Permanent exhibitions
Opening hours
April 2 - June 30
| Monday: | Closed |
| Tuesday: | at 10.00-16.00 |
| Wednesday: | Closed |
| Thursday: | at 10.00-16.00 |
| Friday: | Closed |
| Saturday: | at 10.00-16.00 |
| Sunday: | at 10.00-16.00 |
Specially open:
Thursday 9 May at 10.00-16.00
Friday 10 May at 10.00-16.00
Klosterstræde 18 is Holbæk's old town hall. The building contains i.a. lecture hall, café and administration.
The town hall is a yellowwashed, foundation-walled building built in 1844 in late-empire style. The architect behind was the royal. building inspector FF Friis. The old town hall is in two wings and two floors. The street facade is highlighted with a twig above the entrance, which bears the monogram of Christian VIII. The old town hall is the first town hall in the city, which was built for the purpose of public administration. In addition to premises for the city and rural administration, the building contained i.a. detention cells and fire station. The town hall first moved from Klosterstræde 18 in 1979.
Klosterstræde 16 - The front house
Exhibition about Holbæk: the fjord, the city and the surrounding area from the Middle Ages to 1870
The front house is a half-renaissance half-timbered building. Built around 1670 by parish priest Søren May as a private residence. The building is on one floor with a large continuous twig and has roughly the same appearance as during construction.
Klosterstræde 12: Knabstrup ceramics and other crafts
At Holbæk Museum, we have the country's largest collection of Knabstrup ceramics - over 1500 objects. Knabstrup Lervarefabrik was for many years one of the largest workplaces in Holbæk municipality. The exhibition shows photos and a representative selection of the collection, including the well-known Bellman frame and the tea frames Tove and Birthe.
Klosterstræde 12 also contains a small exhibition about Holbæk pottery factory, a painting workshop in 1900, as well as a cooper workshop from Holbæk, which was in use approx. 1900-1976.
The house is formerly a craftsman's residence, probably from the 1700th century. The house is a half-timbered building on one floor. The courtyard facade has been increased in width probably already in the 1700s, and the street facade was renewed around 1950
Klosterstræde 10: Mod - an exhibition about Denmark's occupation and the resistance struggle 1939-1945
During the occupation, the fronts were pulled up sharply. One could duck and wait for it to pass. Or one could get involved in the resistance struggle. Thousands of Danish and English men and women got involved - despite the danger of discovery or shooting. The struggle was waged with life as effort. It has required a completely extraordinary courage. The exhibition tells about the difficult choices the individual has faced.
The house itself was probably built in the 1700th century, perhaps as early as the 1600th century. It is a two-storey half-timbered building with a plastered, grouted street facade. The house has served as a craftsman's residence and was for a number of years owned by the municipality. The house was renovated in 2003-05, where its exterior was brought back to the look the building had around 1900.
Klosterstræde 8 - Workers' housing in 1940.
The exhibition illustrates the everyday life of a working class family in Holbæk in the 1940s.
In 1938, the Jacobsen family moved into the small 2-room ground floor apartment with their total of 11 children. Here Johanne made coffee with Rich´s and Alfred hiding weapons in the tiled stove. Alfred was a dock worker, and had various loose work. Leisure time was diligently used in the family's allotment garden and for fishing from their own boat. In this way, extra supplies were provided for the busy and frugal household. This was taken care of by Johanne, who at times also had extra jobs outside the home. In the last years of occupation, Alfred as a communist had to go underground.
Through interviews with children and grandchildren, the museum has gained the authentic story of the Jacobsen family and life in and around the apartment in Klosterstræde. With the siblings as consultants and help from private individuals and institutions, we have succeeded in obtaining furniture and other objects, and in that way recreate the apartment as it looked around 1940. The furniture is not museum objects and therefore you are welcome to touch things with the Jakobsen family.
The house is a whitewashed half-timbered building on two floors, built in the 1700th century, perhaps as early as the 1600th century. The 1st floor is a later addition. The street facade has been extensively rebuilt, and the half-timbering is therefore not visible from the street side. The house has served as a craftsman's residence and has been owned by the municipality for a number of years. During a renovation in 2003-05, the exterior of the building was restored to its original appearance around 1900.
Bagstræde - Escaperoom: "The mutiny on the ship The Good Intent".
The house in Bagstræde is a yellowwashed, foundation-walled building built in 1846 in late-empire style. It was a back house to Klosterstræde 8 and intended for residential rental. Now houses the museum's escaperoom and a workshop for the museum's craftsman.
Book an appointment for our exciting escaperoom!
You are a crew on the transatlantic merchant ship 'Den gode Hensigt' from the 1700th century. You are loyal to the captain and have therefore been knocked unconscious and locked inside the captain's cabin. You must find the captain's hidden weapons depot, which you can use to regain control of the ship and get out before it's too late.
Book an appointment here vestmuseum / billetexpressen.dk
If there are available times again right now, send an inquiry to booking@vestmuseum.dk about extra dates.
Købmandsgården - grocery store and grocery store
The building is decorated with effects from the first half of the 1800th century and contains a grocery store, living room, office and residence. On selected days, Kramboden is open. Here the madam sells copies of old toys, spices and sweets.
