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The Old Town—an open-air museum in the city of Aarhus, Denmark

An open-air museum is a distinct type of museum exhibiting its collections out-of-doors. The first open-air museums were established in Scandinavia towards the end of the nineteenth century, and the concept soon spread throughout Europe and North America. Open-air museums are variously known as skansen, museums of buildings and folk museums. A more recent form is the Ecomuseum, which originated in France. A comprehensive history of the open-air museum as idea and institution can be found in Swedish museologist Sten Rentzhog's 2007 book Open Air Museums: The History and Future of a Visionary Idea.

Living museums, also known as living farm museums and living history museums, are a special type of open-air museum where costumed interpreters portray period life in an earlier era. The interpreters act as if they are really living in a different time and place, such as the Colonial era, and perform everyday household tasks, crafts and businesses. The goal is to demonstrate older lifestyles to modern audiences. Household tasks might include cooking on an open hearth, churning butter, spinning wool and weaving, and farming without modern equipment. Many living museums feature traditional craftsmen at work, such as a blacksmith, cooper, potter, miller, sawmill worker, printer, doctor and general store keeper.

Contents

 [hide]  1 Definition 2 European origins 3 North American interpretation 4 Selected list of open-air and living museums

o 4.1 Africa 4.1.1 Egypt

o 4.2 Asia 4.2.1 Israel 4.2.2 Japan 4.2.3 China 4.2.4 Indonesia 4.2.5 South Korea 4.2.6 Malaysia

o 4.3 Europe 4.3.1 Austria 4.3.2 Belgium 4.3.3 Bulgaria 4.3.4 Czech Republic 4.3.5 Denmark 4.3.6 Estonia 4.3.7 Finland 4.3.8 France 4.3.9 Germany 4.3.10 Georgia 4.3.11 Hungary 4.3.12 Iceland 4.3.13 Ireland 4.3.14 Lithuania 4.3.15 Macedonia 4.3.16 Netherlands 4.3.17 Norway 4.3.18 Poland 4.3.19 Romania 4.3.20 Russia 4.3.21 Serbia 4.3.22 Slovakia 4.3.23 Slovenia 4.3.24 Spain 4.3.25 Sweden 4.3.26 Switzerland 4.3.27 Ukraine 4.3.28 United Kingdom

4.3.28.1 England 4.3.28.2 Scotland 4.3.28.3 Wales 4.3.28.4 Northern Ireland

o 4.4 North America 4.4.1 Canada 4.4.2 United States

o 4.5 Oceania 4.5.1 Australia

5 Living transportation museums 6 Ecological and environmental living museums 7 See also 8 Notes

9 External links

[edit] Definition

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) defines a museum as "a non-profit-making, permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education and enjoyment, the tangible and intangible evidence of people and their environment."[1] Most open-air museums specialize in the collection and re-erection of old buildings at large outdoor sites, usually in settings of re-created landscapes of the past. Most of them may therefore justly be described as building museums. Open-air museums tended to be located originally in regions where wooden architecture prevailed, as wooden structures may be trans-located without substantial loss of authenticity.

Common to all open-air museums, including the earliest ones of the 19th century, is the teaching of the history of everyday living by people from all segments of society.

[edit] European origins

World's first open-air museum, King Oscar's collections at Bygdøy near Oslo in 1888.

Old log houses at the Norsk Folkemuseum, Oslo.

The earliest open-air museum appeared in Scandinavia in the late 19th century. One reason may be the ancient tradition of moving and re-erecting wooden buildings, based on the local log building technique. The idea was a predictable further development of the by then well-established indoor type of museum. In order to collect and display whole buildings, it would have to be done outdoors. Precursors of open-air museums were the "exotic" pavilions, "antique" temples, "ancient ruins" and "peasant cottages" to be found in 18th century landscape parks. Later precursors were the real or constructed peasant cottages shown at the international exhibitions of the mid- to-late 19th century.

