The Hedmark Museum in Hamar

Hamar

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 is a regional museum for the municipalities of Stange

Stange

is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stangebyen.-Name:...

, Hamar

Hamar

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...

 (which now includes Vang i Hedmark), Løten

Løten

Løten is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Løten. The parish of Løiten was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 .-Name:The municipality is named after an old farm...

, and Ringsaker

Ringsaker

is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Brumunddal.The municipality of Ringsaker was established on 1 January 1838...

 in central eastern Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. It also includes the Cathedral Ruins in Hamar mentioned in Sigrid Undset

Sigrid Undset

Sigrid Undset was a Norwegian novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928.-Biography:Undset was born in Kalundborg, Denmark, but her family moved to Norway when she was two years old. In 1924, she converted to Catholicism and became a lay Dominican...

's magnum opus on Kristin Lavransdatter

Kristin Lavransdatter

Kristin Lavransdatter is the common name for a trilogy of historical novels written by Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset. The individual novels are Kransen , first published in 1920, Husfrue , published in 1921, and Korset , published in 1922...

.

Museum attractions

There are five noteworthy aspects to the museum:

• Its medieval section includes ruins of a cathedral that was originally built in Romanesque architecture
  Romanesque architecture
  Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
  
   and then converted to Gothic architecture
  Gothic architecture
  Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
  
  , as well as remnants of a bishop's priory. The distinctive arches in the cathedral ruins have recently been covered in an ambitious construction project undertaken by the Norwegian government. The cathedral was never deconsecrated and remains under the religious authority of the Roman Catholic Church
  Roman Catholic Church
  The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
  
   - weddings can only be performed there with the permission of the church. The medieval section also includes an active herb garden
  Herbalism
  Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...
  
   with plants in use during the Middle Ages.

• Its ethnological
  Ethnology
  Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
  
   museum provides a good sense of how people in the Hedmark region lived from about the 16th century until the early 20th century. It includes buildings and courtyards collected from the entire Hedemarken region, many of which have been restored to early phases. A few of the buildings are available for rent for social purposes. Among other noteworthy buildings, the collection includes one of the finest 19th century residential homes from the area.

• It is an active archeological site, and visitors can see the state of the dig at any given time. Most of the medieval townsite is not yet excavated, and visitors can see remnants on a field outside the museum confines.

• Its structures have won architectural distinction. The medieval museum was designed by Sverre Fehn
  Sverre Fehn
  Sverre Fehn was a Norwegian architect. The architect’s highest international honour came in 1997, when he was awarded both the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the Heinrich Tessenow Gold Medal.-Life:...
  
   in concrete, wood, and glass to contrast with the stone structures of the medieval ruins. Since a barn was built on top of this, the architecture also seeks to both highlight the original medieval structure and the more recent farm buildings. Ramps provide the means to view the museum from above.

• It is co-located with a beautiful recreational area along the lake Mjøsa
  Mjøsa
  Mjøsa is Norway's largest lake, as well as one of the deepest lakes in Norway and in Europe as a whole, after Hornindalsvatnet. It is located in the southern part of Norway, about 100 km north of Oslo...
  
  . The recreational area is open to the public and includes a bathing area, gravel walkways, grass lawns, and a long shoreline.

The museum also houses one of the largest photography collections in Norway, covering the entire region of Hedemarken since photography was introduced.