Købmandsgården is the only building in the museum complex that has been moved to the museum from another farm complex in Holbæk. The building is half-timbered on two floors with masonry wall panels and aisles. Købmandsgården was built in 1660 by merchant and skipper Christen Thomsen. Until the beginning of the 1900th century, trade of various kinds has been conducted in the old grocery store. In 1937, the courtyard complex was demolished and the main building moved to its current location.
Note that the plinth consists of large, square-hewn granite stones. These stones are believed to be the last preserved remains of Holbæk's old parish church, Skt. Nicolai, which was next to the original square of the grocery store.
Friskolen: West Zealand and the West Indies and ArkæoLab
As the only museum in Denmark, Museum Vestsjælland tells in the exhibition "Vestsjælland og Vestindien" the story of the role the province played in Denmark's 250 years as a colonial power. We hear about large mansions in Copenhagen built from fortunes earned on sugar from the Danish West Indies, but the rest of the country was just as deeply involved in the colonial trade, and the traces from the West Indies are also found in West Zealand. It is the story of great riches created on the trade of sugar and black enslaved people.
Read more about West Zealand and the West Indies.
On the 1st floor you will find ArkæoLAB, where you can be an archaeologist for a day. Here you can find things from the past, analyze the findings and contribute your own interpretations. Arkæolab is built around three different excavations: Åmosen (Stone Age), Svinninge (Iron Age), Holbæk town (Middle Ages) and the archaeologist's office.
Friskolen a foundation-walled building on two floors. The ground floor was built in 1867 and the first floor added in 1. The school was established in 1888 and was in use until the beginning of the 1842th century. During the First World War, the free school was used as the barracks for the security force, and in the years after the war it was used as a homestead.
Baghuset - Interiors from rural homes
The back house was built around 1670 by parish priest Søren May. The house is a redwashed half-timbered building on one floor, which was originally designed for a stable, barn, carriage gate and chambers for the servants. In 1844, Holbæk Købstad took over the building and converted it into a poorhouse. Here the limbs were accommodated in two large rooms. One for women and one for men. The rooms functioned as both dormitory, dining room and study.
The poor farm was closed down in 1909. The able-bodied members were transferred to the work institution at the hospital and the rest moved to "De Gamles Hjem" (current Holbækhus). In 1915, the museum saved the back house from demolition, and after an extensive restoration in 1916-18, the building was taken into use for exhibitions in 1919.
Klosterstræde 14 - Borchs Handicraft School
Borch's Handicraft School houses the museum's textile guild, office and handbook library. The yellow half-timbered house was built around 1670 and was originally part of Søren May's farm, where today only the front house and back house are left. The first floor was first added in the 1th century, and today the house appears as an independent building part. The house is not open to visitors.
Elephant Pharmacy Ice House
The ice house is located on the corner of Bysøstræde and Bagstræde and is not part of the museum complex itself. The house is a small, redwashed half-timbered building on the 1st floor built between 1857-67. Blocks of raw ice were stored here, which were picked up either in the town lake close by or on the fjord in severe winters. Insulated with eg peat soil, the ice could last all year round. At the pharmacy, ice was used for the production of medicines.
The tea pavilion
The tea pavilion is built approx. 1850 of pine timber frame with masonry walls and covered with zinc roof. Originally, the pavilion had drywall and board floors. The pavilion was located in the pharmacist's garden and was used for recreational purposes. In 1937, the pharmacy garden was transformed into a public park, and the pavilion was moved to Sct. Elisabeth Hospital (today Elisabethcentret). Here it stood until 1990, when the pavilion was taken down again due to an expansion of the center. In 2000, the old tea pavilion was rebuilt in its original place in Apotekerhaven (Bysøparken).
Man, the vessel and the fjord
The exhibition tells about the fjord fishing, talented fisherwomen and a great knowledge of crafts.
'Man, the vessel and the fjord' is about life by and on the fjord, about the fjord fishermen's fishing, sales opportunities and the flat Strandhusepramme, Isefjordsjoller and the fishing boat 'Flid'.
The exhibition is at Holbæk Harbor in the Coastal Life Center, which forms the framework for the dissemination of the city's maritime history and maritime craftsmanship.
The boat builder and rope maker use the museum's many exhibited vessels as models when building copies of the fine dinghies and barges in the hall. Here is also a maritime playground for the youngest.
You can also look into Marie Olsen's fish sales and read about her work to give fishermen the opportunity for a decent return on their catch.
Museum Vestsjælland offers group trips to Holbæk Harbor, read more.
EXPERIENCE HOLBÆK HARBOR
See also the film about all the maritime activities at Holbæk Harbor, the shipyard and the National Museum's vessel collection that are being renovated.
The pilot boat
KDL The pilot boat is owned by Holbæk Museum and operated by volunteer members of a ship guild. The old pilot boat became a museum ship in 1999 and has since undergone a major restoration to bring the ship back to its original appearance. The most extensive changes have taken place at Holbæk Shipyard, while Skibslauget itself is responsible for accommodation, as well as the less extensive repairs and maintenance.
