Museum Østjylland Grenaa

About the museum

The museum was founded in 1917 as Djurslands Museum and is located in a listed merchant's farmstead with half-timbering from the 18th century, one of the most striking buildings in Grenaa. In the early 1980s a collection on fishing history was added. Among the best-known pieces are coins from the Kirial hoard found in 1967, the largest coin hoard ever discovered in Denmark; the larger part is held in the Nationalmuseet.

On January 1, 2011, the museum merged with the Kulturhistorisk Museum in Randers and the Museet for Syddjurs in Ebeltoft to form Museum Østjylland, one of the largest local history museums in the country and state-recognized for the municipalities of Randers, Norddjurs, and Syddjurs.

The permanent exhibition "Fire veje til Norddjurs" tells the history of the region in five sections: lime and flint as raw materials, the soil with farming, sand drift, and smallholders, life by the sea and at the former Kolindsund, the merchant town, and a treasure chamber. In October 2025 the merchant's farmstead had to close because of mold and has since been undergoing extensive restoration; in 2026 parts of the exhibition and the museum shop reopened.

Highlights

• Listed merchant's farmstead from the 18th century
• Permanent exhibition "Fire veje til Norddjurs"
• Coins from the Kirial hoard
• Many objects to touch and regular children's activities
• Free admission

Permanent exhibitions

• Kalken – Fire veje til Norddjurs – How lime and flint shaped the landscape and life on Norddjurs – from Stone Age tools and building lime for churches to work in the limestone quarries of the 19th century.
• Jorden – Fire veje til Norddjurs – Over 6,000 years of agriculture on Norddjurs with Bronze Age finds such as the Dystrup swords, sand drift, plantations, and the collectives of the 1970s.
• Havet – Fire veje til Norddjurs – Life by the water from the Stone Age dugout canoe through trade and fishing to the rescuer Søren Kanne and the draining of the Kolindsund.

Founded

1917

Operated by

Museum Østjylland

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Free admission to all exhibitions of Museum Østjylland, including children's activities and family events.

Accessibility

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

Ramp at the main entrance on Kannikegade; courtyard entrance with uneven surface. Freight elevator to the second and third floors, stair lifts and platform lifts between the exhibition areas; some rooms of the listed farmstead have doors only 70 cm wide and high thresholds. Small loan wheelchair, induction loop at the reception desk and for films, easy-to-read texts, films in Danish and English with subtitles or dubbing, plenty of seating. Accessible restroom on the first floor to the left of the main entrance.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations

In the exhibition, children follow the traces of the curious boy Hugo; regular children's activities are possible throughout the opening hours. Everything that is not in display cases may be touched; at yellow boxes, objects make sounds when touched.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Café: not available
• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop

Museum shop with books, catalogs, jewelry, textiles, and toys. No café; coffee and snacks brought from outside may be consumed at tables in the museum courtyard.

Events & venue rental

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

Plan your visit