Museum Vestsjælland is a state-subsidised cultural history museum serving approximately 285,000 citizens in Mid- and Western Zealand.  The museum’s geographical area covers the following six municipalities: Holbæk, Kalundborg, Odsherred, Ringsted, Slagelse and Sorø. Research is a primary focus, pre-requisite to the execution of the museum’s remaining obligatory focus areas, as specified in the Danish Museum Act:  collection, registration, conservation, dissemination, and cultural heritage management.

Our research strategy should be regarded as part of the ongoing realization of Museum Vestsjælland’s VISION: Museum Vestsjælland is as space for Mid- and Western Zealand’s collective memory where all can experience and explore our rich cultural heritage. This applies, likewise, to our AMBITION in the field of research: Research must be strengthened and become an integral element of museum’s dissemination initiatives.

The museum conducts research within the following specialty areas: prehistory, The medieval period, The Danish Renaissance, till present day. The museum also conducts research on artworks and artists which have special significance to the museum’s municipal areas and, thereby, a significance in the understanding of the local cultural history of the various regions. Within the field of art history, the museum specializes in the Odsherred Painters artist colony and the Swane family.

The museum’s research is based upon its collections and archives, results from archaeological excavations, Fund og Fortidsminder (the central Danish registry for ancient localities and archaeological sites) as well as buildings and cultural sites in Western Zealand.

We conduct research on the following subjects:

• The Danish West Indies: A focus on Denmark’s influence as a colonial power on the architectural and cultural heritage of Western Zealand.
• Dissemination: The dissemination of cultural heritage in the local landscape.
• Danish architectural heritage: The Bedre Byggeskik movement
• Art: Sigurd Swane’s significance within Danish art history
• Medieval archaeology: Elite residencies and urban development in Western Zealand in the 6^th- 12th centuries.

 Britta Tøndborg, Head of Research and Art, Museum Vestsjælland, March 2021