Middelaldercentret () is an experimental

living history Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...

archaeological open-air museum An archaeological open-air museum is a non-profit permanent institution with outdoor true-to-scale architectural reconstructions primarily based on archaeological sources. It holds collections of intangible heritage resources and provides an int ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, which depicts the

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

in the Denmark of the late 14th and early 15th centuries. It is located in Sundby Lolland, some 4 km northwest of the centre of

Nykøbing Falster Nykøbing Falster (; originally named Nykøbing) is a southern Danish city, seat of the Guldborgsund ''kommune''. It belongs to Region Sjælland. The city lies on Falster, connected by the Frederick IX Bridge over the Guldborgsund (''Guldb ...

on the waterfront of

Guldborgsund Guldborgsund is the strait between the Danish islands of Lolland and Falster. It connects Smålandsfarvandet in the north with the Bay of Mecklenburg in the south. The strait is about 30 kilometers long; its breadth varies from 150 meters at Gu ...

. It features a town built as part of a typical Danish

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

with craftsmen, a

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

with ships and boats, and a market place. The employees are dressed in period costumes and live and work in the houses and do everyday activities such as craftmanship, cooking and weapon training. Furthermore, the museum has a variety of siege weapons of the period, such as

trebuchet A trebuchet (french: trébuchet) is a type of catapult that uses a long arm to throw a projectile. It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder. The design of a trebuchet allows it to launch projectiles of greater weigh ...

s, a

ballista The ballista (Latin, from Greek βαλλίστρα ''ballistra'' and that from βάλλω ''ballō'', "throw"), plural ballistae, sometimes called bolt thrower, was an ancient missile weapon that launched either bolts or stones at a distant ta ...

and a

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

and smaller weapons such as

handguns A handgun is a short-gun barrel, barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also ...

longbow A longbow (known as warbow in its time, in contrast to a hunting bow) is a type of tall bow that makes a fairly long draw possible. A longbow is not significantly recurved. Its limbs are relatively narrow and are circular or D-shaped in cross ...

s and

crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fi ...

s. All of the items are built on site using period tools. Activities include live firing of the weapons daily,

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

, knightly tournaments, and demonstrations of crafts and tasks from the late 14th century and early 15th centuries. The employees are both permanent staff and unemployed people sent in job training from the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

. In addition, a support association exists, from which a large group of volunteers participates in the daily work. All the involved people "live in the medieval period", which means that they do not know of modern things like

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

cellphone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

s and so on. The former

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the centre was the

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

and

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

Kåre Johannessen. By 2016, the curator was Thit Birk Petersen. In 2021

Roeland Paardekooper Roeland, Roelandt or Roelant (all pronounced ) is a Dutch masculine given name equivalent to English Roland. It is a Germanic name consisting of the elements -hrod- ("fame") and -land- (i.e. "famous in the land") or -nand- ("brave").

took over as director. Besides normal museum activities, the Middle Ages Centre does extensive research within the middle ages and different medieval technologies, and the museum has reconstructed weapons, ships, clothing and

diving equipment Diving equipment is equipment used by underwater divers to make diving activities possible, easier, safer and/or more comfortable. This may be equipment primarily intended for this purpose, or equipment intended for other purposes which is found ...

among others. The museum has a reputation of being the most authentic place in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

within the medieval period. Due to the authenticity the medieval town has been used as a setting for many movies, documentaries and TV-series.

History

The Middle Ages Centre started with the reconstruction of a medieval

siege weapon A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while other ...

, called a

, built to mark the 700th anniversary of Nykøbing Falster in 1989. The local museum reconstructed the trebuchet and the experiment ran for three weeks in which 15000-30000 people visited the site. Given the considerable interest in the trebuchet, a scoping project, "Medieval Technology Centre", was conducted for two months in the summer of 1991. The project consisted of a series of workshops and a kitchen tent set up around the trebuchet. As a private institution, The Middle Ages Centre was founded in 1992. Two years later, in 1994, a donation from Arbejdsmarkedets Feriefond (a

non-profit foundation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

) made it possible to build an entire settlement with houses, tournament lists, a harbour, and a new entrance building. Since then, more houses have been built and one major new project is carried out each year. In 2013 the museum opened a technology park where inventions and technologies from the medieval period have been built full size for the audience to try. Many of these have not been built before and have only been an idea on a paper and some would never work in reality such a

perpetual motion machine Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work infinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, a ...

and the world's first

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

built from a drawing from the Italian

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Giovanni Fontana. In 2014 a new war wagon was introduced and added to the daily display of siege engines. It is made from a depiction from the manuscript '' Hausbuch'' at

Schloss Wolfegg Schloss Wolfegg is a Renaissance castle next to the town of Wolfegg in Upper Swabia (Germany). The castle is the ancestral seat of the family of Waldburg-Wolfegg, which still owns it today. Building The main building of the castle consists of f ...

and is said to be the first

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

in history. In 2020 the museum opened a new attraction called Griffenholm which is an area with treetop houses with a

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

like interior and elements from

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

and

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

where a fictional professor is investigating the area for mythical creatures from the middle ages. The area is mostly for schools but is also used for

escape room An escape room, also known as an escape game, puzzle room, exit game, or riddle room is a game in which a team of players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal in a limite ...

