Culture and history

Sweden has a rich culture and history. Royal Djurgården also has a long and exciting history but is today a place where you can explore the past as well as the future. Here locals and tourists gather to enjoy our amazing culture. Whether it’s dancing around the midsummer pole, drinking schnapps with schnapps songs or singing Waterloo and becoming the fifth member of ABBA, Djurgården is the place where culture and history are preserved, developed and live on. Here are some of the places where you can explore more.

Photo: Skansen – Anna Yu

Cultural history

ABBA The Museum

One of our main successes and pride is of course the music group ABBA. During the glittering 70s, ABBA’s career took off and to this day there is no one who can sit still when their iconic songs are played. In the heart of Djurgården, a museum was opened to celebrate the band and showcases their journey from the beginning to today. The museum is interactive with quizzes, holograms, karaoke and of course lots of dancing and singing!

Spritmuseum – Dedicated to Swedish drinking culture

When it comes to drinking culture, Sweden is unique. At Spritmuseum, you can explore schnapps songs, beer production in the smuggling era, brandy seasoning and even feel what it feels like to be hungover via visually beautiful and interactive exhibitions. In addition to the exhibitions on drinking culture and history, here you will also find the Absolut art collection, an art exhibition that constantly varies with works from various famous artists who have interpreted the famous Absolut vodka bottle. Of course, you can also taste everything you learned about in the restaurant and bar.

Snus- and match museum

Just as schnapps and schnapps songs are a big part of our culture, so is snus. Inside Skansen, you will find the Snuff and Match Museum, which takes up the history of just that, snuff and matches, two important and interesting pieces of the puzzle in our culture and history. The museum was opened back in 1938 and has since then displayed its collections in a beautiful, interesting and fun way.

The museum park

In the museum park, you will find several museums that tell about our cultural history. Here you can explore the 1912 Stockholm Olympics in the National Sports Museum, the famous Stockholm syndrome in the Police Museum or perhaps our incredible game export at the Technical Museum. All the museums are incredibly exciting, whether you are a playful child or an adult looking for a bit of nostalgia.

Friends of handicraft

Handarbetets Vänner is a center for education, development and production of advanced textiles and design. Handarbetets Vänner was founded on the initiative of Sophie Adlersparre in 1874, the aim was to refine the Swedish textile craft. Since then, HV has been a leader in a number of important advances such as female entrepreneurship, innovative textile design and advanced technical craftsmanship. Visiting their gallery is also completely free.

Swedens history

Skansen and Nordiska

At the end of the 19th century, Arthur Hazelius founded both Skansen and the Nordic Museum with the goal of preserving and making Nordic history and culture accessible. That goal lives on today and it is now two of Djurgården’s and all of Stockholm’s top tourist destinations.

The Nordic Museum has an exhibition Nordbor that shows life in the Nordics from 500 years ago to today. Dive deep into how we Nordics have celebrated, mourned, worked, acquired relationships and much more. At Nordiska you can also explore our present and future, the Arctic exhibition shows, among other things, how we have lived in cold environments for generations but also the climate issues surrounding how we should preserve the natural heritage.

At Skansen, you can explore the entire country in one day. It is the world’s oldest open-air museum and is a must for Stockholmers as well as tourists. Open every day, all year round, you can meet Nordic animals, dance folk dances, go to the market, explore glassblowing and much more!

The Viking Museum

If you think of our history, you naturally think of Nordic Vikings. What is true about Vikings and what is not? At The Viking Museum you can learn everything about the Viking Age and who they really were. What did you eat? Where did you travel? Did they really have horns on their helmets? The museum has several guided tours daily where a real Viking takes you 1000 years back in time.

Royal history

Royal Djurgården is rich in history and has been a central location for Stockholmers and tourists for centuries. Before it was accessible to the public, it was a royal hunting ground and here therefore characterized by the royal house. Here you will find, among other things, the beautiful summer palace Rosendal Slott, which also has a fantastic garden all around. Another place with a royal background is Prins Eugen’s artists’ home on Waldemarsudde. In addition to the art exhibitions at Waldemarsudde, you can also enjoy the Prince’s beautiful home, garden and sculpture park with a beautiful view of Stockholm.

The Vasa museum

Paris has the Eiffel Tower and New York has the Empire state building, but we have the magnificent Vasa! A tragedy in 1628 has turned into one of the Nordic region’s top visitor destinations. The Vasa Museum displays Gustav II Adolf’s magnificent ship Vasa, which did not go further than 1,300 meters during its maiden voyage during the great power era. In the 1960s, the ship was found and pulled up for the public to see. The museum has been built around the ship and is also filled with exhibits about, among other things, the great power era, the salvage and the people on the ship.

Maritim historia

Vrak – Museum of wrecks

Further on in our maritime cultural history, we find the Vasa Museum’s sites, Vrak – Museum of wrecks. It’s our newest museum you die with holograms, projection and VR you can dive into the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea is unique and allows wrecks to be preserved and explored. An interactive museum about the secrets of the Baltic Sea. You can also buy a combination ticket so you can go on both Vasa and Vrak.

Maritime History Museum and the museum ships

The Maritime History Museum is located in the museum park and is not only a beautiful museum, it is also a meeting place with a sailing school, boat model days and much more! In its exhibitions there are fantastic boat models, human stories and everything you can think of about boating culture. For children, you can let loose in the blubb playroom where you can ride the slide in the sailing ship, steer the fishing boat, or dress up as a captain.

Sjöhistoriska also owns historic ships that can be visited during the summer season for free. They are located in the pier outside the Vasa Museum on Djurgårdsstrand and display ships such as the Vedettbåten Sprängaren, the Minsveparen M20 and icebreakers from 1915.

Nya Djurgårdsvarvet

Between Beckholmen and Gröna Lund you will find Nya Djurgårdsvarvet whose vision is to protect and care for boating culture and boats. Come and see the beautiful boat craftsmanship or have a coffee in Skroten Café and Skeppshandel. Djurgården has been a maritime center for several hundred years and until 1863 shipyard operations took place here. Since then it has grown and become a meeting place with boat building, repair, shop, activities and restaurants. The shipyard received a total renovation that was completed and inaugurated in 2013.