Foundation secures new basic exhibition at The Green Museum with million-dollar grant

The AP Møller Foundation has granted 11 million kroner for the Green Museum's major exhibition initiative, which will convey the Danish history of hunting, forests, agriculture and food in one coherent story.

The champagne corks are popping and the smiles are more than usual wide at The Green Museum, Gl. Estrup, these days. There has been unusually good news from the AP Møller and Wife Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation for General Purposes. The foundation has granted the museum no less than 11 million kroner for the first stage of the new basic exhibition: “The Green Museum’s History of Denmark”.

The grant is the culmination of several years of work on the exhibition project, the first phase of which is now fully funded. It will tell the story of human life in and of nature across the museum's four subject areas – from yesterday and back to the time around World War II.

Happy director

A fully funded exhibition is of course something that both relieves and pleases the director of The Green Museum, Anne Bjerrekær:

A happy Anne Bjerrekær has received the news of a record-breaking million-dollar donation from the AP Møller Foundation
A happy Anne Bjerrekær has received the news of a record-breaking million-dollar donation from the AP Møller Foundation. Photo: The Green Museum

– Hunting, forests, agriculture and food are fundamental elements in the history of Denmark, and we are very proud that the AP Møller Foundation has chosen to support the museum's new basic exhibition with such a large amount. It is a huge pat on the back that gives extra energy to the upcoming work. I would like to thank the Foundation many times for their trust – we are now looking forward to implementing the plans and attracting even more visitors to the museum, explains Anne Bjerrekær.

When we have to make more and bigger decisions about climate, sustainability and biodiversity in the coming years, it is important that we have our knowledge of the role that humans have played in nature. This is also one of the reasons why the AP Møller Foundation has chosen to grant the largest single amount the museum has ever received. The Green Museum's national areas of responsibility must be communicated and understood in a contemporary perspective by all generations and in modern and groundbreaking exhibitions that can attract guests from near and far, it says, among other things.

A message like this could easily resonate with a museum director:

– Since the merged museum saw the light of day, this exhibition has been at the top of the wish list. A period of Corona and the closure of the museum did not make it any easier for my employees. That is why it is also very special for us to celebrate together today. I was given the fantastic news myself while I was driving, and I had to pull into the first, best gas station to be able to physically express my joy. Then it didn't matter that the others at the gas station looked at me strangely, laughs a happy Anne Bjerrekær.

The premises at The Green Museum, Gl. Estrup, are ready to house the museum's new basic exhibition, which will become a reality with a million-kroner grant from the AP Møller Foundation.
The premises at The Green Museum, Gl. Estrup, are ready to house the museum's new basic exhibition, which will become a reality with a million-kroner grant from the AP Møller Foundation.

Two stages – one shared green story

The two stages of the Green Museum's Danish History will be a coherent kaleidoscopic journey through time with humans at the center throughout the last 13,000 years. In two buildings totaling 2,000 m2, the story is told of how we humans have always lived in and from nature. And how our choices in the pursuit of the best life have also had major consequences for our surroundings.

The first exhibition phase, expected to open in 2023, will tell the story from the present day to the time around World War II. The ambition is to create a state-of-the-art and interactive exhibition with the museum's iconic objects, which will focus on human actions in some of the most defining years for our planet. History is important ballast to have when we are to create a climate-safe and biodiverse planet, while also being able to feed future generations.

The museum is working to increase the number of visitors by at least 25 %. The ambitions are high, this is also reflected in the fact that the total budget for the first stage is 18.8 million DKK. With previous commitments from both the Augustinus Foundation and the Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik Foundation, as well as the museum's own co-financing, the goal can now be realized.

In the second stage, expected to open in 2026, the journey continues from 1950 all the way back to the Ice Age.

Facts about the Green Museum

  • The Green Museum is the national museum of hunting, forestry, agriculture and food. The museum is a state museum under the Ministry of Culture.
  • The museum is housed at Gammel Estrup, located near Auning on Djursland, together with Gammel Estrup Denmark's Manor Museum. One ticket gives access to both museums.
  • Every year, almost 100,000 guests visit the museum.
  • The Green Museum is the result of the merger between the former Danish Hunting and Forestry Museum (Hørsholm) and the former Danish Agricultural Museum (Auning).
  • The museum's collection contains more than 77,000 objects within the four subject areas.
  • We have an indoor exhibition of approximately 5500 m2, and around the museum we have 75 hectares with, among other things, a historic vegetable garden, organic farming and livestock of old Danish breeds.