From Moesgaard Museum to Moesgaard

Moesgaard: Always changing

TO UNDERSTAND WHO WE ARE, WE MUST UNDERSTAND WHO WE WERE

At Moesgaard, we exist in both the past and the present – we must always be contemporary and relevant. That is why we have explored our own past to be able to embrace, understand and convey who Moesgaard is today.

MADS KÄHLER HOLST: FROM MOESGAARD MUSEUM TO MOESGAARD

 »Moesgaard has been constantly changing since we were founded in 1861. We have moved physically, we have had different names, and our research continuosly renews our understanding of the great historical contexts of the world. Now, the time has come for us to create a new identity which reflects the Moesgaard we are today.

We are changing our name from Moesgaard Museum to simply Moesgaard. We are doing this to be able to embrace the diversity of Moesgaard even better. We are still a museum, but we are more than that: We are a leading research institution with deep knowledge spanning the fields of archeology and anthropology. We are the nature that surrounds us and all the activities that unfolds there – whether it is an outdoor performance by the Royal Danish Theatre, a walk along the forest trails with a dog, or a sledge ride down the museum’s roof. We are a center for lectures, talks, guided tours, play, learning and inspiring conversations about humanity's long history  and cultural diversity.

Moesgaard is a holistic experience with a wide range of stories about humankind from the grand narratives of world history.«

Mads Kähler Holst, Director of Moesgaard

MOESGAARD THROUGH TIME

At Moesgaard, we work every day to convey and share the great cultural and world history of humanity. We search deep for answers about who we were to learn more about you, us, and humankind itself. Working with our new logo, colours, font, and visual identity, we have revisited our own history in order to examine who we were to understand who we are…

We were founded in 1861 as The Historical and Antiquarian Society (Det historisk-antikvariske selskab) and were originally located at Domkirkepladsen in Aarhus. Just ten years later, we relocated and became a part of the then newly established Aarhus Museum on Vester Allé near Mølleparken in Aarhus

In 1950, we changed our name once again. Our archaeological collection then became known as The Museum of Prehistory.

With the winds of change in the 1970s, we moved from Aarhus to Moesgård Manor in the beautiful natural and cultural landscape near Højbjerg and Giberå.

We are all, in some way, shaped by our surroundings, and in 1997, we took our name from the manor - thus, becoming Moesgaard Museum. Later, the Viking Museum in Aarhus, as well as Odder Museum and Samsø Museum, also became part of the museum and research institution of Moesgaard.

In 2014, a new, iconic exhibition building provided us with a remarkable setting to present the stories of the great world history to our visitors. This is where we remain located today.

ON THE SHOULDERS OF…

We stand on the shoulders of those who founded, created and developed the Moesgaard we are today. All of us at Moesgaard also stand on each other's shoulders, as we are many different professions working together as one to acheive more. In our storytelling and communication, we connect the past with the present, and through our research, we bring knowledge from the darkness of prehistory into the light. This is why the two A's in our logo stand on each other's shoulders. They beautifully embrace both Archeology and Anthropology.

But the meaning of the double A is greater than that. It also embodies what  our visitors experience when they visit Moesgaard: We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. By standing on the shoulders of and understanding the past, we are able to achieve a deeper comprehension of who we are today.

We are renewing ourselves at Moesgaard, but we remain the Moesgaard you know. We are still curious, and we are always evolving – in present, the past, and - of course within visiting hours.

»We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. Here, we can find peace and be reminded: In the great history of the world history, we are quite small.