Museerne i Fredericia are a collection of exhibition and documentation sites located throughout Fredericia and the surrounding areas. The history of Fredericia extends over a very wide field in which military and agricultural history as well as the history of integration and communication all play essential parts. These subjects are dealt with in various ways at the different museum branches.
The main museum is the Bymuseet (Town Museum) in the Jernbanegade street. Please direct all inquiries to this address. Fredericia was established as a fortress and free city in 1650. The history of the town is particularly interesting with respect to these two areas. The town''s population took on quite an international character as a result of the mixture of the farmers who originally populated the area, and the numerous immigrants from many other countries in Europe who brought their own religious faiths to the town. Conditions in the fortress created an unusual living environment for those who resided there. The fortress complex itself, which was constructed using seventeenth-century European defence technology, is preserved largely intact. The strict grid-like layout of the streets that formed the original town has also been preserved in its basic design. The fortress was decommissioned in 1909, after which time it was permitted to build outside the city ramparts.Fredericia was founded by the Crown, and was supported in the earlier years by various privileges and special rights. However, the town found it difficult to sustain itself economically, and saw a period of stagnation and even decline in the eighteenth century. When the first harbour was constructed in the town in 1808, development began to pick up again, and Fredericia grew as an industrial centre during the course of the nineteenth century. Industry is also important in today''s Fredericia, where business connected with the harbour has thrived and managed to create the largest harbour in Denmark.
From 31 July 2000, Museerne i Fredericia will feature all new exhibitions presenting the special history of Fredericia as a free city and as a refugee town influenced by the multi-ethnic population that created it. Detailed presentations will describe farming, trade and crafts and skilled trades in the town. Bymuseet contains a silversmith''s workshop and a collection of silver with a special emphasis on works produced by Cohr, as well as a separate section dealing with Købestævnet, the nationally known trade-fair centre where all kinds of new products were launched during the period 1913-64.
In addition, Bymuseet provides an outline of the entire history of the town.
Museerne i Fredericia affiliates are listed below: Kringsminde Museum, Kongens Port (King''s Gate), Bunkermuseet (Bunker Museum), Krudttårnet og Krudtmagasinet (Gun-powder Tower and Gun-powder Magazine).
Museerne i Fredericia are also involved in cooperative agreements with two other information centres, the Mosaisk Jewish cemetery and keeper''s residence and Skærbæk Fiskerisamling (Skærbæk Fishing Collection). Inquiries concerning these institutions can be addressed to Bymuseet.