Viking Ship Museum in Oslo

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Vikingskiphuset, Bygdøy.

Viking Ship Museum and the Oseberg Ship.

The Viking Ship Museum (in Norwegian Vikingskipshuset - The Viking Ship House) is located at Bygdøy in Oslo, Norway. It is part of the Museum of Cultural History of the University of Oslo, and houses the Viking ships from Tune, Gokstad, and Oseberg. Also on display are finds from the mound cemetery at Borre.

A separate building for finds from the Viking age discovered at the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th century was first proposed by Swedish professor Gabriel Gustafson in 1913. At the time, the Gokstad and Oseberg ships had already been stored for several years in temporary shelters at the University of Oslo. An architectural contest was announced, and Arnstein Arneberg won. The hall for the Oseberg ship was built with funding from Stortinget, and the ship was moved from the University shelters in 1926.

The parts of the building for the ships from Gokstad and Tune were completed in 1932, but the last part of the building was delayed due to World War II. The last part for the other finds from Oseberg was completed in 1957.

On December 20, 2006 the University of Oslo decided to support a proposal by the Historical museum to move the ships and all the grave-goods to a proposed new museum in Bjørvika, Oslo. There has been much debate about this suggestion, both in the museal and archaeological milieu as well as in the media. Opponents to the move have raised concerns that the ships are too fragile and that they will not survive the move undamaged, whilst proponants claim that it is far riskier leaving the ships in their current location due to the risk of fire and overcrowding. A risk assessment has been carried out on one side of the Oseberg ship, suggesting a move could go ahead without inflicting serious damage to the finds.