Viking Ship Museum (Oslo)

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Vikingskiphuset, Bygdøy.

Viking Ship Museum and the Oseberg Ship.

The Oseberg Ship prow.

The Viking Ship Museum (in Norwegian Vikingskipshuset - The Viking Ship House) is located at Bygdøy in Oslo, Norway. It is part of the Museum of Cultural History of the University of Oslo, and houses the Viking ships from Tune, Gokstad, and Oseberg. The museum displays the Viking Age Oseberg ship, Gokstad ship, Tune ship, finds from the Borre mound cemetery, and other finds.

1 History
2 Moving the ships
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

A specific building intended for finds from the Viking Age that were discovered at the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th century was first proposed by Swedish professor Gabriel Gustafson in 1913. At the time, the Gokstad and Oseberg ships had already been stored for several years in temporary shelters at the University of Oslo. An architectural contest was announced, and Arnstein Arneberg won. The hall for the Oseberg ship was built with funding from Stortinget, and the ship was moved from the University shelters in 1926.

The parts of the building for the ships from Gokstad and Tune were completed in 1932, but the last part of the building was delayed due to World War II. The last part for the other finds from Oseberg was completed in 1957.

[edit] Moving the ships

On December 20, 2006 the University of Oslo decided to support a proposal by the Historical museum to move the ships and all the grave-goods to a proposed new museum in Bjørvika, Oslo. There has been much debate about this suggestion, both in the museal and archaeological milieu as well as in the media. Opponents to the move have raised concerns that the ships are too fragile and that they will not survive the move undamaged, while proponents claim that it is far more riskier to leave the ships in their current location due to the hazards of fire and overcrowding. A risk assessment has been carried out on one side of the Oseberg ship, suggesting a move could go ahead without inflicting serious damage to the finds.