Stavanger maritime museum

On the second floor, you'll find "Working at the docks" – an activity-based exhibition for children themed around fjord traffic between countryside and city. Costumes and immersive settings invite children into roleplay reflecting life in the late 1950s: Sign on as a boat captain, a dockworker, a market trader, or a shop assistant in the general store. Talk on the phone in the warehouse, send a postcard to an uncle in America, and make sure milk churns and feed sacks are safely loaded onto the boat.

Throughout history, the harbour has been a vital place in Stavanger. It has served as a shelter from the weather, a workplace for many, a trading hub filled with goods from around the world, a meeting place, and a departure point for journeys across the seas. People, goods, and vessels have all had their place here through times of prosperity, hardship, and transformation.

The exhibition tells the story of the harbour from the Middle Ages to the present day through selected individuals. Through encounters with the pirate Elise, the couple Hans and Henrica, the servant boy Thomas, and the telegraph operator Frida, you'll get to know not only their personal stories but also the broader history of the city.

Stavanger Maritime Museum consists of several merchants’ houses built in the early 1800s. Many of the exhibitions show different interiors and historical environments, reflecting how the rooms were used before the buildings became a museum. The shipping office is the most authentic of these.

Here you can wander through historic rooms and original interiors from the 19th and 20th centuries and learn how the old merchant buildings were used – featuring a general store, a shipping office, a merchant’s apartment, and a sail loft.

One ticket grants admission to all MUST museums open on the same day.