Museums in Greenland



	Museum in Arsuk

Museum attractions
A visit to a museum in Greenland is a good chance to see how the Inuits have managed to live and survive for generations in the Arctic world. The special turf dwellings located close to the museums are also a must as they provide an excellent picture of winter dwellings from a time which is not actually all that distant – the last Greenlanders moved out of their turf houses and into more modern cabins and houses as recently as the mid-1950s! Many urban museums also have exhibitions from the recent colonial period.

National museum
In addition to the local museums that are found in most towns, there is also the National Museum in Nuuk, which is situated in the historical area of the colonial harbour. One of the major attractions of the National Museum is the world-famous mummies from Qilakitsoq. This unique find was discovered in 1972 in a remote cave near Uummannaq in North Greenland. The extremely well-preserved mummies can be dated back to 1475 and provide a good insight into the clothing worn at the time.

Thematic museums and churches
Among the museums focusing on particular themes or subjects are the aircraft museums in Kangerlussuaq and Narsarsuaq, which describe the American influence from the days of the airbase before, during and after the Second World War. The art museums in Ilulissat and Nuuk that feature paintings by the famous naturalistic Greenlandic painter Emanuel A. Petersen are also definitely worth a visit. Greenland’s picturesque wooden churches are usually located very close to the museums – and they are also well worth seeing.