Maihaugen (''De Sandvigske Samlinger på Maihaugen, Lillehammer'') is one of the most visited tourist attractions in

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munic ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. Maihaugen, with close to 200 buildings, is one of Northern Europe's largest open-air museums and is one of the largest cultural facilities in Norway. Maihaugen entrance

History

The founder, Anders Sandvig, collected from old houses and farmyards within

Gudbrandsdalen Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending tow ...

to provide a sample of Norwegian culture and history in a museum. He first started in his backyard, but when his collection grew, in 1901, the town council offered him a permanent site for the museum. In 1904, the city of Lillehammer set aside an area already known as Maihaugen and bought Sandvig's collection and established the Sandvig Collections (''Sandvigske Samlinger''), the formal name for Maihaugen. Sandvig was at first hired as an unpaid curator but was later appointed the museum's first director. The new site of the museum had been used as a picnic and meeting place for the townspeople. People had met here to celebrate the

Norwegian Constitution Day Constitution Day is the national day of Norway and is an official public holiday observed on 17 May each year. Among Norwegians, the day is referred to as ''Syttende Mai'' ("Seventeenth of May"), ''Nasjonaldagen'' ("National Day"), or ''Grunnlo ...

and to light bonfires for Midsummer eve. Maihaugen tells the history of how people have been living in the Gudbrandsdalen from the Middle Ages until today. Social Institutions such as a church, school, post office, railway station, shops, prisons and military facilities are all represented at the museum. The museum has a rich collection of artifacts, furniture, tools and ornaments, ranging in age from the Middle Ages. Garmo Stave Church is one of the main attractions. In 1882, the church was disassembled and sold to Anders Sandvig, who brought it to Lillehammer, where it was re-erected at Maihaugen in 1920–1921. Maihaugen also includes a large photography archive and an indoor museum. Constructed in 1959, they were extended in preparation for the Lillehammer

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fr ...

. Maihaugsalen concert hall, with over 700 seats and a large exhibition space, was opened in September 1967.

Sections

The open-air museum is divided into three primary sections, the Rural Collection, Historic Town, and the Residential Area. * Rural Collection – from the villages in Lillehammer, focusing on the period 1700–1850 but also houses dating back to the 15th century * Historic Town – collection of buildings from Lillehammer between early 19th century until around 1920 * Residential Area – consists of the time typical single-family homes from nearly all decades of the 20th century

Related sites

The following additional institutions are also under the administration of De Sandvigske Samlinger: * Aulestad in

Gausdal Gausdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Segalstad bru. Other villages in Gausdal include Follebu, Forse ...

– Home of

Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make o ...

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguishe ...

* Bjerkebæk in Lillehammer – Home of

Sigrid Undset Sigrid Undset () (20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Norwegian- Danish novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928. Undset was born in Kalundborg, Denmark, but her family moved to Norway when she was two years old. In 1924 ...

Norwegian Olympic Museum Norwegian Olympic Museum (''Norges Olympiske Museum'') is located at Maihaugen in Lillehammer, Norway. The Norwegian Olympic Museum shows the history of the Olympic Games in ancient and modern times, with a focus on the 1952 Winter Olympics ...

– Represents all Olympic Games since 1896. * Norwegian Post Museum – Norway's special museum for mail and philately.

Gallery

Gammel bygate på Maihaugen.JPG, Old town street at Maihaugen Museum Losjehuset Maihaugen.jpg, Assembly Hall of the Temperance Movement Maihaugen stasjon.jpg, Maihaugen Station Postgården.jpg, Maihaugen Post Office Maihaugen 1.jpg, Nordre pond at Maihaugen Maihaugen 50s.jpg, Typical Norwegian house from the 1950s

References

External links