Would you like to gain some fascinating insights about Helgeland? One of the best ways to do so is to visit Helgeland Museum. Actually it’s not just one museum – there are 18 museum facilities spread throughout the region. Each highlights some aspects of Helgeland’s history, cultural heritage or natural history.
These 18 museums, as well as various other worthwhile exhibitions, will give you a deeper understanding of the people who live here, their livelihoods and traditions, and the landscape that surrounds them.
See the museums
Løkta Museum
Be sure to visit Løkta Museum, beautifully located on the west side of the island. Here, you can experience what life was like on a small farm in the old days. The area is open to all and features a picnic area, a fire pit, and a small outhouse.
The Petter Dass Museum
At Alstahaug you will find a museum and a church that highlight centuries of the cultural and architectural history of Northern Norway. Moreover, the area is rich in cultural monuments and is a popular hiking area for both locals and tourists. The Petter Dass Museum and Alstahaug were chosen as Nordland County’s venues to celebrate the dawning of a new millennium.
Bindal Museum and the old croft at Vassås
Bindal Museum at Terråk documents local forestry, boatbuilding and other wood-working traditions. It contrasts past and present practices. The museum also includes Bindal Bygdetun, an open-air museum at an authentic old croft at Vassås, 2.5 km north of Terråk.
Hattfjelldal Museum
In Hattfjelldal it is Fjellfolkets Hus (House of the mountain people) which is the museums home base. Here you’ll find great exhibitions and disseminations services about the place. In the house there is also a Tourist Information Office, a café, accommodation and place for meetings and events.
Falch Old Trading Post, Rødøy
Falch Old Trading is beautifully situated on the Tjongsfjord, and it’s just a short detour from the Coastal Highway, Fv17. This trading post has provided many functions through the years: a fish plant, cod liver oil production, fishnet production, country store, doctor’s offices and pharmacy.
Jacobsenbrygga and the folk museum in Mosjøen
The Vefsn Museum has numerous exhibitions at several locations in and around the town of Mosjøen. These focus on everything from rural life and urban history, to weapons smuggling and the work of the Norwegian resistance during Nazi Germany’s World War II occupation. You can also join a guided tour of the historical street Sjøgata, which is lined with 19th-century houses.
The Zahl building and the old sexton´s residence in Nesna
The main facility of the Nesna Museum is the building that once housed the business of the local Zahl family. This large and stately commercial building, which dates from 1907 and has Swiss-style decorations, has been expanded both in width and towards the rear. Nesna is amongst other things known for “Nesnalobben”, and an exhibition in the museum is dedicated to this footwear.
Hemnes open-air museum
Hemnes Bygdetun consists of a beautifully situated farm that can be just glimpsed from highway E6. The farm has a 500 year history, so its buildings and collections offer many insights into how our ancestors, both rich and poor, lived.
Velfjord Museum
The Brønnøy and Velfjord districts share an ancient history of fishing and farming, as well as a proud indigenous Sámi culture. You can gain many cultural insights by visiting the exhibitions in the old supermarket at Minnetun, as well as in the goahti (reconstructed turf hut) near here.
Træna museum
Træna Museum documents the this archipelago’s history going back to the Stone Age. Some of the archaeological discoveries displayed date back at least 9000 years. For this reason, Træna can rightfully call itself “the oldest fishing community in Norway”.