Concept

Living history is central to The Middle Ages Centre and the focus is a Danish market town in the period around the year 1400. The centre follows the current calendar, but offset by 610 years - 2014 the year 1404 is depicted and so on. The Centre's work is based on very thorough research. The purpose of the work is partly dissemination, but also academic research, especially in the form of so-called

experimental archaeology Experimental archaeology (also called experiment archaeology) is a field of study which attempts to generate and test archaeological hypotheses, usually by replicating or approximating the feasibility of ancient cultures performing various tasks ...

where ancient tools and technology is reconstructed on the basis of extant sources and objects in exhibitions around the world, and then tested in practice. Staff and volunteers dress in period costume, and live in the opening hours just as they would have 610 years ago. Both volunteers and employees are thoroughly trained so as to make sure that they are professionally equipped to assume the role of medieval people. Neither

glasses Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples or ...

nor

piercing Body piercing, which is a form of body modification, is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn, or where an implant could be inserted. The word ''piercing'' can refer to ...

s are allowed and the inhabitants don't know about mobile phones, TV or other modern things, as these are not a part of the concept. Volunteers are co-ordinated by the Guldborgsund Guild (Guldborgsund Gildet). The museum has a restaurant called ''The Golden Swann'', which is furnished as a dining hall at a major Danish castle around 1400. It serves authentic medieval food by candlelight. The restaurant is independent but meets the same requirements regarding authenticity as the rest of the centre.

Research and reconstructions

The centre was the first in the world to reconstruct an actual working trebuchet in 1989. Since then the centre has been hired to help build the

Warwick Castle Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort, originally built by William the Conqueror during 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a meander of the River Avon. The original wooden motte-an ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

which was the largest functioning trebuchet in the world for six years. In 2011 the Middelaldercentret took back the record, putting a longer throwing arm on the machine after the old one broke. The new throwing arm is just 5 centimeters longer than the one on the machine at Warwick Castle. Together with

Moesgård Museum Moesgaard Museum (MOMU) is a Danish regional museum dedicated to archaeology and ethnography. It is located in Beder, a suburb of Aarhus, Denmark. MOMU cooperates with the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, Medieval and Renaissance Archaeology ...

the museum has reconstructed the world's oldest cannon cast in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

. The centre participated in the third Galathea expedition (2006-2007) and researched both

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

and

saltpeter Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrat ...

black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

production in

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and transportation to

. Furthermore, research regarding textiles, winter habitation, and the manufacture of medieval war machinery has been carried out. A conference about black powder manufacturing was held at Middelaldercentret in 2010. The construction of a medieval church began in 2010. It is a reconstruction of Kippinge Church in northwestern

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

, Denmark.

Other

Medieval reenactment groups from around the world visit the centre during the season. Since 2010, there has been held a week-long festival during the summer holidays, where international reenactment groups have been invited. During these specific festivals, the time period and region of interest being portrayed been extended to embrace broader medieval life. The international group

Company of Saynt George The Company of St. George is a living-history group portraying an artillery Company in the age of Charles the Bold (1467-1477). eBook also available: The group does events with a civil and military aspect and is known for its display of daily ...

, dealing with the years 1460-1490, has been a guest several times at these events. The centre also runs courses on historical use of medieval weaponry, which are often attended by members of historical European martial arts groups, such as the Laurentius Guild. A historical reenactment society from

King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by Edward VI of England, King Edward VI in 1552, it ...

have visited the museum several times as a part of their education. Given its unique medieval features, the town it has been used as a set for both national and international film productions. Thus both

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...

has recorded a documentary about early

invention An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an i ...

s such as

and throwing machines and the Danish movie '' Vølvens Forbandelse'' and the German film ''

12 Paces Without a Head ''12 Paces Without a Head'' (german: Zwölf Meter ohne Kopf) is a 2009 film set in the North Sea in 1401. The film centers on the German folk hero Klaus Störtebeker, who was a pirate at the time. The title comes from a legend which asserts th ...

'' has scenes shot at the Centre. In 2006 the documentary program ''Mark Williams' Big Bangs'' which is a history of

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

s with Mark Williams used the centre to blow up a boat for the series. Weapons from the centre has also been used in the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

series '' Ancient Discoveries''.

Gallery

File:Medieval_house_at_Middelaldercentret.JPG, Timber framed house File:Medieval_town_at_Middelaldercentret.JPG, View at the harbour File:Nykøbing Falster - Middelaldercentret.jpg, Boathouse File:Nykøbing Falster - skydeskive i Middelaldercentret.jpg, Target for archery File:Middelaldercentret.jpg, Tourist at The Middle Ages Center

References

External links

Medieval Centre
- official site in English {{Authority control Living museums Open-air museums in Denmark Medieval reenactment Buildings and structures in Guldborgsund Municipality Museums in Region Zealand Museums established in 1992 Experimental archaeology