10 Specialty Museums in Buskerud That You Shouldn't Miss

Lier Bygdetun is a gathering of old Norwegian houses. It is open all year and can offer different exhibitions and activities.

The al Stave Church dating from the latter part of the 12th century was richly decorated at the time of its demolition in 1880. The main doorway and the ceiling painting can be seen at the medieval exhibition at the Historical Museum in Oslo. Some of the church's fittings as well as a copy of the al ceiling can be found at al Church. The site of the church was examined and planned and today it forms part of the church park. In the 1990s, the al Stave Church Museum in Prestegardslaven in the church park opened. The museum restores and displays decorative panels from stave churches and it has a copy of the al doorway. The exhibition provides information about al Stave Cchurch and about Norway’s other stave churches in Norway. Free admission for children up to the age of 16, when accompanied by an adult.

al Bygdamuseum is built up around a listed farm yard from the 1600s. The museum has been supplemented with other buildings that could have belonged to the old farm, among others a cotters farm and a mountain farm with a stone cottage. Today, the museum has 30 buildings. The contents of the buildings tell the story of the everyday lives of previous generations. The museum has a beautiful location with a fantastic view over al. A museum brochure for the museum with a description of all the buildings can be found at al Tourist Information. The brochure also describes the other outdoor museums connected to Hallingdal Museum. Guided tours outside normal opening hours can be arranged after agreement.

Veien Cultural Heritage Park is centrally situated in the district of Ringerike, just north of Tyrifjorden and Honefoss, is one of the biggest burial grounds from the late Iron Age in eastern Norway. Today the burial grounds consist of 107 barrow graves. Traces from the past tell a much bigger story. In the fields, south of the burial ground, excavations have uncovered several flat graves, cooking pits, fireplaces and four longhouses. One of the longhouses is reconstructed the way we believe houses looked like back in late Iron Age. The burial ground is dated back to late Bronze Age and early Iron Age (ca 900 B.C. to 550 A.C). In June 2009 a brand new museum opened housing exhibitions (permanent and temporary), a cafe and a shop.

The Norwegian Mining Museum including The Silves Mines collection of native silver, Norwegian minerals and miningindustry, Kongsberg skiing history, the coin and medal collection and the Kongsberg industry cololection are five exhibitions located under one roof in the city centre of Kongsberg. One ticket will give you access to all five museums. The Norwegian Mining Museum offers you the history of the Silver Mines and the worlds largest and most precious display of native silver. The Skimuseum has an astonishing collection consisting of over 5000 trophys. The Royal Mint Museum gives you an insight of the citys coin production from its beginning up until today. The museum of arms and weapons opened the year 2000 and conveys the industrial history of Kongsberg starting 1814. The Silvermines Join a train ride that takes you 342 meters below the surface and 2,3 km into the mountain. Inside the King’s mine there is a guided tour through stopes, adits and shafts. A mine elevator built in 1881 (“Fahrkunst”), is just one of many things to see on this tour, which takes 1,5 hours. The temperature is 6°C, so please dress warm! Children under 3 years are not permitted to entre the Silvermines.

Drammen Museum gives you a special experience within art and history. In the museum you can see things like different type of fabric, furniture and church art. Gulskogen farm (1790), Austad farm(1810) and the open air museum at Spiraltoppen also belongs to the museum.

The Labro museums consist of The Norwegian watercourse museum, The Numedalslagen’s timber floating museum and The Norwegian road museum, department Labro. Labro is situated south of Kongsberg by the Labro waterfall. The name Labro means “the brigde across Lagen”. The Labro area has an exciting past and archeological findings show that people have lived here since the bronze age. The Labro waterfall was a popular theme amongst the Norwegian painters in the national romantic period in the 19th century and has been immortalized by well-known painters like J.C. Dahl, Thomas Fearnley and Hans Gude. The Norwegian watercourse museum The Norwegian watercourse museum is situated in the Labro power station dating back to 1910 and has the watercourse history alongside Numedal as its main theme. The exhibition tells you about the nature, the industry and the culture along the watercourse, from Hardangervidda in the north to Larvik in the south. Here is also an exhibition about the production of hydroelectric power and an exhibition about the fire department in Kongsberg. The Numedalslagen’s timber floating museum The Numedalslagen’s timber floating museum is situated in the old dam building. It illustrates the importance of wood and timber in Numedals watercourse. Authentic contrivances and a rich collection of photos, shows us forestry and timber floating along Numedalslagen. The old “slide” for sliding logs in, is one of the longest which is preserved in the country. The Norwegian road museum, department Labro This regional road museum shows the history of road development in the County of Buskerud. The main exhibition in “Langbrakka” shows how transport and roads have gradually changed from walking and horseriding earthtracks to modern highways. In the old Moen road station barracks a workshop and a forge with equipment and tools are established. Outdoors you will find equipment for rock drilling, stone crushing and snow removal, together with stump-pullers, graders and other construction and maintenance machinery. In the building in front of “Langbrakka” a separate exhibition shows the development of the “Transport and vehicle control”.

The manor house at Gulskogen was erected in the Louis XVI style in 1804. The house contains the original furnishings that belonged to several generations of the Arbo family. The painter Peter Nikolai Arbo had his childhood here, and there are several paintings made by him in the main building. The Gulskogen Park is patterned after an 18th Century European model. Especialy the long alley of lime is quite impressing. The maze in the park is the only one of its kind in Norway. Peacocks and other animals wander freely around the formal garden.