The world's first open-air museum was King Oscar II's collection near Oslo in Norway, opened in 1881. The original plans comprised 8 or 10 buildings intended to show the evolution of traditional Norwegian building types since the Middle Ages. Only 5 were realized before the king lost interest because of the expenses involved. The royal open-air museum was later incorporated into the Norsk Folkemuseum, established on an adjacent property in the 1890s.[2] Influenced by a visit to the Norwegian open-air museum, Artur Hazelius in 1891 founded

the famous Skansen in Stockholm, which became the model for subsequent open-air museums in Northern and Eastern Europe, and eventually in other parts of the world. The name "skansen" has also been used as a noun to refer to other open-air museums and collections of historic structures, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.[3]

Around 1900, national and regional open-air museums were established in all Scandinavian countries, notably in Norway and Sweden.

Most open-air museums concentrate on rural culture. However, since the opening of the first town museum, Den Gamle By/The Old Town in Aarhus, Denmark in 1914,[4] town culture has also become a scope of open-air museums. In many cases new town quarters are being constructed in existing rural culture museums.

[edit] North American interpretation

Traditional buildings in Colonial Williamsburg

The North American open-air museum, more commonly called a living history museum, had a different, slightly later origin than the European, and the visitor experience is different. The first was Henry Ford's Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan (1928), where Ford intended his collection to be "a pocket edition of America".[5] But it was Colonial Williamsburg (opened in 1934) which had a greater influence on museum development in North America. It influenced such projects through the continent as Mystic Seaport, Plimoth Plantation, and Fortress Louisbourg. What tends to differentiate the North American from the European model is the approach to interpretation. In Europe, the tendency is to usually, but not always, focus on the building.

In North America, many open-air museums include interpreters who dress in period costume and conduct period crafts and everyday work.[6] The living museum is therefore viewed as an attempt to recreate to the fullest extent conditions of a culture, natural environment or historical period. The objective is total immersion, using exhibits so that visitors can experience the specific culture, environment or historical period using all the physical senses. Performance and historiographic practices at American living museums have been critiqued in the past several years by scholars in anthropology and theater for creating false senses of authenticity and accuracy, and for neglecting to bear witness to some of the darker aspects of the American past (e.g., slavery and other forms of injustice). Even before such critiques were published, sites such as Williamsburg and others had begun to add more interpretation of difficult history.[7]

[edit] Selected list of open-air and living museums

[edit] Africa

[edit] Egypt

The Pharaonic Village , Cairo Memphis ruins

[edit] Asia

[edit] Israel

Katzrin Ancient Village Nazareth Village

[edit] Japan

Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum , Tokyo Hakone Open-Air Museum , Hakone, Kanagawa Meiji Mura , Inuyama, Aichi Nihon Minka-en (Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum), Kawasaki, Kanagawa Open-Air Museum of Old Japanese Farmhouses , Osaka Hida Minzoku Mura Folk Village , Takayama, Gifu Kyodo no mori , Fuchū, Tokyo Sankeien , Naka Ward, Yokohama Shikoku Mura , Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture

[edit] China

Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum , Hong Kong Sam Tung Uk Museum , Hong Kong Xinye Village , Zhejiang

[edit] Indonesia

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah

[edit] South Korea

Korean Folk Village , Yongin, Gyeonggi

[edit] Malaysia

Colmar Tropicale , Bukit Tinggi, Pahang Japanese Village , Bukit Tinggi, Pahang Monsopiad Cultural Village . Penampang, Sabah Sarawak Cultural Village , Kuching, Sarawak Taman Mini Malaysia & Asean (Malaysia and Asean Miniature Park), Ayer Keroh, Malacca Taman Tamadun Islam (Islamic Civilization Park), Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu

[edit] Europe

The wooden church in Drvengrad open-air museum, Serbia

[edit] Austria

Austrian Open-Air Museum, Stübing Salzburger Freilichtmuseum, Großgmain Carinthian Open-Air Museum, Maria Saal Museums of Tyrolian Farmsteads, Kramsach Museumsdorf Niedersulz

[edit] Belgium

Open Air Museum Bokrijk, Flanders, Belgium, http://www1.limburg.be/bokrijk/html/domeinbokrijk.html Bachten de Kuppe (Itzenberge), (Flanders), (Belgium), http://www.bachtendekupe.net/ Fourneau St Michel (Ardennes), (Wallonie), http://www.fourneausaintmichel.be/page/mvisvir.php

