Experience the Gold Hoard from Vindelev, the prelude to the Viking Age and Harald Bluetooth's eastern connections

 
 
 
 

The Vikings' eastern connections, and the enormous gold treasure hoard from Vindelev, play the main roles in the exhibition 'Power and gold - Vikings in the east', on display in Vejle, Denmark.

 

Press kit updated with photos from the exhibition. See below.

 
 
 
 
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The Iron Age Gold Hoard from Vindelev near Jelling is part of the new exhibition about the prelude to the Viking Age and Harald Bloetooth's eastern alliances. The exhibition opened 7 april 2022. Photo: Vejle Museums

 
 
 
 

The Vindelev treasure hoard with its saucer-sized gold medallions made headlines all over the world in september 2021. The exhibition is now open in Vejle, Denmark.

 

The Vejle Museums exhibits the magnificent find and tells the story of the prelude to the Viking Age and Harald Bluetooth's alliances in present-day Poland.

 

Sensuousness and light

The monumental Utzon hall at Vejle Art Museum hosts a beautiful exhibition that exudes Nordic light and sensuousness.

 

The impressive gold treasure and the many amazing Viking Age objects come into their own in the bright spaces. In the part of the exhibition about trade and crafts, you can feel and smell the story. The huge original pillars from Harald Bluetooth's Ravning Bridge provide a bodily understanding of the size of the building.

 

A new look at the Viking kings' power base

"The stories of the Vikings' pillaging raids in England have been told countless times. We want to tell the story in depth and explore the fascinating cultural encounters and alliances that created the Danish Viking kings' power base" says Charlotta Lindblom, Archaeologist and Curator at the Vejle Museums and continues:

 

"The upcoming exhibition in Vejle shows the very latest knowledge about the run-up to the Viking Age as well as Harald Bluetooth's eastern connections. These connections are shown in the exhibition's many fantastic finds from Denmark and Poland."

 

This combined narrative of Harald Bluetooth's power is told in the exhibition in Vejle.

 

Alliances and marriages

Harald Bluetooth secured his legacy by carving his name in the large Jelling runestone and by building a number of the most impressive structures in Danish history: the Ravning bridge, the palisade around Jelling and numerous ring forts.

 

However, few may know that Harald's strength is largely based on close alliances with the rulers of present-day Poland.

 

Harald Bluetooth married a Slavic princess, Tova, to seal an important alliance, and in Ostrow Lednicki impressive structures have been found, which may have been the inspiration for Harald's enormous construction projects back home in Denmark.

 

The story of Harald Bluetooth ends with the struggles against his son Sweyn Forkbeard. A fight that Harald loses when he is shot in the backside with an arrow. He flees and dies shortly after. Not at home in Jelling, but rather, probably somewhere in present-day Poland.

 

A mythical predecessor's gold

The Viking Age is the culmination of the gradual centralization of power taking place during the Iron Age. The Jelling Dynasty stands on the shoulders of a number of early kings, known only from legends, sparse sources and archaeological finds.

 

At the beginning of the turbulent and chaotic 500s, there was a great chieftain in Vindelev - only a few kilometres from Jelling, which later became Harald Bluetooth's royal seat.

 

We know he was rich, and he must have been extremely powerful because of the enormous amounts of gold he possessed.

 

It was a turbulent time - marked by major changes in society and a series of cataclysmic natural disasters on a global scale. Perhaps as a last hope of reconciliation with the gods, he buried his treasure and sacrificed it to the higher powers.

 

In the 800s, on the threshold of the Viking Age, the contours of a united Danish kingdom begin to take shape. The aristocratic residence at Erritsø is located on high ground, controlling the sailing route to Hedeby (Haitabu) and further east. The Erritsø hall tells the story of the kings who ruled before Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth.

 

Gold and Viking kings at an art museum?

'Power and gold - Vikings in the east' is exhibited in the Utzon Hall at Vejle Art Museum.

 

The exhibition has been developed in collaboration with Moesgaard Museum and is built around the latest research. The exhibition is realized by generous grants from Konsul George Jorck og Hustru Emma Jorck's Foundation, Knud Højgaard's Foundation, The Augustinus Foundation and Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansen's Foundation.

 

The exhibition is now open and is on display until Sunday 18 December 2022.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Practical information

Power and gold - Vikings in the east

Venue: Utzon hall, Vejle Art Museum, Flegborg 16-18, Vejle, Denmark

Exhibition period: 7 April 2022 - 18 December 2022

More info: vejlemuseerne.dk/power-and-gold

 

Contact information below the photos

 
 
 

Photo

Click to download hi-res photos.

 

Photos from the exhibition should be credited "Vejle Museums"

 

Photos of weapons and Lake Lednicki should be credited "Museum of the first Piast, Ostrow Lednicki"

 

Photos of the archaeological dig at Erritsø and the Ravning Bridge reconstruction should be credited "Vejle Museums"

 
 
 
 
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Photo from the exhibition. Credit: Vejle Museums

 
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Photo from the exhibition. Credit: Vejle Museums

 
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Photo from the exhibition. Credit: Vejle Museums

 
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Scandinavian weapons found in Poland. The exhibition features many finds from Ostrow Lednicki and Truso in Poland.

 
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Ostrow Lednicki, Poland. The exhibition features many finds from Ostrow Lednicki and Truso in Poland.

 
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'Power and gold - Vikings in the east' is exhibited in the Utzon Hall at Vejle Art Museum.

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Photo from the exhibition. Credit: Vejle Museums

 
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Photo from the exhibition. Credit: Vejle Museums

 
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Photo from the exhibition. Credit: Vejle Museums

 
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Photo from the exhibition. Credit: Vejle Museums

 
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Archaeological dig at Erritsø. The aristocratic residence at Erritsø is located on high ground, controlling the sailing route to Hedeby (Haitabu) and further east.

 
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Visit the reconstruction of Harald Bluetooth's monumental bridge that crossed Vejle River valley at Ravning.

 
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Reconstruction of part of the Ravning Bridge. Harald Bluetooth constructed a number of the most impressive structures in Danish history, among these the Ravning bridge.

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Photo from the exhibition. Credit: Vejle Museums

 
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Photo from the exhibition. Credit: Vejle Museums

 
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Photo from the exhibition. Credit: Vejle Museums

 
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Credit: Pracownia Projektów Historycznych

 
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Scandinavian weapons found in Poland. The exhibition features many finds from Ostrow Lednicki and Truso in Poland.Scandinavian weapons found in Poland. The exhibition features many finds from Ostrow Lednicki and Truso in Poland.

 
 
 
 

The Vindelev Hoard

The Vindelev treasure hoard with its saucer-sized gold medallions made headlines all over the world in september 2021. The gold is now on display in Vejle, Denmark. Photos show the gold being prepared for the exhibition.

 

Click to download hi-res photos.

 

Photos of gold on black background should be credited "Conservation Center Vejle"

Other photos should be credited "Vejle Museums"

 
 
 
 
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Ole Schytz. The man who found the gold hoard.

 
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X10 - The world's largest bracteate

 
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Contact information

 

All inquiries regarding the exhibition:

Charlotta Lindblom

Curator and archaeologist, Vejle Museums

+45 5173 8161 / chlin@vejle.dk

 

Inquiries regarding the Vindelev Hoard

Mads Ravn

Head of research, Vejle Museums

+45 4024 9550 / marav@vejle.dk

 
 
 
 
 
 

Power and gold - Vikings in the east is supported by:

 
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Vejlemuseerne - Spinderigade 11E - 7100 Vejle - Tlf. 76 81 31 00 - Mail: museerne@vejle.dk