Open-air museum

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The Old Townan open-air museum in the city of Aarhus, Denmark

An open-air museum is a distinct type of museum exhibiting its collections out-of-doors. The first open-air
museums were established in Scandinavia towards the end of the nineteenth century, and the concept soon spread
throughout Europe and North America. Open-air museums are variously known as skansen, museums of
buildings and folk museums. A more recent form is the Ecomuseum, which originated in France. A
comprehensive history of the open-air museum as idea and institution can be found in Swedish museologist Sten
Rentzhog's 2007 book Open Air Museums: The History and Future of a Visionary Idea.
Living museums, also known as living farm museums and living history museums, are a special type of openair museum where costumed interpreters portray period life in an earlier era. The interpreters act as if they are
really living in a different time and place, such as the Colonial era, and perform everyday household tasks, crafts
and businesses. The goal is to demonstrate older lifestyles to modern audiences. Household tasks might include
cooking on an open hearth, churning butter, spinning wool and weaving, and farming without modern equipment.
Many living museums feature traditional craftsmen at work, such as a blacksmith, cooper, potter, miller, sawmill
worker, printer, doctor and general store keeper.

Contents
[hide]

1 Definition
2 European origins
3 North American interpretation
4 Selected list of open-air and living museums

4.1 Africa
4.1.1 Egypt
o 4.2 Asia
4.2.1 Israel
4.2.2 Japan
4.2.3 China
4.2.4 Indonesia
4.2.5 South Korea
4.2.6 Malaysia
o 4.3 Europe
4.3.1 Austria
4.3.2 Belgium
4.3.3 Bulgaria
4.3.4 Czech Republic
4.3.5 Denmark
4.3.6 Estonia
4.3.7 Finland
4.3.8 France
4.3.9 Germany
4.3.10 Georgia
4.3.11 Hungary
4.3.12 Iceland
4.3.13 Ireland
4.3.14 Lithuania
4.3.15 Macedonia
4.3.16 Netherlands
4.3.17 Norway
4.3.18 Poland
4.3.19 Romania
4.3.20 Russia
4.3.21 Serbia
4.3.22 Slovakia
4.3.23 Slovenia
4.3.24 Spain
4.3.25 Sweden
4.3.26 Switzerland
4.3.27 Ukraine
4.3.28 United Kingdom
4.3.28.1 England
4.3.28.2 Scotland
4.3.28.3 Wales
4.3.28.4 Northern Ireland
o 4.4 North America
4.4.1 Canada
4.4.2 United States
o 4.5 Oceania
4.5.1 Australia
5 Living transportation museums
6 Ecological and environmental living museums
7 See also
o

8 Notes

9 External links

[edit] Definition
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) defines a museum as "a non-profit-making, permanent institution
in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches,
communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education and enjoyment, the tangible and intangible evidence
of people and their environment."[1] Most open-air museums specialize in the collection and re-erection of old
buildings at large outdoor sites, usually in settings of re-created landscapes of the past. Most of them may
therefore justly be described as building museums. Open-air museums tended to be located originally in regions
where wooden architecture prevailed, as wooden structures may be trans-located without substantial loss of
authenticity.
Common to all open-air museums, including the earliest ones of the 19th century, is the teaching of the history of
everyday living by people from all segments of society.

[edit] European origins

World's first open-air museum, King Oscar's collections at Bygdy near Oslo in 1888.

Old log houses at the Norsk Folkemuseum, Oslo.

The earliest open-air museum appeared in Scandinavia in the late 19th century. One reason may be the ancient
tradition of moving and re-erecting wooden buildings, based on the local log building technique. The idea was a
predictable further development of the by then well-established indoor type of museum. In order to collect and
display whole buildings, it would have to be done outdoors. Precursors of open-air museums were the "exotic"
pavilions, "antique" temples, "ancient ruins" and "peasant cottages" to be found in 18th century landscape parks.
Later precursors were the real or constructed peasant cottages shown at the international exhibitions of the midto-late 19th century.
The world's first open-air museum was King Oscar II's collection near Oslo in Norway, opened in 1881. The
original plans comprised 8 or 10 buildings intended to show the evolution of traditional Norwegian building
types since the Middle Ages. Only 5 were realized before the king lost interest because of the expenses involved.