[edit] Bulgaria

Etar Architectural-Ethnographic Complex , Gabrovo

[edit] Czech Republic

Old Bohemian House in Přerov nad Labem, Czech Republic – the first open-air museum in Central and Eastern Europe (1895) founded by Archduke Ludwig Salvator

Hanácký skanzen (Skanzen of the Haná Region), Příkazy Museum lidových staveb (Folk Buildings Museum), Kouřim Polabské národopisné muzeum (Ethnographic Museum of the region of Polabí), Přerov nad Labem—the

oldest skansen in Central and Eastern Europe Valašské národopisné muzeum (Valachian Ethnographic Museum), Rožnov pod Radhoštěm Skanzen Vysoký Chlumec, (http://www.muzeum-pribram.cz/exhmpb/exmvs/exmvs.html)

[edit] Denmark

Land of legends (Sagnlandet Lejre) , Lejre The Middle Ages Center in Sundby a suburb of Nykøbing Falster The Old Village, Hjerl Hede , Vinderup The Old Town , Aarhus Open Air Museum (Kongens Lyngby) The Funen Village in the Fruens Bøge district of Odense Glud Museum , near Horsens

[edit] Estonia

Estonian Open Air Museum in Rocca al Mare, Tallinn Viimsi Open Air Museum in Pringi, Viimsi Parish; near Tallinn

[edit] Finland

Luostarinmäki , Turku Seurasaari Open-Air Museum , Helsinki

[edit] France

Musée de plein air des maisons comtoises, Nancray, Doubs, Franche-Comté [1] Musée de plein air, Villeneuve d'Ascq fr:Musée de plein air de Villeneuve-d'Ascq

[edit] Germany

Roscheider Hof, Germany Dat ole Huus , Wilsede, Lower Saxony. Open-air Museum Detmold , Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia Germany's biggest open-air museum Groß Raden Archaeological Open Air Museum , nr Sternberg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Hagen Westphalian Open-Air Museum , Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia Hessenpark , Neu-Anspach, Hesse. Hitzacker Archaeological Centre , Hitzacker, Lower Saxony. Hösseringen Museum Village , Hösseringen, Lower Saxony. International Wind- and Watermill Museum , Gifhorn, Lower Saxony. Open-air Museum Kommern , Mechernich, North Rhine-Westphalia Open-air Museum Lindlar , Lindlar, North Rhine-Westphalia Mödlareuth village, Bavaria and Thuringia. Rischmannshof Heath Museum , Walsrode, Lower Saxony. Roscheider Hof , Konz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Winsen Museum Farm , Winsen (Aller), Lower Saxony. Ore Mountain Toy Museum, Seiffen , Saxony

Swabian Farm Museum Illerbeuren , Bavaria

[edit] Georgia

Open Air Museum of Ethnography, Tbilisi

[edit] Hungary

Szentendrei Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, Szentendre [2] Szennai Szabadtéri Néprajzi Gyűjtemény, Szenna Göcseji Falumúzeum, Zalaegerszeg Őrségi Népi Műemlékegyüttes, Szalafő-(Pityerszer) Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, Ópusztaszer Sóstói Múzeumfalu, Nyíregyháza Vasi Múzeumfalu, Szombathely Hollókői Falumúzeum, Hollókő Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, Nagyvázsony Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, Tihany

[edit] Iceland

Árbæjarsafn

[edit] Ireland

Connemara Heritage & History Centre

[edit] Lithuania

Main article: Ethnographic villages in Lithuania

[edit] Macedonia

Tumba Madžari

[edit] Netherlands

Netherlands Open Air Museum , Arnhem Orvelte Zuiderzeemuseum , Enkhuizen Historisch Openlucht Museum Eindhoven - HOME Archeon

[edit] Norway

Norsk Folkemuseum , Oslo Maihaugen , Lillehammer Trøndelag folkemuseum, Sverresborg . Trondheim

