Statarmuseet i Skåne

About the museum

Statarmuseet i Skåne (the Skåne Statare Museum) was inaugurated in 1995, fifty years after the statare system was abolished, in an authentic setting in Torup, next to Bokskogen between Torup Castle and Bara in Svedala Municipality. The background was the adult education project Statarliv i Skåne (Statare Life in Skåne), in which about a hundred amateur researchers in study circles documented the history of the Skåne statare (landless farm labourers) and farmhands. The work continued in a working group for work memories in Skåne, and in 1988 the group found Långan, a six-family house in Torup.

The interest association Statarmuseet i Skåne was started in 1991, and in the same year the Stiftelsen Statarmuseet i Skåne (Skåne Statare Museum Foundation), which owns the museum, was formed by, among others, the Swedish Agricultural Workers’ Union (Svenska Lantarbetareförbundet), ABF Skåne, the Statarliv i Skåne foundation and Svedala Municipality. The buildings were renovated with consideration for the cultural environment, thanks to grants and a great deal of voluntary effort.

The museum describes itself as a tactile museum on the site where the history took place. Visitors can walk through reconstructed statare and farm-labourer dwellings, meet the museum’s animals, visit the bakehouse and laundry hut and the garden, and learn more about the lives of the statare. The museum also has an organic café, a bookshop and educational programmes for schools. It was named Working-Life Museum of the Year 2020 and receives operating grants from Region Skåne.

Highlights

• Reconstructed statare and farm-labourer dwellings in Långan
• Animals such as pigs, hens and rabbits, with animal walks in summer
• The exhibition “Vad var statare?” (What Were Statare?) and the Arbetarebiblioteksmuseet (Workers’ Library Museum)
• Organic café with home-baked goods and produce from the garden
• Working-Life Museum of the Year 2020

Permanent exhibitions

• Långan – statarlängan – Reconstructed statare and farm-labourer dwellings from different periods, among them “1928”, “1952” and “Vad var statare?” (What Were Statare?).
• Arbetarebiblioteksmuseet – A museum room of its own in Långan.
• Den gröna verksamheten – Animals in enclosures, bakehouse and laundry hut, and a garden and cultivation showing the work of the land.

Founded

1995

Operated by

Stiftelsen Statarmuseet i Skåne

Admission & discounts

Admission is paid at the café, where the entrance to the museum also is. Prices for school classes, study visits and conferences are set according to the programme chosen.

Accessibility

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

One of the outdoor toilets is adapted for disabled access.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations

Animal walks for the whole family in summer, where you can pet and feed hens, pigs and rabbits. The museum describes itself as a tactile museum.

Getting there & parking

The museum lies about one mil east of Malmö, beside Bokskogen in Torup, between Torup Castle and Bara. There is a cycle path from Malmö to Torup, partly on an old railway line, and from Lund you can cycle via Staffanstorp.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

Organic café with home-baked fika, sandwiches, soup and pancakes; you can have fika in the garden, and dogs are welcome there. The shop and bookshop sell, among other things, the museum’s own books and honey.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Corporate events

The museum hosts conferences, meetings and courses; private celebrations such as birthday fika can also be held in the café.

Plan your visit