The royal open-air museum was later incorporated into the Norsk Folkemuseum, established on an adjacent
property in the 1890s.[2] Influenced by a visit to the Norwegian open-air museum, Artur Hazelius in 1891 founded
the famous Skansen in Stockholm, which became the model for subsequent open-air museums in Northern and
Eastern Europe, and eventually in other parts of the world. The name "skansen" has also been used as a noun to
refer to other open-air museums and collections of historic structures, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.
[3]

Around 1900, national and regional open-air museums were established in all Scandinavian countries, notably in
Norway and Sweden.
Most open-air museums concentrate on rural culture. However, since the opening of the first town museum, Den
Gamle By/The Old Town in Aarhus, Denmark in 1914,[4] town culture has also become a scope of open-air
museums. In many cases new town quarters are being constructed in existing rural culture museums.

[edit] North American interpretation

Traditional buildings in Colonial Williamsburg

The North American open-air museum, more commonly called a living history museum, had a different, slightly
later origin than the European, and the visitor experience is different. The first was Henry Ford's Greenfield
Village in Dearborn, Michigan (1928), where Ford intended his collection to be "a pocket edition of America".[5]
But it was Colonial Williamsburg (opened in 1934) which had a greater influence on museum development in
North America. It influenced such projects through the continent as Mystic Seaport, Plimoth Plantation, and
Fortress Louisbourg. What tends to differentiate the North American from the European model is the approach to
interpretation. In Europe, the tendency is to usually, but not always, focus on the building.
In North America, many open-air museums include interpreters who dress in period costume and conduct period
crafts and everyday work.[6] The living museum is therefore viewed as an attempt to recreate to the fullest extent
conditions of a culture, natural environment or historical period. The objective is total immersion, using exhibits
so that visitors can experience the specific culture, environment or historical period using all the physical senses.
Performance and historiographic practices at American living museums have been critiqued in the past several
years by scholars in anthropology and theater for creating false senses of authenticity and accuracy, and for
neglecting to bear witness to some of the darker aspects of the American past (e.g., slavery and other forms of
injustice). Even before such critiques were published, sites such as Williamsburg and others had begun to add
more interpretation of difficult history.[7]

[edit] Selected list of open-air and living museums

[edit] Africa
[edit] Egypt

The Pharaonic Village, Cairo

Memphis ruins

[edit] Asia
[edit] Israel

Katzrin Ancient Village

Nazareth Village

[edit] Japan

Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum, Tokyo

Hakone Open-Air Museum, Hakone, Kanagawa
Meiji Mura, Inuyama, Aichi
Nihon Minka-en (Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum), Kawasaki, Kanagawa
Open-Air Museum of Old Japanese Farmhouses, Osaka
Hida Minzoku Mura Folk Village, Takayama, Gifu
Kyodo no mori, Fuch, Tokyo
Sankeien, Naka Ward, Yokohama
Shikoku Mura, Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture

[edit] China

Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum, Hong Kong

Sam Tung Uk Museum, Hong Kong
Xinye Village, Zhejiang

[edit] Indonesia

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah

[edit] South Korea

Korean Folk Village, Yongin, Gyeonggi

[edit] Malaysia

Colmar Tropicale, Bukit Tinggi, Pahang

Japanese Village, Bukit Tinggi, Pahang
Monsopiad Cultural Village. Penampang, Sabah
Sarawak Cultural Village, Kuching, Sarawak
Taman Mini Malaysia & Asean (Malaysia and Asean Miniature Park), Ayer Keroh, Malacca
Taman Tamadun Islam (Islamic Civilization Park), Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu

[edit] Europe

The wooden church in Drvengrad open-air museum, Serbia

[edit] Austria

Austrian Open-Air Museum, Stbing

Salzburger Freilichtmuseum, Grogmain
Carinthian Open-Air Museum, Maria Saal
Museums of Tyrolian Farmsteads, Kramsach
Museumsdorf Niedersulz

[edit] Belgium

Open Air Museum Bokrijk, Flanders, Belgium, http://www1.limburg.be/bokrijk/html/domeinbokrijk.html

Bachten de Kuppe (Itzenberge), (Flanders), (Belgium), http://www.bachtendekupe.net/
Fourneau St Michel (Ardennes), (Wallonie), http://www.fourneausaintmichel.be/page/mvisvir.php