[edit] Poland

Biskupin Archaeological Museum

Ethnographic open-air museum in Sanok Folk Architecture Museum in Olsztynek [3] Museum of the Slovinian Village in Kluki [4] Muzeum Etnograficzny w Zielonej Górze z siedzibą w Ochlii in Ochla, Lubusz Voivodeship Muzeum Kultury Ludowej in Osiek nad Notecią Open-air Museum of the Łódź Wooden Architecture Skansen Budownictwa Ludowego Zachodniej Wielkopolski in Wolsztyn [5] Skansen Etnograficzny w Russowie in Russów [6] Upper Silesian Ethnographic Park in Chorzów Wielkopolski Park Etnograficzny in Dziekanowice [7] Chabówka Rolling-Stock Heritage Park "Skansen" in Chabówka The Sądecki Ethnographic Park in Nowy Sącz

[edit] Romania

ASTRA National Museum Complex Village Museum

[edit] Russia

Architectural-ethnographic museum "Khokhlovka", Perm Krai Kizhi Kolomenskoye Architectural-ethnographic museum "Khokhlovka"

[edit] Serbia

Drvengrad (Mećavnik, Küstendorf), Mokra Gora (Zlatibor) Staro selo (Old Village open-air museum), Sirogojno (Zlatibor)

[edit] Slovakia

Template:Main:Open-air museums in Slovakia

Banská Štiavnica Bardejov Čičmany Humenné Martin Nitra Pribylina Stará Ľubovňa

Svidník Vlkolínec Vychylovka Zuberec – Brestová

[edit] Slovenia

Piran

[edit] Spain

Museo de Escultura al Aire Libre de Alcalá de Henares

[edit] Sweden

Jamtli , Östersund Kulturen , Lund Skansen , Stockholm

[edit] Switzerland

Ballenberg , Brienz

[edit] Ukraine

Lviv Museum of Folk Architecture and Culture (see Kryvka Church) Open air Museum of Architecture and Ethnography in Pyrohiv , near Kiev

[edit] United Kingdom

[edit] England

Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings , Worcestershire Amberley Working Museum , Amberley, West Sussex Beamish, North of England Open Air Museum , Beamish, County Durham Black Country Living Museum , Dudley, West Midlands Blists Hill Victorian Town , Telford, Shropshire Chiltern Open Air Museum , Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire Church Farm Museum , Agricultural museum and collection of indigenous buildings, Skegness Cogges Manor Farm Museum , Witney, Oxfordshire Little Woodham , Gosport, Hampshire Murton Park / Yorkshire Museum of Farming in Murton, York Museum of East Anglian Life , Stowmarket, Suffolk Rural Life Centre, Tilford , Surrey Weald and Downland Open Air Museum , Sussex West Yorkshire Folk Museum , in grounds of Shibden Hall, Halifax Wimpole Home Farm , Cambridgeshire

[edit] Scotland

National Museum of Rural Life , Scotland

[edit] Wales

St Fagans National History Museum , Cardiff, Wales

[edit] Northern Ireland

Ulster Folk & Transport Museum , Cultra, Hollywood, Northern Ireland

[edit] North America

[edit] Canada

Fortress Louisbourg, Nova Scotia Barkerville, British Columbia Ball's Falls Conservation Area , Jordan, Ontario Black Creek Pioneer Village , Toronto, Ontario Burnaby Village Museum , Burnaby, British Columbia Canada's Polish Kashub Heritage Museum & Skansen , Wilno, Ontario Doon Heritage Village , Kitchener, Ontario Fort Henry, Ontario Fort Edmonton Park , Edmonton, Alberta Fort Langley National Historic Site , Fort Langley, British Columbia Fortress of Louisbourg , Louisbourg, Nova Scotia Fort William Historical Park , Thunder Bay, Ontario Fort York , Toronto, Ontario Greater Sudbury Heritage Museums Halifax Citadel National Historic Site of Canada (Citadel Hill), Halifax, Nova Scotia Heritage Park Historical Village , Calgary, Alberta Kalyna Country , an ecomuseum Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site, Selkirk, Manitoba Markham Museum , Markham, Ontario Mennonite Heritage Village , Steinbach, Manitoba Sainte-Marie among the Hurons , Midland, Ontario Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village , Alberta Upper Canada Village , Morrisburg, Ontario Village Historique Acadien , Caraquet, New Brunswick Village Québécois d'Antan , Drummondville, Quebec Westfield Heritage Village , Rockton, Ontario

