Greenland National Museum, Nuuk, Greenland

The Greenland National Museum is located in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. It was one of the first museums established in Greenland, inaugurated in the mid-1960s. The museum is affiliated with the Danish National Museum which has expanded its collections. The museum has many artefacts related to archaeology, history, art, and handicrafts and also has information about ruins, graveyards, buildings etc. It is based in a warehouse which was built in 1936.

A major display in the museum contains the Qilakitsoq mummies. The mummies consist of three women and a six-month-old child; half of the mummies found at Qilakitsoq.

The museum also houses a display on social change in the 1950s and one on geology. Several other nearby buildings also fall under the museums protection, such as the restocked cooper's workshop and a display on blubber vats and presses.

References:

Wikipedia

Museums in Greenland

Address

Hans Egedesvej 78, Nuuk, Greenland

See all sites in Nuuk

Details

Category: Museums in Greenland

More Information

www.natmus.gl
en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.5/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

Nuuk Cathedral (0,3 km)

User Reviews

Eric Donarski (2 years ago)
Was pleasantly surprised by how nice this museum was when my mom and I visited Greenland. We were both shocked by how much they had as it was one of the best natural history museums either of us had been to. It really leaves an impact and describes Greenlandic history well. I was also able to pick up a phenomenal art book by Aka Høegh there. This book taught me more about some of the mythos of Greenland and helped me explain a nearby statue to other tourists (The Mother of the Sea) better than their tour guides apparently could. Would highly recommend the museum!

uncle em (2 years ago)
This is a brilliant museum telling in a nuanced and thoughtful way the complex story of Greenland's inhabitants. It is hard to believe that everything in the museum was taken by Denmark and, especially, that it has returned only about a third of the artifacts it has taken. The museum is located in the old "colonial" part of Nuuk. It is a perfect place to learn about the history of Greenland

Benjamin D. Gordon (3 years ago)
Archival videos, Historical items of the Greenlandic culture. In addition to the first contact with Danish culture. Free entry and a good place to get a feel of Greenland from a distant past.

Alex Tattersall (3 years ago)
Cute little museum with tons of interesting artefacts and information about history and culture of Greenland. Excellent display and nice walkthrough. One item for improvement: make all texts available in English!

David Tattersall (3 years ago)
Good activity for on a rainy day in Nuuk. On Sunday‘s the entry is free. Exhibits are very interesting and you‘ll learn a lot about the greenlandic history.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright mixteri

Historic Site of the week

Bengtskär Lighthouse

Towering 52 meters above the sea, Bengtskär lighthouse is the tallest one in Scandinavia. The building started in in 1905 after the shipwreck of S/S Helsingfors and was completed in 1906. The lighthouse was designed by architect Florentin Granholm. On December a special petrol lantern, designed and built in Paris, was brought to Bengtskär and installed atop the tower.

German fleet bombarded Bengstkär in the First World War in 1914. Since the Gulf of Finland was heavily mined, it was not until 1919 that the surrounding seas were declared safe for shipping, that the light was lit again.

After the war the military value of Bengtskär increased as part of the defence system of independent Finland. In Second World War (1941) Soviet Union made a suprise attack to island. After a bloody battle, the small Finnish garrison emerged victorious. Intermittent repairs to the facility continued during the post-war period.

Greenland National Museum