[edit] Bulgaria

Etar Architectural-Ethnographic Complex, Gabrovo

[edit] Czech Republic

Old Bohemian House in Perov nad Labem, Czech Republic the first open-air museum in Central and Eastern
Europe (1895) founded by Archduke Ludwig Salvator
Hanck skanzen (Skanzen of the Han Region), Pkazy
Museum lidovch staveb (Folk Buildings Museum), Kouim
Polabsk nrodopisn muzeum (Ethnographic Museum of the region of Polab), Perov nad Labemthe
oldest skansen in Central and Eastern Europe
Valask nrodopisn muzeum (Valachian Ethnographic Museum), Ronov pod Radhotm
Skanzen Vysok Chlumec, (http://www.muzeum-pribram.cz/exhmpb/exmvs/exmvs.html)
[edit] Denmark

Land of legends (Sagnlandet Lejre), Lejre

The Middle Ages Center in Sundby a suburb of Nykbing Falster
The Old Village, Hjerl Hede, Vinderup
The Old Town, Aarhus
Open Air Museum (Kongens Lyngby)
The Funen Village in the Fruens Bge district of Odense
Glud Museum, near Horsens

[edit] Estonia

Estonian Open Air Museum in Rocca al Mare, Tallinn

Viimsi Open Air Museum in Pringi, Viimsi Parish; near Tallinn

[edit] Finland

Luostarinmki, Turku
Seurasaari Open-Air Museum, Helsinki

[edit] France

Muse de plein air des maisons comtoises, Nancray, Doubs, Franche-Comt [1]
Muse de plein air, Villeneuve d'Ascq
fr:Muse de plein air de Villeneuve-d'Ascq

[edit] Germany

Roscheider Hof, Germany

Dat ole Huus, Wilsede, Lower Saxony.
Open-air Museum Detmold, Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia Germany's biggest open-air museum
Gro Raden Archaeological Open Air Museum, nr Sternberg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Hagen Westphalian Open-Air Museum, Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Hessenpark, Neu-Anspach, Hesse.
Hitzacker Archaeological Centre, Hitzacker, Lower Saxony.
Hsseringen Museum Village, Hsseringen, Lower Saxony.
International Wind- and Watermill Museum, Gifhorn, Lower Saxony.
Open-air Museum Kommern, Mechernich, North Rhine-Westphalia
Open-air Museum Lindlar, Lindlar, North Rhine-Westphalia
Mdlareuth village, Bavaria and Thuringia.
Rischmannshof Heath Museum, Walsrode, Lower Saxony.
Roscheider Hof, Konz, Rhineland-Palatinate.
Winsen Museum Farm, Winsen (Aller), Lower Saxony.
Ore Mountain Toy Museum, Seiffen, Saxony

Swabian Farm Museum Illerbeuren, Bavaria

[edit] Georgia

Open Air Museum of Ethnography, Tbilisi

[edit] Hungary

Szentendrei Szabadtri Nprajzi Mzeum, Szentendre [2]

Szennai Szabadtri Nprajzi Gyjtemny, Szenna
Gcseji Falumzeum, Zalaegerszeg
rsgi Npi Memlkegyttes, Szalaf-(Pityerszer)
Szabadtri Nprajzi Mzeum, pusztaszer
Ssti Mzeumfalu, Nyregyhza
Vasi Mzeumfalu, Szombathely
Hollki Falumzeum, Hollk
Szabadtri Nprajzi Mzeum, Nagyvzsony
Szabadtri Nprajzi Mzeum, Tihany

[edit] Iceland

rbjarsafn

[edit] Ireland

Connemara Heritage & History Centre

[edit] Lithuania
Main article: Ethnographic villages in Lithuania
[edit] Macedonia

Tumba Madari

[edit] Netherlands

Netherlands Open Air Museum, Arnhem

Orvelte
Zuiderzeemuseum, Enkhuizen
Historisch Openlucht Museum Eindhoven - HOME
Archeon

