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Roskilde view of the Viking Museum - Copyrightrpbmedia - stock.adobe.com

Travel 2024 – The Rock Museum Ragnarock in Roskilde

You still have to make your way through a large development area in Roskilde to the innovative rock museum Ragnarock. But then you walk on a long red carpet like a rock star towards the golden cube, the golden box and the entrance. And here, at the entrance, a mobile loudspeaker with the sounds of various well-known rock songs is waiting for reception. The building itself is the embodiment of rock 'n' roll in the form of a massive impact in the emerging residential area. The Ragnarock was planned and built by the architects MVRDV (Rotterdam) and COBE (Copenhagen), whose design proposal won a competition in 2011.

The concept puts you completely in the life of a rock star. Important details such as the red carpet in the entrance area described above, the neon-colored elevator that takes you into the world of rock 'n' roll, to the bar with drinks on the ground floor at the end are well thought out. After being equipped with the backstage pass, you immerse yourself in the interactive exhibition islands, which thematically deal with all facets of rock music from the XNUMXs upwards. The visitors are constantly involved in the concept, as listeners, as consumers, as clocks or creatives, when they can sing or pick up the guitar themselves.

Roskilde Ragnarock
Roskilde Ragnarock

Roskilde Rock Museum Ragnarock

The bright contrasts from the pop and rock world are reflected in the design of the rooms. The building corpus attracts visitors from afar with its gold-colored spiked casing. When entering the red-lined foyer, you feel as if you are embedded in a guitar case. The ensemble of auditorium and bar behind is darker and more mystical.

The museum is embedded and encased by the fragments of a warehouse in a former cement factory, from which the corpus seems to be exploding. At first glance, it looks small and graceful between the massive pillars and the empty remains of the hall. But with a good 3.000 square meters of exhibition space, the real dimensions only open up when you enter the sacred halls.

Anyone who is currently entering the area around the Ragnarock will encounter a large number of construction sites and construction workers. The entire area around the museum is dedicated to an overarching project. The environment will be transformed into a newly designed creative district in several steps. The first studios and creatives have already started to gain a foothold here. For this reason, too, it is worth visiting Roskilde in the years to come.

If you have a little more time, you can immerse yourself in the history of the city and the settlement by the Vikings. We have discovered some treasures.

In the footsteps of Harald Blauzahn

The namesake of the "BluetoothConnections Harald Bluetooth and his Vikings were famous hunters for precious metals. Remains of the treasures can be found almost all over the European continent. Under the famous Viking king at the end of the 1st millennium, Denmark made the transition from being the home of the Vikings to becoming the leading power in Scandinavia. The people from the land, the islands, forests, lakes, marshes, fertile fields and sandy soils lived pagan customs and still believed in elves and giants. Christianity was despised and the Danish ruler Harthaknut, ancestor and grandfather of Harald Bluetooth, allegedly had clerics persecuted and tortured.

Harald was a son of Gorm the old and his wife Thyra Danebod. Harald, born around 910, proved himself early on as the leader of the Vikings in armed conflicts with Normandy. As early as 948 he recognized the sovereignty of the later German-Roman emperor Otto I. With the establishment of the dioceses of Aarhus, Ripen and Schleswig, he campaigned for the Christianization of the Danes. According to traditional sources, Harald Blauzahn is said to have built the first church on the hill of Roskilde and to have been buried there. So far there is no clear evidence of this.

Altar in Roskilde Cathedral - Copyright Mikhail Markovskiy - stock.adobe.com
Altar in Roskilde Cathedral - Copyright Mikhail Markovskiy - stock.adobe.com

UNESCO World Heritage Site Cathedral Church


However, Estrid had a stone church built on the same site, which has been one of the most important buildings in Denmark over the past centuries thanks to renovations and extensions. The imposing cathedral church in Roskilde is a UNESCO World Heritage Site; it was the first Gothic cathedral in Scandinavia to be built from bricks. In the beginning the chapels of the cathedral were built to honor saints, later they were converted into burials of Danish kings. So far 40 Danish queens and kings have been buried in the cathedral. In addition to the magnificently designed mausoleums and coffins, the cathedral houses other valuable pieces of equipment. These include the gilded Antwerp reredos with depictions of the childhood and passion of Jesus and the "royal column" with the registered body sizes of European rulers, of which the Oldenburg King Christian I is listed as the most imposing king with a registered height of 2,19 m.

The harbor and the Viking Ship Museum

From the cathedral with a view of the harbor, the spacious marina can be reached on foot in just a few minutes. The port area is divided into a spacious jetty for yachts, a large-format and accessible port area and the museum for Viking ships. Here you can relive the entire craftsmanship, the experiences and stories, the atmosphere and finally the trips on reconstructed Viking ships.

Films and direct demonstrations on site provide deep insights into the life and everyday life of the Viking Age. The films document the history of the Viking ships and the voyage of the “Havhingsten” to Dublin. Free tours are available in Danish or English. Daily in high season, in May, June and September on weekends and public holidays.
The five ships in the Viking ship hall date from the second half of the 11th century. They served as a barrier against enemy naval attacks on Roskilde, which at the time was still the capital of Denmark. In the hall you can get an insight into the construction and the test trip that took the Havhingsten from Glendalough to Dublin and back from 2007 to 2008. The accompanying film is shown on a large screen.

There is also a wide-ranging program with cultural and culinary impressions from the Viking Age. The exhibition concept offers a lasting insight into the life of the ancestors for all ages.

Conclusion

Roskilde offers a wide range of different perspectives, ranging from centuries-old traditions to the dawn of the 21st century. The unique location on the water and the diverse city districts with diverse cultural offers are definitely worth a tour of discovery.

Addendum

Travel theme from the green car magazine.

Cover picture - Roskilde view of the Viking Museum - Copyrightrpbmedia - stock.adobe.com

N. Hawthorn

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