The second stage of the ambitious project to house the world's most extensive collection of attractions from the Viking Age has just been given the green light. This phase involves the actual construction of a new museum facility.
As previously reported in The Viking Herald, a revolutionary new Museum of the Viking Age is being built in Bygdøy, Oslo, alongside the former Viking Ship Museum.
Moving with the times
Opened to the public nearly a century ago, this popular center initially drew 40,000 people a year to admire the three best-preserved Viking ships yet discovered.
By the time the museum closed in 2022, half a million annual visitors were walking around these priceless vessels, frail despite their sturdy appearance.
With the technology now in place to move the Gokstad, the Oseberg, and the Tune a few hundred meters to their new home, equipped with suitable environmental measures to protect them from changes in humidity and temperature, the question remains: How is the new building taking shape?
The signing of a new agreement between Statsbygg, Norway's governmental building commissioner, and major Norwegian construction company AF Gruppen has just brought us closer to that realization.
In March 2021, Statsbygg and AF Gruppen initiated phase 1 in the development process. Now a contract has been signed to build a new facility 9,300 square meters in size – about a fifth the size of the vast harbourfront Opera House nearby – with the majority of the work to take place between 2025 and 2026.
Groundwork already began earlier this year, in March.
A new world attraction
As quoted in local news sources, AF Gruppen CEO Amund Tøftum understood the significance of the moment:
"In collaboration with Statsbygg, we have found the best solutions for the construction of the museum, and we look forward to the further implementation of the project. The Viking Age Museum has a collection that is unique in a global context, and the new museum will undoubtedly be a world attraction."
A concept illustration of the future Museum of the Viking Age. Illustration: AART
As just posted by the Viking Ship Museum on its Instagram site, after four months of digging, the outline of the new facility can be seen, with concrete for the basement to be poured in early this autumn.
The museum also outlines the benefits of this huge undertaking: "In the new museum, the Viking ships and the rest of the Viking Age collection will be displayed in a safer and more audience-friendly way than is possible today. The Museum of the Viking Age will ensure the population and future generations access to cultural-historical knowledge and understanding of the Viking Age."
A sunny afternoon in 834
"The Museum of the Viking Age will exhibit the world's most extensive collection of objects from the Viking Age, including the best-preserved Viking ships in the world. Our scientists are constantly making new and groundbreaking discoveries that we share with the rest of the world. It is equally important that we will recreate the Viking Age and make one of the leading cultural heritage in the world alive for all our visitors in a modern and exciting way."
The existing building is linked to the new building by a glass extension. This is not only an elegant architectural solution but also allows the exhibition designers to reinforce the concept: that the visitor can stand under the sky in daylight before being cast into a different world, specifically a late summer afternoon in Oseberg in the year 834.
"The new Museum of the Viking Age will be three times as large as the current Viking Ship Museum. In total, the new museum will be approximately. 13,000 m2, of which around. 9000 m2 is audience space, including 5500 m2 for exhibitions.”
"In addition to tripling the exhibition area, the new museum facility will include a restaurant, lecture hall, museum shop, museum park, a separate area for visiting schoolchildren, a laboratory with access for the public, and a research center."
"Archaeologists and a multitude of other staff are working together to find good and innovative ways to create exhibitions so that the museum can reach its goal of becoming the world's most important communicator of the Viking Age."
We get to provide readers with original coverage thanks to our loyal supporters. Do you enjoy our work? You can become a PATRON here or via our Patreon page. You'll get access to exclusive content and early access.
Feel free to reach out to discuss potential stories that may be in the public interest. You can reach us via email at [email protected] with the understanding that the information you provide might be used in our reporting and stories.