[edit] Norway

Norsk Folkemuseum, Oslo

Maihaugen, Lillehammer
Trndelag folkemuseum, Sverresborg. Trondheim

[edit] Poland

Biskupin Archaeological Museum

Ethnographic open-air museum in Sanok
Folk Architecture Museum in Olsztynek [3]
Museum of the Slovinian Village in Kluki [4]
Muzeum Etnograficzny w Zielonej Grze z siedzib w Ochlii in Ochla, Lubusz Voivodeship
Muzeum Kultury Ludowej in Osiek nad Noteci
Open-air Museum of the d Wooden Architecture
Skansen Budownictwa Ludowego Zachodniej Wielkopolski in Wolsztyn [5]
Skansen Etnograficzny w Russowie in Russw [6]
Upper Silesian Ethnographic Park in Chorzw
Wielkopolski Park Etnograficzny in Dziekanowice [7]
Chabwka Rolling-Stock Heritage Park "Skansen" in Chabwka
The Sdecki Ethnographic Park in Nowy Scz

[edit] Romania

ASTRA National Museum Complex

Village Museum

[edit] Russia

Architectural-ethnographic museum "Khokhlovka", Perm Krai

Kizhi
Kolomenskoye
Architectural-ethnographic museum "Khokhlovka"
[edit] Serbia

Drvengrad (Meavnik, Kstendorf), Mokra Gora (Zlatibor)

Staro selo (Old Village open-air museum), Sirogojno (Zlatibor)

[edit] Slovakia
Template:Main:Open-air museums in Slovakia

Bansk tiavnica
Bardejov
imany
Humenn
Martin
Nitra

Pribylina
Star ubova
Svidnk
Vlkolnec
Vychylovka
Zuberec Brestov

[edit] Slovenia

Piran

[edit] Spain

Museo de Escultura al Aire Libre de Alcal de Henares

[edit] Sweden

Jamtli, stersund
Kulturen, Lund
Skansen, Stockholm

[edit] Switzerland

Ballenberg, Brienz

[edit] Ukraine

Lviv Museum of Folk Architecture and Culture (see Kryvka Church)

Open air Museum of Architecture and Ethnography in Pyrohiv, near Kiev

[edit] United Kingdom

[edit] England

Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, Worcestershire

Amberley Working Museum, Amberley, West Sussex
Beamish, North of England Open Air Museum, Beamish, County Durham
Black Country Living Museum, Dudley, West Midlands
Blists Hill Victorian Town, Telford, Shropshire
Chiltern Open Air Museum, Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire
Church Farm Museum, Agricultural museum and collection of indigenous buildings, Skegness
Cogges Manor Farm Museum, Witney, Oxfordshire
Little Woodham, Gosport, Hampshire
Murton Park / Yorkshire Museum of Farming in Murton, York
Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket, Suffolk
Rural Life Centre, Tilford, Surrey
Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Sussex
West Yorkshire Folk Museum, in grounds of Shibden Hall, Halifax
Wimpole Home Farm, Cambridgeshire

[edit] Scotland

National Museum of Rural Life, Scotland

[edit] Wales

St Fagans National History Museum, Cardiff, Wales

[edit] Northern Ireland

Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, Cultra, Hollywood, Northern Ireland

[edit] North America

[edit] Canada

Fortress Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

Barkerville, British Columbia
Ball's Falls Conservation Area, Jordan, Ontario
Black Creek Pioneer Village, Toronto, Ontario
Burnaby Village Museum, Burnaby, British Columbia
Canada's Polish Kashub Heritage Museum & Skansen, Wilno, Ontario
Doon Heritage Village, Kitchener, Ontario
Fort Henry, Ontario
Fort Edmonton Park, Edmonton, Alberta
Fort Langley National Historic Site, Fort Langley, British Columbia
Fortress of Louisbourg, Louisbourg, Nova Scotia
Fort William Historical Park, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Fort York, Toronto, Ontario
Greater Sudbury Heritage Museums
Halifax Citadel National Historic Site of Canada (Citadel Hill), Halifax, Nova Scotia
Heritage Park Historical Village, Calgary, Alberta
Kalyna Country, an ecomuseum
Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site, Selkirk, Manitoba
Markham Museum, Markham, Ontario
Mennonite Heritage Village, Steinbach, Manitoba
Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, Midland, Ontario
Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, Alberta
Upper Canada Village, Morrisburg, Ontario
Village Historique Acadien, Caraquet, New Brunswick
Village Qubcois d'Antan, Drummondville, Quebec
Westfield Heritage Village, Rockton, Ontario

