City Museum

Travel from the 12th to the 21st century via the comprehensive displays at the City Museum and learn everything you need to know about Copenhagen’s history, heritage and culture. It’s the perfect start to your stay in the fascinating Danish capital.

The museum is housed in the former premises of the Royal Copenhagen Shooting Society and the building itself is part of the exhibit, being a particularly fine example of 17th-century domestic architecture. Before you go inside, stop to examine the scale model of the city in medieval times by the entrance, as well as the adjacent museum street which features historic street furniture.

Inside, a 25-minute slideshow illustrates the changing face of the city through the centuries. The route through the museum is arranged chronologically, so that you can easily trace the development of the city from its modest beginnings as a small fishing port to today’s cosmopolitan capital. Learn about the Scandinavian traditions that mark this country out from the rest of Europe, and the innovations that have helped to keep it at the cutting edge of the modern world.

Discover the Danish royal family through documentary archive material, immerse yourself in Copenhagen’s legendary design legacy, and learn more about the city’s famous residents and their contributions in the fields of culture and academia. Once you’ve absorbed the past, come bang up to date in the contemporary exhibition, which offers fascinating insights into present-day Copenhagen’s pioneering environmental policy, the social effect of recent immigration patterns and some of its neighbourhoods’ best-kept secrets.

Alongside the regular collection, the City Museum runs a programme of temporary exhibitions and workshops for adults and children. Check the official website for full details of what’s on offer during your visit.

The Copenhagen City Museum is west of the city centre about ten minutes’ walk from the central train station. Pay street parking is available nearby. The museum is open every day, with a modest admission charge for adults except on Fridays, when admission is free for all.