General Information about the Conservation Department of the National
Museum of Denmark.
The Department of the National Museum of Denmark is a traditional
conservation department with all conservation disciplines being represented:
* Metals section
* Paintings section
* Organic materials section
* Furniture section
* Paper and textiles section
* Wallpaper section
* Laboratory
The Department acts by law as a consultant in connection with the restoration
of the 2000 medieval
churches in Denmark.
Organization and size:
The Department is a traditionel conservation department at a museum
and it is a business, too.
The two functions are integrated into the same organization.
The department is organized into 6 conservation sub-departments and
a laboratory,
which also deals with museum climate issues, and a secretariat.
The Conservation Department, consisting of almost 100 employees, is
on of the largest of its kind in the world.
Two thirds of the staff is paid to deal with the National Museum's
own collections. The last third conserves
wallpaintings, decorations and furniture in Danish churches, castles,
manor houses and protected buildings.
The payment here is according to market price.
Also private people are customers in this business part of the Department.
History:
The history of conservation in the Natioal Museum is of course as old
as the museum itself.
Royal collections have existed since the 17th century.
The collections expanded over the years and at the beginning of the
19th century the National Museum was established as an institution,
based mainly on archaeology. From the middle of the 19th century conservation
was established as a professional discipline.
A great number of the archaeological objects excavated at that time
are on display today, many of which are in fine condition.
The Department, as it is organized today, has devoloped since 1985,
when the museum's three separate conservation departments
were amalgamated to form a single enity.
Situation, the buildings and storage:
The Department is situated in two different locations:
The major part of the Depatment is in Brede, 15 km north of
Copenhagen, and is housed in 4 buildings with a total area of 9000m2.
The archaeological metal and the ceramic conservation is situated in
Ny Vestergade (across the street from the National Museum's
exhibitions in Prinsens Palais (The Prince's Palace), which is the
main address of the museum in the centre of Copenhagen).
The Department in Brede is housed in an old factory by the river Mølleåen
which developed around a watermill.
Such watermills have existed in Brede since early medieval times.
The National Museum's storage facilities here are housed mostly in
old buildings converted specifically for the purpose.
The next mill along the river is at Ørholm, a property also
owned by the National Museum, where extensive storage facilities, recently
converted,
have also been established.
Together with the capacity at the main residence in Prinsens Palais
in Copenhagen, the National Museum has a total storage area
of 25.000 m2, most of which is of a higly satisfactory standard.
The buildings in Brede and in Ny Vestergade are listed, and as always
this means that it is difficult and expensive
to convert them into conservation laboratories and workshops.
However substantial funds have been available for this purpose throughout
the years and it is confidently expected
that before the end ot the century they will be up to professioanl
standards.