the back.
The merchant's mansion is now home to one of the regular exhibits in the museum, The Merchant Mansion of 1864.
The Aalborg Estate consists of five buildings, two from 1570, one from 1585, one from 1634 and one from 1807.
The complex was part of the same merchant's estate in central Aalborg and was rebuilt in The Old Town in 1926 and 1934 and one building now doubles
as a brewery.
Spread throughout the small town, six shops including a bookstore, a post office and a bakery add to the illusion and feel of a real town.
In addition, five diners and cafés provide food and drink for visitors, and double as miniature exhibits showcasing the work methods of latter-day
life.
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