Den Gamle By: Danmarks Købstadmuseum (Årbog)

Bedøm museerne på det, de leverer

2023-01-31T14:19:15+01:00

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.

Årets gang og planer for fremtiden

2023-01-31T14:26:39+01:00

Hope springs anew …

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.

Gågaden - i krig og kærlighed

2023-01-31T14:37:02+01:00

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.

En slagterbutik bliver til

2023-01-31T14:41:02+01:00

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.

En farve- og tapethandel bliver til

2023-01-31T14:52:06+01:00

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.

Danmark i EF og EU - plakater i 50 år

2023-01-31T14:56:31+01:00

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.

Adventskransen i Danmark - blomsterhandlernes eller husmødrenes tradition?

2023-01-31T15:00:46+01:00

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.

Årsberetning for Dansk Center for Byhistorie

2023-01-31T15:11:37+01:00

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.

Tal og fakta

2023-01-31T15:14:10+01:00

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2023-01-31T15:18:38+01:00

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