[edit] United States

Main article: List of open-air and living history museums in the United States

[edit] Oceania
[edit] Australia

Pioneer Settlement, Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia's First Open Air Museum, opened 1963.
Port Arthur, Tasmania
Sovereign Hill, Ballarat, Victoria
Millewa Pioneer Forest and Historical Village, Meringur, Victoria
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum, Warrnambool, Victoria
Old Sydney Town, Somersby, New South Wales (now closed)
Miles Historical Village and Museum, Miles, Queensland

[edit] Living transportation museums

See also: List of heritage railways
Brooklands in Weybridge, Elmbridge, Surrey, England (aviation and motorcar museum)
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park from Georgetown, Washington, D.C. to
Cumberland, Maryland (heritage canal)
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad from Chama, New Mexico to Antonito, Colorado (heritage railway)
Danish Tramway Museum, Denmark
Delta Queen travels along the Mississippi River and tributaries (heritage river steamboat)
Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum in Bremerhaven, Germany (maritime museum)
Edaville Railroad in South Carver, Massachusetts (heritage railway)
Hiroshima City Transportation Museum in Hiroshima, Japan (street railway museum)
Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut (maritime museum)
National Tramway Museum in Derbyshire, England (heritage street railway)
Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Rhinebeck, New York (aviation museum)
Roscoe Village in Coshocton, Ohio (along the former Ohio & Erie Canal, nearby Monticello III canal
boat)
Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine (heritage railway)
Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire, England (aviation museum)
Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Wenecja near nin
Skansen Parowozownia Kocierzyna in Kocierzyna, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland (heritage railway)
Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania (heritage railway)
Valley Railroad Company in Essex, Connecticut (heritage railway)
White Pass and Yukon Route from Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon (heritage railway)
Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway in Alna, Maine (heritage railway)
Royal Malaysian Air Force Museum, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (military aviation)

[edit] Ecological and environmental living museums

Some ecological living museums are zoos

California Living Museum, Bakersfield, California, United States

Virginia Living Museum, Newport News, Virginia, United States
Nonsuch Island Living Museum, Bermuda

Penang Forestry Museum, Penang, Malaysoa

Ball's Falls Conservation Area, Jordan, Ontario, Canada

[edit] See also

Historical reenactment
Human zoo
List of Renaissance fairs
List of tourist attractions providing reenactment
Living history
Category:Open air museums
Category:Living museums

[edit] Notes

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Constructs such as ibid., loc. cit. and idem are discouraged by Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes, as
they are easily broken. Please improve this article by replacing them with named references (quick guide),
or an abbreviated title. (July 2010)
^ http://icom.museum/statutes.html#2 ICOM Statutes
^ Tonte Hegard: Romantikk og fortidsvern. Historien om de frste friluftsmuseene i Norge,
Universitetsforlaget, Oslo 1984. ISBN 82-00-07064-0
^ Sten Rentzhog: Open air museums: The history and future of a visionary idea, Carlsson Jamtli
Frlag, Stockholm and stersund 2007. ISBN 978-91-7948-208-4
^ http://www.dengamleby.dk/int/english.htm
^ Kenneth Hudson, Museums of Influence, Cambridge University Press, 1987. p. 153
^ Ibid, p. 154
^ Scott Magelssen, Living History Museums: Undoing History Through Performance, Scarecrow
Press, 2007

[edit] External links

Look up open-air museum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Open air museums

Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums

Revista Digital Nueva Museologia Latin American Theory
European Open-air Museums An extensive list of Open-air museums in Europe.
America's Outdoor History Museums
Photos from Museum of Folk Architecture and Life

Museum websites
Open Air Museum Bokrijk Leading open-air museum of Belgium, Flanders.
Perov nad Labem open-air museum - photo gallery
Valachian Ethnographic Museum in Ronov pod Radhotm, Czech Republic
Hjerl Hede- An open-air museum in Denmark showing life from the early days until about 100 years ago.
The Old Town (Den Gamle By)- An open-air museum in Denmark showing urban life.
Jamtli One of Sweden's largest and oldest regional open-air museums, in stersund.
fr:Muse de plein air de Villeneuve-d'Ascq