Danish War Museum | Military museum in Copenhagen

The Danish War Museum, or Krigsmuseet, is a cultural history museum specialised in military artefacts. Through five permanent exhibitions the museum allows you to experience the entire span of Danish military history from the 1500s to today. The museum is located in Christian IV’s historical arsenal building, besides the royal stables at Christiansborg Palace.

On the ground floor you can visit the impressive 156-metre-long Arsenal Hall. Here you’ll find everything from Christian IV’s massive cannon weight from 1614 to more modern weapons such as DEHAWK missiles, howitzers and drones from Iraq. A unique sight in the Arsenal Hall are the Anholt cannons, the oldest preserved cannons in Denmark.

Through eight fascinating stories, the Arsenall Hall also invites you to delve deeper into different aspects of warfare. See how Denmark dealt with the looming threat of the Cold War, find out why Denmark was disastrously defeated at the Battle of Dybbøl, and six other stories will help you to explore war.

The second exhibition on the ground floor of the museum is called A Distant War and takes you on a mission to Afghanistan. The 600m² exhibition recreates a Danish military camp and its surroundings as realistically as possible from the war in Afghanistan. Stay alert in the watch tower, climb into a PMV which has been hit by a roadside bomb, and hear the choppers fly over head.

The Danish Navy exhibition, on the first floor, lets you experience life at seas in war and peace. With the help of ship models, miniatures related to Denmark’s naval past, and tableaus of iconic naval battles, you can see how the Danish Navy developed from the start of the 16^th century up to present day.

Also on the first floor, is the Denmark at War exhibition, which tells the stories of 21 Danish wars from 1500 to today. As long as anyone can remember, almost every generation of Danes has had to deal with a war in their lifetime. Through hundreds of artefacts from both historic and recent wars, the exhibition offers a unique overview of Danish military history.

The final exhibition holds the Treasures of the War Museum, with unique and rare treasures from around the world. Here you’ll find everything from hunting weapons, model planes and samurai armour, to medals, sanitary appliances and posters from the Cold War. Many of the items exhibited here are unique internationally, including a collection of American uniforms from before the American Civil War and General aul Goudime-Levkovitch’s collection of uniforms from Tsarist Russia.

Whether you are interested in military history or the effect war can have on people, a visit to the Danish War Museum in Copenhagen will give you great insight. Get your Copenhagen museum tickets here, and get ready to dive into history.