Copenhagen - National Museum

(Local Name: Nationalmuseet) Along Vestergade, opposite the Glyptothek, lies the National Museum (Nationalmuseet), bordered by Ny Vestergade and the Frederiksholm Kanal in Copenhagen.

Between 1989 and 1992 the museum was completely modernized and considerably extended. The spacious vestibule is generously proportioned and its domed glass roof gives it a friendly ambience. Spiral staircases lead to the upper floors. The main building is linked to other sections by a covered glass walkway; some impressive runic stones are displayed in a pavilion. In one room the visitor can obtain information about the museum's various departments and exhibits with the assistance of videos and a computer. The museum has a notable collection illustrating Danish history, including a "sun chariot" (cult object in the form of a cart) more than 2,000 years old, Romanesque and Gothic church fittings as well as Danish porcelain and silver and collections of antiquities and coins. In the collection of Danish Peasant Culture of the 18th and 19th century costumes, household furnishings and equipment, etc,. are exhibited (Note: closed at present because of building work).

The important ethnographical collection, including items from Greenland, gives an excellent impression of life among the Eskimos; other areas covered include Asia, Africa and Oceania as well as the culture of the Indians.

Incorporated in the National Museum is the Prince's Palace (1744), a Roccoco building influenced by the French style of the period.