Sorø Museum

About the museum

The Sorø Museum is housed in the former inn that King Christian IV ordered built in 1624 for visitors to the recently opened Sorø Akademi and which was completed in 1625 – one of the oldest buildings in the town. Later, professors of the academy lived here. Around 1900, side wings were added; the cobblestones between the buildings are considered the last remnant of the old paving of the main street.

Since 2013 the museum has belonged to Museum Vestsjælland, which operates several sites in West and Central Zealand. The exhibitions tell in compact form why a town arose in the middle of Zealand and what makes it special: from the late Paleolithic through the founding of church and monastery by the Hvide family to the academy town of the Enlightenment. A picture frieze more than 13 m long and as tall as a person, by the illustrator Erik Petri, leads through these eras.

Further rooms are devoted to the poet B. S. Ingemann, who taught at the academy from 1822 and, with his wife Lucie, received numerous figures of the Golden Age, as well as middle-class parlors around 1900. For families there is an exhibition on superstition and haunting creatures in a farmhouse parlor.

Behind the museum lies the apothecary garden, which shows plants from the herbarium of the physician and botanist Joachim Burser. Burser came to Sorø in 1625 at the invitation of Christian IV, taught at the academy, and later became the town's apothecary.

Highlights

• Inn of Christian IV from 1624–25, one of Sorø's oldest buildings
• Picture frieze "Tidsrejsen" by Erik Petri on the town's history
• Interiors from the house of B. S. and Lucie Ingemann
• Gründerzeit parlors of the middle class around 1900
• Joachim Burser's apothecary garden (freely accessible)

Permanent exhibitions

• Tidsrejsen i Sorø – A 13.5 m long picture frieze by Erik Petri, as tall as a person, winds through corridors and the stairwell and tells the history of Sorø from the Paleolithic to the academy town.
• B.S. Ingemann og guldalderen – Furniture and belongings from the house of the poet B. S. Ingemann and his wife Lucie, who received many figures of the Danish Golden Age in Sorø.
• Mørkets væsner – Family exhibition in a farmhouse parlor about trolls, witches, nisser, and other beings of folk belief as well as rituals against misfortune, with a dark room and legends from the area.

Founded

1929

Operated by

Museum Vestsjælland

Admission & discounts

Tickets in the museum shop. Members of the local museum association free, members of other Museum Vestsjælland associations pay half. Daycare centers, schools, training institutions, and accompanying educational staff free. The apothecary garden is free.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: not available
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• 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 exhibitions on the first floor can be reached by guests with limited mobility via the entrance from the courtyard, and the staff in the shop help if needed; however, according to the museum, it is not suitable for wheelchair users. Accessible toilet on the first floor. Certified, marked service dogs are welcome.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

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

Families can borrow an activity case with which children aged 5 to 12 look for the museum dog Vimse in the exhibitions and solve puzzles. In the Ingemann exhibition you can try calligraphy with quill and ink (for about ages 7–14). The family-friendly exhibition "Mørkets væsner" about superstition and haunting creatures may be explored hands-on; during the holidays there are additional family activities.

Getting there & parking

The museum is on the main street in the center of Sorø (Storgade 17).

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop

In Christian IV's Krostue (inn parlor) there are coffee, tea, local beers, wine, and something sweet, in summer also in the museum courtyard. Food you bring may be eaten year-round in the picnic garden, the courtyard, and the apothecary garden; the garden room is open from May to October. Museum shop with tin toys, regional specialties, books on Sorø, Holberg, and Ingemann, and gift items.

Events & venue rental

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

Plan your visit