Authors:Thomas Bloch Ravn Pages: 5 - 10 Abstract: The museums of the future A new museum act should challenge the metropolitan focus and etatism that have typified the for mal museum structure of Denmark since the 1800s. We should take our point of departure in the question, How does one ensure that Denmark in 10, 30 and 50 years’ time will have attractive, professionally strong and economically sustainable museums that have both wide popularity and a high international profile' One can draw inspiration from the decentralised model one finds in the Netherlands, which operates with 26 museums at the highest level. In an evaluation of museums at the highest level four factors should be stressed: that the museum attracts and appeals to a wide public; that the museum has collections of national and international importance; that the museum has expertise at the very highest level, documented for example by a permanent relationship with a university; and that the museum has competences and resources with which it helps other museums. PubDate: 2023-01-31 Issue No:Vol. 88, No. 88 (2023)
At Den Gamle By we are getting back on our feet after a tough round of corona. Things are going sensibly and confidence in the future has returned. We see the fine level of activity as a sign that the organisation of the museum is on its way back to its former strength. The seasonal activities and this year’s theme of excellence in skills and crafts have gone according to plan, while new activities have been initiated in the areas of shops, tailoring and catering. The pedestrian street has opened with three new shops and the ‘2014 street’ is well on its way. In the autumn Den Gamle By itself took over the future main entrance from the contractors, so everything can fall into place for the grand opening in the spring of 2023, when the 1974 neighbourhood, the 2014 street and the new main entrance will mark and demonstrate the radical innovations undergone by Den Gamle By over the past 15 years. PubDate: 2023-01-31 Issue No:Vol. 88, No. 88 (2023)
Authors:Erik Nellemann Nielsen, Allan Leth Frandsen, Berit Guldmann Hornstrup Pages: 45 - 54 Abstract: The pedestrian street The first pedestrian streets arose in bombed European cities after World War II. Denmark was given its first permanent pedestrian steet in 1963 – the street Houmeden in Randers. In the course of the next 10-15 years many other Danish towns and cities were also given pedestrian streets – often with paving that was inspired by Houmeden’s black and white slabs. The traders in the first pedestrian steets were not all full of unmixed enthusiasm. They foresaw falling turnover when the customers could no longer drive directly to the shop door. But just the opposite happened. Turnover increased, and so did the popularity of the pedestrian streets. In the pedestrian street area of the 1970s in Den Gamle By, Houmeden’s paving has been recreated and supplemented with pennants, flag garlands and notices from Skive and other towns’ pedestrian streets. Today the automobile-free pedestrian streets are seen as pleasant places to hang out – something quite different from the hectic shopping streets of earlier times. PubDate: 2023-01-31 Issue No:Vol. 88, No. 88 (2023)
Authors:Mette Ernst Andersen Pages: 55 - 64 Abstract: The butcher’s shop It was decided to put a butcher’s shop in the 1974 neighbourhood in Den Gamle By after a research project showed that in 1974 the butcher’s shop was among the top five most common shops in a typical Danish town. Today there are very few left – supermarkets sell meat ready to go, at a lower price. Many consumers choose the cheaper product over expertise. The new exhibition is not a recreation of any particular shop; rather it is a mixture of several shops. The items and photo examples that greatly helped in the establishing of the exhi bi tion came mostly from retired butchers. Three retired butchers were key in selecting and placing the items and the meat that needed to be in the shop. The exhibition also contains a back room with plays and presentations of the Danes’ eating habits and and insights into pork production. PubDate: 2023-01-31 Issue No:Vol. 88, No. 88 (2023)
Authors:Ronja Moesgaard Ryde, Mette Ernst Andersen Pages: 65 - 72 Abstract: The paint dealer The paint dealer’s shop ‘Sønderbrogades Farve og Tapet’ in Den Gamle By’s new pedestrian street has been installed on the ground floor of Skanderborghuset, which was taken over by Den Gamle By in 2010. The aim was to keep as much as possible of the original house and adapt the aesthetic aspects of the paint dealer. One important element of a Danish paint dealer’s shop in the 1970s was the wall paper bar. The paint and wallpaper dealers made a point of advising their customers on their stylistic desires and wishes. At Sønderbrogades Farve og Tapet there are wallpapers from the 1950s until the 1970s – wallpapers that Den Gamle By has collected over the years. In the shop there are also a large number of pots of paint. Originally Den Gamle By had collected paint pots from the 1970s, but they had become too rusty and dented with age, and the labels were covered with paint. So the museum got help from the paint firms Dyrup and Sadolin with finding and recreating labels and mounting them on new paint pots. PubDate: 2023-01-31 Issue No:Vol. 88, No. 88 (2023)
Authors:Line Fogh Sørensen Pages: 73 - 82 Abstract: 50 years of posters In 2022 it is 50 years since the Danes voted for membership of the EEC. The Danish Poster Mus eum in Den Gamle By marked this with a special exhibition that could be seen throughout 2022. Strong feelings have always been involved in the debate about membership of the EEC and the EU. Both for and against. This has resulted in a wealth of posters in the course of time. In 1972 it ended with a majority of 63.4 per cent for membership of the EEC, which Danmark officially joined on 1st January 1973. The defeat now led to a campaign from The People’s Movement Against the EEC to get Denmark out. In the direct elections to the European Parliament – for the first time in 1979 – and referenda on changes in the Treaty, posters for and against have taken up their usual spaces on the country’s lamp posts. Each time the posters have tried to persuade the Danes to vote either for or against ‘more EU’. Through the posters we get to know about Denmark’s relationship with the EEC and the EU over the years. The posters express humour, sarcasm, irony, fear, seriousness as well as positive expectations. PubDate: 2023-01-31 Issue No:Vol. 88, No. 88 (2023)
Authors:Anna Wowk Vestergaard Pages: 83 - 102 Abstract: The Advent crown In Denmark Advent crowns became popular in the 1930s and 1940s. The Advent crown is made with four candles which today represent each of the four Sundays of Advent. When the tradition came to Denmark from Germany via South Jutland the decoration could also have six candles, and it was common to light them in the evening during the Advent season as a whole – not only on the Advent Sundays. Families gathered around the Advent crown and sang Christmas carols and hymns, and especially during WW2 this was seen as a way of creating hope and a sense of togetherness in the family. Research in newspapers and trade journals for the florist business shows that housewives rather than florists promoted the Advent crown. However, one of the trade journals from 1936 mentions how the German envoy von Renthe-Fink in Copenhagen has Advent crowns in his home and suggests that the florists use the tradition to earn more from Christmas shopping. But neither newspapers nor trade journals show any sign that this is true. In 1946 an Advent crown was used as an illustration for the special Danish Christmas stamp. This shows how the Advent crown was by then widely known in Denmark, and the illustration contributed to a common consensus on what a ‘real Advent crown’ should look like. PubDate: 2023-01-31 Issue No:Vol. 88, No. 88 (2023)
Authors:Thomas Bloch Ravn Pages: 103 - 106 Abstract: New times, still plenty of projects The Danish Centre for Urban History has been affected by the fact that its director has been on leave, while one staff member has taken a new job. All the same we have succeeded in keeping the many projects alive. This goes for example for the major work on city history, the interactive and digital map and the project about the black reorganisation in the cities. PubDate: 2023-01-31 Issue No:Vol. 88, No. 88 (2023)
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