IT'S ALIVE!: A LOOK AT LIVING HISTORY MUSEUMS IN EUROPE

Musings Abroad | Chloé Houde

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The first living history museum I ever visited was the Village Historique Acadien in New Brunswick and I fell in love. Exploring all those old buildings while learning about the history of the region, its people, and its traditions from costumed interpreters made all this history come alive. I remember crying as I sat in the living room of an old home with other visitors as a woman recounted the emotional story of the Acadian deportation. I had learned this history before, but the setting and the first-person narrative of the story made this experience more personal in that moment, like it was being told to you by someone who lived it. I also remember enjoying some warm fresh baked bread from the local bakery, which only added to my overall experience as I learned about historical baking and cooking. Living history museums are spaces where learning becomes intertwined with experience. On top of being great spaces for education, living history museums act as preservers of traditional architecture, agricultural techniques, arts and crafts, and more, by not only conserving physical objects, but by practicing embodied artisanal knowledge that can sometimes only be kept alive through people.

Village Historique Acadien in New Brunswick | Source

Canada and the United Stated have their fair share of living history museums, and Toronto is lucky enough to have a few in its vicinity: Black Creek Pioneer Village, Fort York, and Markham Museum. For this article, I wanted to highlight living history museums in Europe that preserve important knowledge and keep local history alive.

Europe is filled with living history museums, such as the Strážnice Museum of the Villages of South-east Moravia in the Czech Republic. Strážnice has been open since 1981 and showcases Moravian folk costumes, traditions, architecture, and art. This living history museum is unique for its preservation of viticulture and wine growing techniques over time. Visitors can witness ancestral crafts such as smithery, weaving, pottery, wine making (including partaking in wine tasting), and can attend harvest festivals and folklore ensemble competitions!

Strážnice Museum's website. The text translates to "Folk crafts and traditional agriculture." | Source

In France, the Musée des Maisons Comtoises is a living history museum made up of 35 historic homes and buildings from the Franche-Comté region that spans from 1750 to 1950. The site presents itself as a nature haven and a place to relax, surrounded by gardens, a pond, a forest, and an orchard. They have animals, a small farm, and buildings that reflect many different facets of society, such as workshops, communal ovens, chapels, homes, and more. The Musée also offers visitors a range of demonstrations and activities, such as bread baking and making your own cosmetics. They are very focused with questions about what the past can bring to the future and make connections between the sustainable everyday life of the museum with issues of today. Some of the topics covered are the decline of the bee population and the problems within the agricultural sector.

"Jardins des simples," one of the gardens at the Musée des Maisons Comtoises | Source

In Aarhus, Denmark, the living history museum of Dem Gamle By (or "The Old Town" in English) showcases a small town from the 16th to the 19th century. When it opened in 1914, it was the first living history museum that showcased town life rather than rural or village life. The town is made up of 75 historical buildings that were reconstructed there from all over the country. The costumed historical interpreters of the site work in the city in traditional roles, such as blacksmiths, merchants, and cooks, which add to the air of this living historical town. The museum has greatly expanded over the last century, with more buildings, gardens, structures, and objects added over the years. They also feature exhibits and programming for visitors who want to experience and learn about historical Danish life.

Dem Gamle By in Aarhus, Denmark | Source

Finally, the living history museum of Archeon in the Netherlands showcases three different historical periods, namely the Stone Age, the Roman period, and the Medieval period, all from the perspective of this one location. Archeon features a hunter-gatherer camp, a Roman town, and a medieval town through which visitors can discover these three different periods and how they affected the history of the Netherlands. Archeon celebrates many historical and traditional festivals, such as the Midsummer Fair, the Roman Festival, and the Midwinter Fair,  as well as holding knight tournaments and showcasing cooking form these distinct historical periods. As with any living history site, Archeon offers demonstrations and unique experiences for visitors. Living history museums rarely venture before the Middle Ages in their historical recreations, and so having three older historical periods shown at one site makes it into an enriching environment where visitors can connect with the past.

The "Mesothilicum" section of Archeon, which encompasses the period from 8800 to 5300 BCE | Source

Living history museums are rich with potential when it comes to conservation and education that keeps knowledge and traditions alive for generations of visitors, all set in an immersive environment. As I mentioned, the few museums highlighted in this article are only a handful of what is available in Europe, where there are many opportunities to connect with the past in an experiential way. As travel remains risky during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, consider safely traveling to the past at a local living history museum this summer!