Viking Ship Museum

The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde is the Danish museum for ships, seafaring and boatbuilding culture in ancient and medieval times.

The Viking Ship Hall, the oldest part of the museum, was opened in 1969. It was designed as a large showcase to display the five Viking ships found at Skuldelev. The hall also houses special temporary exhibitions and a cinema, where a film about the excavation of the ships is shown.

An extension to the museum, Museum Island, was opened in 1997. The museum boatyard, where visitors can watch shipwrights at work, is located on the island. The Activity Centre, where the School Service is housed, is also found here.

The large collection of traditional Nordic wooden boats is berthed at the harbour on Museum Island. Here you will also find the five reconstructions of the Skuldelev ships. Many of the vessels were built at the museum boatyard, which also maintains them.

Together with other museums, the Viking Ship Museum carries out investigations before construction projects are commenced under water and along Denmark’s coasts, or when the forces of nature uncover items of historical interest on the sea floor.

Archaeological finds from throughout Denmark are documented at the Archaeological Workshop on Museum Island using digital technology, and information on all Danish maritime archaeological finds are collected in the museum archives.