Maritime Museum

Hello everyone,

Earlier this week I finally made it to the Maritime Museum in Stockholm. I'm a little ashamed I didn't go earlier. But honestly, the museum itself is not nearly as impressive as the initiatives and programs that are being implemented by the people who work there. Also, it took me over an hour to get to the museum from my place, which is odd because it really isn't that far outside of downtown Stockholm. I guess there are just no good bus routes from near the university to the Maritime Museum.

Maritime Museum

Outside the Maritime Museum

It's hard not to compare the Maritime Museum to the Vasa Museum. During my interview with Fred Hocker, he said that the increase in visitors to the Vasa Museum every year never affects the visitor rate to the Maritime Museum. If they were closer together, perhaps people would go to both with a duel-ticket. But right now, there are about a tenth as many visitors to the Maritime Museum as the Vasa Museum annually. It was relatively empty while I was there.

It's not that the Maritime Museum isn't nice. I've been to a few maritime museums in Europe, and this one was pretty standard. I just felt like after seeing the Vasa, this maritime museum was a little less exciting.

The museum did have an impressive exhibition on models of ships, from old viking ships to modern submarines and aircraft carriers.

Model ship in the Maritime Museum

There were sculptures from old ships up on the walls and an interesting exhibition of life on a ship in Sweden in the mid 20th century. I learned about the shipping and trade business, too.

Sculpture from ship

The back of a ship

I was most impressed with the two rooms designed for kids. This is probably because almost all local schools go on field trips to the museum. In one room, I learned how to tie different types of nautical knots. They had the International Maritime Signal Flags and their meanings, so kids could interact with the exhibit. Downstairs, there was this whole play-area for kids with ships and a dock and water. It looked like the Maritime Museum really catered to children, which is nice. It's important for kids to become interested in this part of their history, especially in Sweden, as maritime history is prominent in this country.

Knot-tying table

Maritime playroom

Playroom in Maritime Museum

I sort of feel bad that I did not get as excited in the Maritime Museum as in the Vasa Museum. Certainly, I learned a lot. And as someone who has an interest in maritime history, I was very glad that I visited. However, I completely understand why this museum is overshadowed by the Vasa Museum. I think it is important to remember that the museum is so much more than just exhibits. The research and public outreach programs they do (like what I talked about in the Birka post, and what I'll discuss in my post about my interview with Pernilla Flyg) are great ways to share their knowledge on maritime history outside of the museum.