
What do you know about
the museum’s history?
The original design for the museum buildings was done by the architects Halldor Gunnløgsson and Jørn Nielsen. With its monolithic red tiled cubes, it stood out as a worthy and natural addition to the dramatic, rugged west coast. When the museum was finished in 1968, it was the town’s gift to itself in celebration of the harbour’s and the town’s centenary.
We are a self-governing institution, founded in 1962. The Fisheries and Maritime Museum/Salt water aquarium were opened to the public in April 1968. The museum was officially designated a cultural history and natural history museum in 1972.
From the beginning, the museum has included an exhibition of the history of fishing, plus a salt water aquarium and various supporting facilities. In 1976 the museum was expanded with the addition of a sealarium (since renovated in 2013), and in 1989 the first steps were taken to establish the open air harbour milieu.
In 1994 the museum established a research department, which, since 2000, has been operated in collaboration with the University of Southern Denmark, since 2016 under the name of the Centre for Maritime and Business History (CME).
Read more about the museum’s history here