10 Museums in Lillehammer Region That You Shouldn't Miss

On the 9th of April 1940, German troops landed in Norway. We were at war, and the battle to avoid invasion lasted for two months. The german army reached Gudbrandsdalen 21st of April 1940 with the battle of Tretten and Gausdal. On the 25th and 26th of April, Kvam in Gudbrandsdalen became the centre of one of the most serious battles in southern Norway. During this bitter fight between German and British troops, some 70 buildings were burned to the ground and among them was the church in Kvam. Gudbrandsdalen 1940 was the first ground battle between German and British forces in WW2. The Battle of Kringen on the 26th of August 1612, involved an ambush by Norwegian peasant militia of Scottish mercenary soldiers who were on their way to enlist in the Swedish army for the Kalmar War. George Sinclair was ambushed by Norwegian militia along with 300 of his men while marching through Norway to join the army of the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus. Sinclair, riding at the head of the column and wearing a plumed helmet, was the first to fall; he was shot by Sjelstad, a Norwegian militiaman. The officers, including the expedition leader, Colonel Ramsey, were ransomed while the remaining 15 survivors were conscripted into the Danish army. These are the historic events on which the Gudbrandsdal War Memorial Exhibition is based. The exhibition opened on the 5th of May 1995, and provides a unique insight into the acts of war, occupation and defence in Gudbrandsdalen.

Maihaugen offers activities and experiences for the whole family. Enjoy the idyllic surroundings and experience life like in the old days. The museum has more than 200 historic houses from as far back as the 13th Century to homes of the different decades of the 1900s, including Queen Sonja’s childhood home. Grazing animals in the open-air museum. All year you can look into historical houses and visit great exhibitions, the museum shop and café. Don't miss our popular Christmas Market in November/December.

The museum is one of the nation's leading art museums, and houses a collection consisting of approx. 1500 works by Norwegian artists dating from the 1800s and until today. The museum also organises several separate exhibitions a year, featuring both historical art and modern art.

The Norwegian Public Road Museum, is one of Norway's largest technical and industrial museum facilities. The museum consists of three museums and a large open air museum. The three museums are; the Norwegian Public Road Museum (NPRM), the Norwegian Rock Blasting Museum(NRBM) and the Norwegian Vehicle Museum (NVM). The museums have a total of almost 5,000 square meters of indoor and outdoor exhibitions. In the open air museum, you will find a number of buildings that have had an impact on daily life along the roads. Such as ; country stores, petrol station and road warden's residence. There are also exhibited machines that have been used for road construction and rock blasting.

Experience the atmosphere of beautiful Aulestad! The Nobel laureate Bjornstjerne Bjornson lived here with his family from 1875. The home is one of the best preserved artist homes in Norway. The summer of 2020 visitors can unfortunately not enter the artist home due to covid-19. You are still welcome to visit the museum. Aulestad offers a great new Bjørnson-exhitition and you will meet a guide in the garden. There is a fun exploring trail for kids there as well. Approximately 18 km from Lillehammer, follow signs from the main road E6 north of Lillehammer. From E6 take highway 225 towards Gausdal, and follow the road past the center of Follebu to Aulestad. Free parking lots by the road. There are bus connection from the train station in Lillehammer.

Galleri Zink is a gallery located at Sigrid Undsets Plass right in the heart of Lillehammer, and shows contemporary art and craft from most well known Norwegian artists. The gallery was established by ceramicist Johan Mæhlum in 2008, and shows 8-10 exhibitions per year in the main gallery space, as well as continually showing a wide selection of art and craft in the smaller side rooms and in the upstairs gallery space. Additionally the gallery produces and curates the Peer Gynt exhibition (located at Gala), the festival exhibition during the Norwegian Literature Festival, the Autumn Exhibition at Ilsetra (in the Øyer mountains) and the annual Christmas exhibition in the gallery. In addition to having a wide selection of contemporary Norwegian art from around the country, it is also a great place to get a feel for the local art scene, as most professional local artists are represented.

Welcome to the home of one of Norway’s great female writers. NB! In 2020 the home is not open for visitors due to covid-19. Still you can visit the museum. Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset (1882–1949) lived at Bjerkebæk with her three children. Here she wrote the medieval novels for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928. Enjoy a walk in the garden, where there is also a fun exploring trail for kids. Nice exhibition on Undset’s life through her many journeys. The modern visitor centre has a nice museum shop and view to the home and a beautiful garden.

The Energy Centre is an adventure centre for the Norwegian energy sector. We are located in Hunderfossen Familypark, 16 km north of Lillehammer. The centre aims at providing it's guests with knowledge about production and consumption of hydro power and other renewable energy sources, electrical safety, the climate changes and energy in general. We offer schools, groups, companies and families an «energetic» and educational adventure in our 2000m2 exhibition. In the summer we are a part of Hunderfossen Family Park. The rest of the year we are open just for booked groups.

The Norwegian Olympic museum in Lillehammer is a top modern and exciting museum. Be enchanted by unforgettable olympic moments made by athletes from all over the world, and experience olympic history from ancient times to the present day. The Winter Olympics that took place in Lillehammer in 1994 and Oslo in 1952 play a central role in the museum. See medals and other original objects and get carried away by great movies. Temporary exhibitions on different topics.

The Norwegian Postal Museum at Maihaugen shows Norway’s exciting postal history. Learn how important the the postal service has been to develop our country – from the time when it took weeks to deliver a message up to today’s electronic communication. See post offices from the past, enter our old train with a postal coach and send a post card with Maihaugen’s own postmark.