Twilight of the Vikings

Treasures of gold and silver, centuries-old writings, and the sensational reprint of a 68-meter-long world document: The exhibition Twilight of the Vikings. Turning Point in the North focuses on the late Viking Age. The list of spectacular archaeological finds, many of which have never or only partially been shown in Germany, is long. In a unique way, the exhibition traces the profound changes in the area around Haithabu and Schleswig in the 11th century.

An exhibition of the Museum for Archaeology Schloss Gottorf, the Viking Museum Haithabu, and the Leibniz Center for Archaeology Mainz (LEIZA).

On over 1000 square meters of exhibition space, we present outstanding archaeological finds and current research results. You will see 1000-year-old exhibits from Haithabu, Schleswig, and northern Schleswig-Holstein, as well as valuable exhibits from museums, archives, and libraries in Germany, Scandinavia, England, and France. For example, the entire Morsumer treasure find from 2017 with the fantastic ring brooch at its center, the silver splendid brooch from Sutton/Isle of Ely from the British Museum in London, the famous Gesta Danorum from the 12th century (one of the earliest historical accounts of Denmark), and one of the first editions of "Tacitus" from the 16th century.

Some exhibits, including elaborately decorated stirrups from the 11th century, have been carefully analyzed and partially uncovered in the restoration workshops of Schloss Gottorf and LEIZA, allowing the careful process from original find to exhibition piece to be vividly traced.

What exactly was the Viking Age? What political, economic, and religious changes are associated with its end? Can it be considered a change of times?

But what exactly was the Viking Age? What political, economic, and religious changes are associated with its end, and were these changes in values so significant that they can be called a change of times? Multicultural coexistence, economic and political crises up to wars characterized the epoch boundary between the Viking Age and the Christian Middle Ages. How has the view of this Scandinavian culture of the early Middle Ages changed since then, and what triggered the different perspectives from which people have looked at the Viking Age with special interest for centuries?

Research projects provide answers

The exhibition provides answers to these and other questions with the help of the results of three research projects. The Museum for Archaeology, together with the Institute for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology of Christian Albrechts University Kiel, investigated the transition from Haithabu to Schleswig in a project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. Did both places exist simultaneously, or do we recognize a relocation of the port at the Noor to the more secure northern shore of the Schlei only triggered by the destruction of Haithabu?

The second project, based at the Center for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology, now part of LEIZA, deals with early Scandinavian royal seats, the so-called huseby sites. Among other things, such centers of power can sharpen our understanding of change and continuity.

"Myth of the Vikings – Conception and Impact on Museum Exhibition Practices" is the name of the third project, supervised at the University of Göttingen. This project provides the exhibition with the current scientific background for evaluating the reception and anticipation of the Viking Age and the Viking concept up to the present day.

One of the most spectacular objects of the exhibition: the reprint of the 68.38 meters long and 53 centimeters wide Bayeux Tapestry

A spectacular object plays a central role in the exhibition, not only visually: the reprint of the Bayeux Tapestry, which can only be seen in Bayeux (France) in its original form as a World Document Heritage. A cooperation with the museum in Bayeux was specially agreed for the Gottorf exhibition, making it possible not only to have the reprint of the 68.38 meters long and 53 centimeters wide linen tapestry but also important loans.

The Bayeux Tapestry has never been experienced in Germany in nearly its original size. The elaborate and unsurpassed wool embroidery, which is said to have been created at the end of the 11th century, shows the prehistory and course of the Battle of Hastings, in which the Norman Duke William the Conqueror defeated the English King Harold II in October 1066. William's coronation in 1066, along with the final destruction of Haithabu in the same year, marks the end of the Viking Age for archaeology.

The Bayeux Tapestry inspired artist Margret Eicher in 2022 to create her 30 meters long textile artwork Battle Reloaded. Scenes of Battle and Conquest.

This is referenced at the beginning of the exhibition in the north wing of the cross stable with an impressive contemporary work by artist Margret Eicher. The Bayeux Tapestry inspired her in 2022 to create her 30-meter-long textile artwork Battle Reloaded. Scenes of Battle and Conquest. Over the past 20 years, Margret Eicher has created an impressive body of large-format textile works that critically examine the image worlds we encounter daily in advertising and news. The artist digitally alienates the profane motifs and often brings them into context with well-known works of art history.