Frilandsmuseet Herning

About the museum

The Frilandsmuseet Herning goes back to the Herning Museum founded in 1892. After pharmacist J. Chr. Møller donated a plot on Museumsgade to the museum, a central and west Jutland farm with a bindestue was erected there in 1906 – the beginning of what, by its own account, is the second-oldest open-air museum in Denmark. In 1909/10 the main building was added according to plans by the architect V. Gullev.

Since 2010 the site has belonged to Museum Midtjylland, and since 2017 it has borne its current name. A large part of the old museum building is now used by Historiens Hus with associations and the local archive; the open-air museum with its exhibitions has remained at the address.

Among old fruit trees stand the farmyard with a draw well, stable, barn, and farmhouse, plus a malt kiln, a smithy, a bake oven, and the small cottage "Ane Maries hus", a typical settler's home on the heath. In the farmhouse, a sound installation conveys the daily life of a heath farming family in the late 19th century. In the old museum building are an apartment as it was during the occupation 1940–1945, an exhibition on the folklorist Evald Tang Kristensen, and "Jens Nielsens Bondegård" with over 100 perspective boxes by Inge Faurtoft. On Thursdays the volunteer Landsbylauget tends the garden, bees, smithy, and buildings using old craft techniques.

Highlights

• Heath farm with draw well, stable, barn, and bindestue
• Cottage "Ane Maries hus"
• Sound installation on the daily life of a heath farming family
• "Jens Nielsens Bondegård" with over 100 perspective boxes
• Apartment from the occupation 1940–1945
• Museum garden freely accessible around the clock

Permanent exhibitions

• Bondegården og museumshaven – Thatched heath farm with farmhouse, stable, barn, smithy, malt kiln, and the cottage Ane Maries hus in the middle of the museum garden; a sound installation plays in the farmhouse.
• Jens Nielsens Bondegård – Over 100 perspective boxes by Inge Faurtoft show the course of the year on a farm around 1920.
• Besættelseslejligheden og Evald Tang Kristensen – An apartment as it was during the occupation 1940–1945 and an exhibition on the folklorist Evald Tang Kristensen and his collection.

Founded

1906

Operated by

Museum Midtjylland (selbstständige, staatlich anerkannte Institution)

Director

Kristine Holm-Jensen (Museumsdirektørin von Museum Midtjylland)

Visitors per year

approx. 3,486 (2025)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Free admission for adults, children, members, and retirees.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The museum garden is wheelchair-accessible, but difficult when wet. Jens Nielsens Bondegård is wheelchair-accessible; the Evald Tang Kristensen exhibition and the occupation apartment are not. Restrooms in the basement and on the mezzanine, reachable by elevator and stairs. Only guide dogs in the building.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Stroller-friendly: not available
• Baby changing facilities: not available

Jens Nielsens Bondegård with its perspective boxes is especially popular with children. During school holidays there are family activity days, for example in the autumn holidays. Strollers are only allowed in the museum garden, not in the old houses and exhibitions; no changing facilities.

Getting there & parking

About a three-minute walk from the pedestrian zone in Herning.

Amenities & dining

No eating or drinking in the exhibitions; packed food can be eaten in the museum garden under a shelter with benches. At special events, bread is baked in the bake oven.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Plan your visit