Frihedsmuseet

Museet for Danmarks Frihedskamp 1940-1945

Useful Information

Location:	Esplanaden 13, 1263 København. (55.68819256, 12.59587308 )
Open:	SEP to APR Tue-Sun 10-17. MAY to AUG daily 10-17. [2023]
Fee:	Adults DKK 110, Children (0-17) free. [2023]
Classification:	Underground Museums
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Frihedsmuseet, Esplanaden 13, 1263 København, Tel: +45-41-20-60-80. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

15-OCT-1957	museum first opened as a gift from the resistance movement to the Danish state.
28-APR-2013	museum burned down after an arson.
03-JUL-2020	new museum opened to the public.

Description

Frihedsmuseet (Freedom Museum, Museum of Liberty) is dedicated to the Danish resistance during the Second World War. The official name of the museum is much longer, its called Museet for Danmarks Frihedskamp 1940-1945 (The Museum of Danish Resistance during World War II). At the location of the museum, south of the København Kastellet, in the Churchillparken, there is a sort of tower, a brown ellipsoid building, which contains nothing but an elevator. Down in the underground is the exhibition of the Danish underground. This museum is new, the former museum at the same place burned down after an arson in 2013, fortunately all the exhibits survived. It was decided to build a completely new museum, designed by the Danish design studio Lundgaard and Tranberg Arkitekter, which was built almost completely underground. They claim it was to protect objects and papers from daylight.

The focus is on the Danish resistance, but also on the political context and everyday life during the occupation. Most people see resistance as a common unit of anonymous patriots. But it consisted of many groupings ranging from the extreme left to the extreme right. The choice to resist was not black and white, it was choosing violence against the law and justice, against the orders of politicians and authorities, and against the majority's position.

The museum originates from the Danish resistance movement, which created an exhibition called Fighting Denmark after the liberation in 1945. It was shown in the Freemasonry Lodge in Copenhagen. Later the exhibition was donated to the National Museum, which created the new museum on the same site where it is today in 1957.