Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
▲▲Museum of Danish Resistance (Frihedsmuseet) —On April 9, 1940,
Hitler's Nazis violated a peace treaty and invaded Denmark, overrunning
the tiny nation in mere hours. This museum tells what happened next—the
compelling story of Denmark's heroic Nazi-resistance struggle (1940-1945).
While relatively small, the museum rewards those who take the time to
read the English explanations and understand the fascinating artifacts. Video
touchscreens let you hear interviews with the participants of history (dubbed
into English).
Cost and Hours: Free; May-Sept Tue-Sun 10:00-16:00, Oct-April Tue-
Sun 10:00-15:00, closed Mon year-round; hours likely to be reduced—call
or check website to confirm; guided tours June-Aug Tue, Thu, and Sun at
14:00; on Churchillparken between Amalienborg Palace and The Little Mer-
maid site; bus #1A or #15 from downtown/Tivoli/train station stops right in
front, a 10-minute walk from Østerport S-tog station, or bus #26 from Lan-
gelinie cruise port or downtown; tel. 41 20 62 91, www.frihedsmuseet.dk .
Self-Guided Tour: From the main hall, you'll take a counterclockwise
spin through the collection. The first section, Adaptation to Avoid Nazifica-
tion, examines the unenviable situation in which the Danes found themselves
in in 1940: Cooperate with the Nazis (at least symbolically) to preserve some
measure of self-determination, or stand up to them and surely be crushed by
their military might. Denmark opted for the first option, but kept a fierce res-
istance always at a rolling boil. Be sure to carefully examine the odd, some-
times macabre items from this period: A delicate, miniature rose made of
chewed bread, given as a gift to an inmate at Ravensbrück Concentration
Camp; Himmler's eye patch, worn as a disguise; actual human skin tattooed
with the SS symbol, removed from a reformed Nazi after the war (at his own
request); the pistol of the Danish Nazi leader, Fritz Clausen; RAF (British
Royal Air Force) caps and stars-and-stripes bowties, worn as a symbol of res-
istance and rebellion by young people in the early days of Nazi occupation;
cheaply made aluminum Nazi coins, crudely imprinted with messages of Dan-
ish resistance; and an old printing press used to produce anti-Nazi leaflets.
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