New Viking Exhibition at Historiska

This is something that I have been waiting a couple of years for! A few months before the pandemic struck, the Swedish History Museum (Historiska museet) closed their Viking exhibition for renovations and an upgrade... promising to open bigger and better in 2020. Well, we all know what happened in 2020. So, I was excited when the museum reopened this spring, after being closed for the pandemic, knowing that the new Viking exhibition would be open as well.

It did not disappoint! In fact, I think it is one of the best historical exhibitions that I have seen in recent years. Expansive, interesting artifacts, well laid out, great information and cutting edge technology. The exhibition, The Viking World, is touted as the largest Viking exhibition in the world, and I see nothing that would make me doubt their claim. With over 1,000 square meters and 2,500 original objects, it is very impressive.

The large amount of artifacts (everything from weapons to jewelry to human remains) is of course impressive, but what I really found amazing was how informative, easy to understand and well designed the exhibition was. Each display case has a corresponding computer tablet and the information on the tablet is in Swedish and English. First you have a page describing the display. The next page shows the objects in the display, where you can click on each object for more information on that object. You can also, using your fingers, zoom in on the object to study the detail. A wonderful feature, especially when you are looking at something like an amazingly detailed, miniature brooch. More info at bottom of this post.

Rune stone with details lit up

The exhibition touches on the different aspects of the Vikings and their world... daily life, trade, mythology, war/raiding, burials and much more. I also enjoyed how they used technology to bring to life one of their massive rune stones. Using light and projectors, the exhibition allows you to study in detail the different parts of the rune stone. Interspersed throughout the exhibition were many child-friendly displays and games. Several displays also had extra tactile information for the seeing-impaired. Nice.

Tactile display with braile for the seeing impaired.

We easily spent two hours in this exhibition, using each of the computer tablets to explore and read up more on the artifacts on display. What makes this exhibition even more enjoyable is that there is no admission charged. In fact, the whole museum has free admission... and they have many more exhibitions besides the Viking World, so you can learn all about Swedish history even the years before and after the Viking Age. Of special note is the Gold Room, which displays an amazing amount of gold and silver artifacts from the Viking Age and earlier, found in buried hoards throughout Sweden.

If you are especially interested in Vikings, don't miss a visit (during the summer months) to Birka, the former Viking trading town where many of the artifacts on display in the museum were found. Strömma offers great day trips to this UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Swedish History Museum is located in the Östermalm neighborhood and the easiest way to get there from Hotel Rival is by subway (red line all the way to the stop Karlaplan).