Skansen is one of those cultural landscapes that can only be fully understood when one walks among its houses, gardens, workshops, animal enclosures and festive scenes. It is a living organism that unites history, landscape, architecture, ethnology, botany, zoology and Swedish identity into one coherent, organically connected space.

Skansen is located on the southern part of Djurgården Island in Stockholm, an area that today forms part of the Royal National City Park – the first urban national park in the world. Djurgården was originally a royal hunting ground from the 16th century onward, later developing into a cultural landscape with museums, gardens, amusement parks and walking paths. Skansen occupies an elevated terrain known as Skansenberget, offering views of Stockholm, maritime traffic and surrounding parks. This location is deliberate: founder Artur Hazelius wanted the open‑air museum to function as a “window into the past,” positioned above the modern city.

The origin of the word “skansen”

The word skansen comes from older Swedish and Norwegian usage and originally means fortified place, earthwork, bastion, or small defensive fortification. In the 17th and 18th centuries, skansens were temporary wooden‑and‑earth fortifications. Hazelius adopted the term metaphorically: his museum was meant to be a “fortified outpost” of Swedish cultural heritage, a place where disappearing traditions could be preserved. Because of Skansen’s global influence, the word later became a generic term for open‑air museums worldwide.

Historical origins: Hazelius’s vision

In the late 19th century, Sweden was rapidly transforming from an agrarian to an industrial society. Traditional rural houses, crafts, costumes, customs and regional architectural forms were disappearing. Artur Hazelius (1833–1901), a teacher, linguist and ethnologist, travelled across the country and observed the erosion of rural culture. In 1872 he began collecting objects, documenting customs and recording dialects. These efforts led to the founding of the Nordic Museum (Nordiska museet), opened in 1880.

Hazelius soon realised that objects alone were insufficient. He wanted to preserve entire buildings, together with their surroundings, gardens, workshops and the people who would demonstrate everyday life. In 1891 he opened Skansen on Djurgården – the first open‑air museum in the world. He purchased buildings from all over Sweden, dismantled them, transported them to Stockholm and reassembled them. Within the first years he collected more than a hundred structures, ranging from simple farmhouses to elegant bourgeois homes.

Development in the 20th century: from museum to cultural ecosystem

Skansen quickly became a major success. By 1900 it was among the most visited cultural institutions in Sweden. Hazelius created a model that was soon imitated in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Poland and later in the United States. The museum was financially self‑sufficient and even supported the Nordic Museum.

After Hazelius’s death, Skansen continued to expand. Additions included:

  • a reconstructed 19th‑century town district with shops, a printing house, a glassworks, a shoemaker, a bakery, a pharmacy and other workshops;

  • an animal section, presenting domestic breeds and northern wild animals such as bears, wolves, lynx, moose and reindeer;

  • gardens and agricultural plots, demonstrating traditional farming methods;

  • the open‑air theatre (Friluftsteatern), built in 1911;

  • an aquarium (first opened in 1895 and later expanded);

  • Lill‑Skansen, a children’s zoo;

  • thematic exhibitions on Swedish regions, customs, holidays and folk costumes.

In 1963 Skansen became an independent foundation – Stiftelsen Skansen. It is funded through admission fees, donations, cultural grants and commercial activities.

Skansen today: a living past within a modern city

Today Skansen comprises more than 140 historic buildings, representing all Swedish regions – from Lapland to Skåne. Each building is placed within a landscape corresponding to its original environment: Lappish huts among pine trees, Dalarna houses beside meadows, bourgeois homes in the reconstructed town district.

Living demonstrations of crafts and everyday life

Many buildings host craftsmen who demonstrate traditional techniques:

  • weavers, glassblowers, shoemakers, printers, bakers, blacksmiths,

  • farming families showing seasonal agricultural work,

  • merchants and artisans in the 19th‑century town.

These demonstrations are not tourist attractions but part of Skansen’s museological philosophy: preserving a continuous line of knowledge that would otherwise disappear.

Animal section

Skansen is also Sweden’s oldest zoo. It presents:

  • domestic breeds (Swedish sheep, cattle, horses, goats),

  • northern wild animals (bear, wolf, lynx, moose, otter),

  • birds and small mammals,

  • the modern Baltic Sea Science Center, dedicated to the ecology of the Baltic Sea.

Festivals, customs and cultural events

Skansen is the central stage for Swedish holidays:

  • Walpurgis Night (30 April),

  • Midsummer (summer solstice),

  • Swedish National Day (6 June),

  • the Christmas market, held continuously since 1903.

These events are not mere folkloric displays but living traditions actively maintained by Swedes.

Significance and contemporary role

Skansen is more than a museum. It is a cultural laboratory where the past is interpreted in dialogue with the present. It is a place where Swedish identity is preserved, where children learn about nature and history, where researchers study ethnology, architecture, botany and zoology, and where visitors encounter living cultural heritage.