[edit] United States

Main article: List of open-air and living history museums in the United States

[edit] Oceania

[edit] Australia

Pioneer Settlement, Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia's First Open Air Museum, opened 1963. Port Arthur, Tasmania Sovereign Hill , Ballarat, Victoria Millewa Pioneer Forest and Historical Village, Meringur, Victoria Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum, Warrnambool, Victoria Old Sydney Town , Somersby, New South Wales (now closed) Miles Historical Village and Museum , Miles, Queensland

[edit] Living transportation museums

See also: List of heritage railways Brooklands in Weybridge, Elmbridge, Surrey, England (aviation and motorcar museum) Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park from Georgetown, Washington, D.C. to

Cumberland, Maryland (heritage canal) Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad from Chama, New Mexico to Antonito, Colorado (heritage railway) Danish Tramway Museum , Denmark Delta Queen travels along the Mississippi River and tributaries (heritage river steamboat) Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum in Bremerhaven, Germany (maritime museum) Edaville Railroad in South Carver, Massachusetts (heritage railway) Hiroshima City Transportation Museum in Hiroshima, Japan (street railway museum) Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut (maritime museum) National Tramway Museum in Derbyshire, England (heritage street railway) Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Rhinebeck, New York (aviation museum) Roscoe Village in Coshocton, Ohio (along the former Ohio & Erie Canal, nearby Monticello III canal

boat) Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine (heritage railway) Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire, England (aviation museum) Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Wenecja near Żnin Skansen Parowozownia Kościerzyna in Kościerzyna, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland (heritage railway) Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania (heritage railway) Valley Railroad Company in Essex, Connecticut (heritage railway) White Pass and Yukon Route from Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon (heritage railway) Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway in Alna, Maine (heritage railway) Royal Malaysian Air Force Museum , Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (military aviation)

[edit] Ecological and environmental living museums

Some ecological living museums are zoos

California Living Museum , Bakersfield, California, United States Virginia Living Museum , Newport News, Virginia, United States Nonsuch Island Living Museum, Bermuda Penang Forestry Museum , Penang, Malaysoa Ball's Falls Conservation Area , Jordan, Ontario, Canada

[edit] See also

Historical reenactment Human zoo List of Renaissance fairs List of tourist attractions providing reenactment Living history Category:Open air museums Category:Living museums

[edit] Notes

Constructs such as ibid., loc. cit. and idem are discouraged by Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes, as they are easily broken. Please improve this article by replacing them with named references (quick guide), or an abbreviated title. (July 2010)

1. ̂ http://icom.museum/statutes.html#2 ICOM Statutes2. ̂ Tonte Hegard: Romantikk og fortidsvern. Historien om de første friluftsmuseene i Norge,

Universitetsforlaget, Oslo 1984. ISBN 82-00-07064-03. ̂ Sten Rentzhog: Open air museums: The history and future of a visionary idea, Carlsson Jamtli

Förlag, Stockholm and Östersund 2007. ISBN 978-91-7948-208-44. ̂ http://www.dengamleby.dk/int/english.htm5. ̂ Kenneth Hudson, Museums of Influence, Cambridge University Press, 1987. p. 1536. ̂ Ibid, p. 1547. ̂ Scott Magelssen, Living History Museums: Undoing History Through Performance, Scarecrow

Press, 2007

[edit] External links

Look up open-air museum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Open air museums

Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums Revista Digital Nueva Museologia Latin American Theory European Open-air Museums An extensive list of Open-air museums in Europe. America's Outdoor History Museums Photos from Museum of Folk Architecture and Life

Museum websites Open Air Museum Bokrijk Leading open-air museum of Belgium, Flanders. Přerov nad Labem open-air museum - photo gallery Valachian Ethnographic Museum in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, Czech Republic Hjerl Hede - An open-air museum in Denmark showing life from the early days until about 100 years ago. The Old Town (Den Gamle By) - An open-air museum in Denmark showing urban life. Jamtli – One of Sweden's largest and oldest regional open-air museums, in Östersund. fr:Musée de plein air de Villeneuve-d'Ascq