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Den Gamle By

Museums ·Århus ·Open now
4.624.1K
#1Museums in Denmark#1Museums in ÅrhusMost reviewed in Århus
  • Visit: 4–8 hours
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About

Den Gamle By (The Old Town), Aarhus: the first open-air town museum, with 75 historic buildings beside the Botanical Gardens.

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Den Gamle By

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What's on here

Allehelgensaften Allehelgensaften Saturday · All day J-dag – Jazz & julebryg J-dag – Jazz & julebryg Friday · All dayFree Mortensaften Mortensaften Tuesday · All day Åbning af julen – Juletræet tændes Åbning af julen – Juletræet tændes Friday · All day Jul i Den Gamle By Jul i Den Gamle By 14 Nov – 31 Dec Nisseloftet Nisseloftet 14 Nov – 31 Dec Demensvenlig rundvisning Demensvenlig rundvisning Thursday · All day Bamsejul Bamsejul 19 Nov – 17 DecFree Show more

Why go

  • The Baroque pharmacy garden: 91 squares, each holding a plant used as medicine.
  • A 1920s car dealership with Ford Model T cars and an early telephone exchange.
  • The silverware collection, with works by 310 smiths from 44 cities and towns.
  • About 6000 toys, including wooden ones made by inmates of Danish prisons.
  • The Renaissance garden of the Mayor's House, 6 by 7 metres, with tulips and forget-me-nots behind a red fence.

Opening hours

Today10:00 – 17:00Show all
Monday10:00 – 17:00
Tuesday10:00 – 17:00
Wednesday10:00 – 17:00
Thursday10:00 – 17:00
Friday10:00 – 17:00
Saturday10:00 – 17:00
Sunday10:00 – 17:00

Know before you go

  • Open every day, Monday to Sunday, from 10:00 to 17:00.
  • Buy tickets online through the museum's own website; buying in advance avoids queues on arrival.
  • Tickets for the evening event are limited to a set number each night; the event is held once it is dark.
  • After opening hours the streets can still be walked free, but the exhibitions and buildings are closed.
  • Phone +4586123188.

What's inside

  • 75 historic buildings from 20 towns across the country, laid out as a small town.
  • The Mayor's House, c. 1597, is among the largest and most impressive buildings here.
  • The Aalborg Estate: five buildings from about 1570 to 1807. One now doubles as a brewery.
  • The Coin Master's Mansion, built around 1683 as a residence for royal coin masters, is the most recent building added.
  • The clock section: a fully equipped clockmaker's workshop.
  • The Toy Museum is housed in a large merchant's farm from Næstved.
  • Six shops, including a bookstore, a post office and a bakery, stand throughout the small town.
  • Five diners and cafés; they also show old work methods as miniature exhibits.
  • A large greenhouse brought from a palace holds a summer exhibit called Great Grandmothers Plants.
  • A row of 1950–1974 shops with display windows, some of them walk-in.
  • The 1970s section shows the welfare and openness of that decade.
  • The present-day section includes a pizzeria and the flat of a rainbow family from 2014.
  • The old market town section has a merchant's farm, a shoemaker and a distillery.
  • A 19th-century post office in a merchant's house from Apenrade.
  • Helsingør Theater, rebuilt in 1961, is still used as a theatre and for seminars.
  • Aarhus Fortæller traces the city's history from early settlement to industrialisation and today, with a Frichs steam locomotive.
  • Collections of clocks, folk costumes, textiles and faience; textile displays are spread across the whole site.
  • Almost all of the houses are open to visitors, and several are furnished in the old style.

With kids

  • The Toy Museum holds about 6000 toys, from the 19th century to the 1960s.
  • Visitors can smell and taste things and try them out while walking the streets and alleys.
  • Staff in historic clothes act as townspeople, such as merchants and smiths.

Tips for your visit

  • A whole day is easy to fill here, with the town, its daily life and the underground exhibitions.
  • Volunteers brew beer at the historic brewery on selected weekends and holidays, with tasting samples.

Tours and audio guides

Guided group tours
For groups of up to 20 people; can be booked all year round.
Time-travel route
About 400 years of history, walked with people of the time who show things and talk with you.
Horse and carriage rides
Round trip, through the cobblestone streets or the outside park; can be bought.

Interesting facts6

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  1. 1920

    The 1920 garden is mostly lawn and still looks as it did originally.

    Den Gamle By - Wikipedia
  2. 30 species

    The pelargonium collection numbers 20 to 30 species, an unusually large range.

    Den Gamle By - Wikipedia

  3. The earliest clocks, from the 1500s, had only one hand to tell the hour.

    Den Gamle By - Wikipedia
  4. 2006

    Dansk Plakatmuseum, the only poster museum in Denmark, has been on site since 2006.

    Den Gamle By - Wikipedia

  5. The 17th-century mint building in the central market square was brought here from Copenhagen.

    Den Gamle By - Wikipedia
  6. 1977

    In 1977 the town was used as a film set for Die Brüder Löwenherz, based on a novel.

    Den Gamle By - Wikipedia

Shorts

History

Peter Holm, a teacher and local historian, founded the museum in 1909. It began when a merchant's courtyard faced demolition, and Holm saved it by having it taken apart and rebuilt. Holm led the museum for 31 years, until 1945, and saved about 50 historic buildings from destruction in that time. Later, under Thomas Bloch Ravn, many more buildings were added, and in 2017 a new exhibition on the city's history opened.

  1. 1909Peter Holm founds the museum; its first building, a merchant's farm, is shown at the Aarhus exhibition.
  2. 1914The museum opens to the public as the world's first open-air museum of market-town culture.
  3. 1923A large merchant's farm from Aalborg is saved from demolition and moved to Aarhus.
  4. 1934The historic brewery, Hvidtølsbryggeriet, opens in a building from Aalborg.
  5. 1945Peter Holm retires after 31 years as director; the town then has 44 buildings.
Show all
  1. 1998–2000The only surviving half-timbered house of its kind from one city is rebuilt here.
  2. 2009Møntmestergården, a 17th-century farm kept in storage since 1944, is rebuilt here and completed.
  3. 2017Aarhus Fortæller, a new exhibition on the city's history, opens.

Sources: Den Gamle By - Wikipedia · Aarhus - Wikivoyage (see) · Den Gamle By · Billetter og åbningstider · Tidsrejse i historien · Den Gamle By - Wikipedia · Den Gamle By - Wikipedia · Den Gamle By - Wikipedia · Den Gamle By: tickets (its own site) · checked 25 Oct 2026

Where
Viborgvej 2, Aarhus

Plan from here: A day out →

Questions and answers

What are the opening hours of Den Gamle By?

Den Gamle By is open every day, Monday to Sunday, from 10:00 to 17:00. After closing, the streets can still be walked free, but the exhibitions and buildings are closed.

Do I need to book tickets for Den Gamle By?

Tickets are bought online through the museum's own website. Buying in advance lets you skip the queue on arrival.

Is Den Gamle By suitable for children?

Children can see the Toy Museum, with about 6000 toys, and round-trip horse and carriage rides can be bought through the streets or the park.

Where is Den Gamle By and how do I get there?

Den Gamle By stands at Viborgvej 2 in Aarhus, beside the Botanical Gardens.

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