The last Viking ship?
Holbæk Museum is showing the clinker-built vessel – the Gislingebåden in a new exhibition that will open at the beginning of 2025.
With generous donations of DKK 550.000 from A/S Dampskibsselskabet Orient's Fond and DKK 640.000 from the Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen Foundation, Museum Vestsjælland has come several nautical miles closer to being able to display the fantastic clinker-built ship from Gislinge at Holbæk Museum and at the same time be able to convey maritime world heritage in Holbæk.
The support from Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen's Foundation and A/S Dampskibsselskabet Orient's Foundation must be used in particular to create an aesthetically complete exhibition environment and enhance the dissemination of cultural history and the audience experience.
The hostage boat
The Gislinge boat was built around the year 1130, and it is the world's absolutely best-preserved clinker-built vessel from its time. The boat will be the center of the exhibition, which tells about life at Holbæk Fjord in the period when the Middle Ages took over after the Viking Age. The hostage boat, which has never been exhibited before, is owned by the National Museum, which is on long-term loan to Museum Vestsjælland.
Brick building as a method was widespread in the Viking Age, and the ship from Gislinge demonstrates how the method continued into the Middle Ages.
Brick building
Clink building is a shipbuilding method where the wooden planks overlap each other and are joined with nails to form a strong and flexible hull. The Viking ships are the best-known examples of clinker-built boats, but the method is seen in many historical periods and is practiced to this day. In 2021, brick building was included on UNESCO's list of the world's inalienable cultural heritage.
Facts about the Gislingebåden
Origin: Years 1130 to 1180
Found: 1993 at Gislinge
Use: Transport and fishing
Length: 7,7 m
Width: 1,5 m
Draft: 0,25 m
Load capacity: 1 ton
Contact:
Museum director Eskil Vagn Olsen – evo@vestmuseum.dk – tel. 41 37 92 56
Project manager Jonas Abkjær Andersen – jaa@vestmuseum.dk – tel. 25 59 38 51
Download the press release here.
Photo: The National Museum, Gislingebåden at the discovery site.
