Jump to maincontent

About Svalbard Museum

Svalbard museum is the northernmost museum in the world and a central institution for documenting, preserving, researching, and communicating the cultural and natural heritage of Svalbard. Established in 1979 and organised as a foundation since 2005, the museum holds responsibility for automatically protected cultural objects from the archipelago. With collections comprising approximately 55,000 objects, 170,000 photographs, and extensive archival material, the museum operates at the intersection of research, education, and public engagement. It serves as a platform for knowledge exchange, contributing to interdisciplinary dialogue on Arctic history, environmental change, sustainable development, and cultural heritage management in a rapidly transforming High Arctic context.

Svalbard Museum aim to collect, preserve, disseminate and work with research connected to natural and cultural history, environment and cultural heritage on Svalbard.

From voluntary work to a professional museum

The first museum committee was established in Longyearbyen in 1964. In 1969, 86 objects were collected in the old post office below the church. January 18th 1979, the first Board of Directors was constituted and in 1981 the museum opened it's doors for the general visitors in the old pig stable. The museum was officially opened February 20th 1982. 

For years to come, the activity was based upon the voluntary work and commitment of the locals. Until 1998, there were no hired employees. In 1999, again in cooperation with the local community, the work towards beeing a "professional" museum commenced. 

Svalbard Museum was organized as a part the local "Svalbardrådet" (Svalbard council), became a foundation in 2000 and in 2002, as a departement in the newly establised "Longyearbyen Lokalstyre" (The local council of Longyearbyen).

Glimpses from the museum's exhibitions

Cultural and natural history connected to Svalbard. The exhibitions offer insight and knowledge through objects, reconstructed models, text and photos (photo carousel below)

  • The photo shows an "atlant", a wooden figure probably used as an ornament on a ship.
    1/14
    Bildet viser en atlant som er stilt ut i museets basisutstilling. Atlanten var trolig en del av utsmykningen til et skip. Hege Anita Eilertsen | Svalbard museum
  • Photo shows a hat and other objects.
    2/14
    Dette kan være hatten til Willem Barentz, den første som oppdaget Svalbard. Hege Anita Eilertsen | Svalbard museum
  • Two young children reading in an album.
    3/14
    Både barn og voksne liker seg i museet Hege Anita Eilertsen
  • Bildet viser ærfugl som svømmer. Både den fargerike hannfuglen og den mer diskret fargete hunnfuglen er med i bildet. I sommerhalvåret er det mange ærfugler på Svalbard.
    4/14
    Ærfuglene er en av fugleartene som finnes i store antall på Svalbard om sommeren. Hege Anita Eilertsen | Svalbard museum
  • Picture shows Svalbard reindeer in the museum exhibition.
    5/14
    Svalbardreinsdyr er tilpasset et liv i det arktiske klimaet. Ragnhild Utne | Svalbard Museum
  • Photo shows Russian religious icon.
    6/14
    De første som kom for å drive fangst var pomorene, altså folk fra russiske områder ved sjøen. Hege Anita Eilertsen | Svalbard museum
  • The photo shows handheld harpoons for whaling.
    7/14
    Bildet viser harpuner til bruk i fangst av sjøpattedyr Hege Anita Eilertsen | Svalbard museum
  • Photo shows children wearing the coal miner's outfit.
    8/14
    Barn - og voksne - kan krype gjennom "lavstrossa" som er en del av museets utstilling. Hege Anita Eilertsen
  • Photo shows jacket from a whaler´s grave.
    9/14
    Flere funn bærer med seg en sensasjonell historie og vitner også om helt spesielle bevaringsforhold i arktis. Ragnhild Utne | Svalbard Museum
  • Photo shows a fossil.
    10/14
    Fossil Ragnhild Utne | Svalbard Museum
  • The photo shows one of the museum objects in the exhitibion.
    11/14
    Etter oppdagelsen av Svalbard kom mange ekspedisjoner for utforskning og forskning Ragnhild Utne | Svalbard Museum
  • Photo shows a trapper´s cabin, Norwegian style
    12/14
    Fangsthytte slik vi kan oppfatte de norske hyttene. Legg merke til "ringeklokka" Ragnhild Utne | Svalbard Museum
  • Photo shows knitted hats.
    13/14
    Luer fra hvalfangertiden på Svalbard Ragnhild Utne | Svalbard Museum
  • Photo of the museum section "inner Arctic".
    14/14
    I "indre Arktis" er det tid og rom til å reflektere Ragnhild Utne | Svalbard Museum

2006: new exhibitions in the "Forskningsparken"

In 2006, the museum once again was formed a foundation and moved into the newly built Forskingsparken (Svalbard Science Park). Here, the museum has it's main exhibition, repository, offices and laboratories. The founders was Longyearbyen lokalstyre, Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani AS, Universitetssenteret på Svalbard AS, Norsk Polarinstitutt og Sysselmannen på Svalbard (now Sysselmesteren). These are appointing the Board of Directors. 

 

The museum receives operational funding from Justis- og beredskapsdepartementet and Kultur- og likestillingsdepartementet. We operate the repositorys/artifact collections with ca 55.000 objects, the digital photo archive with more than 27.000 digital photos (collections). In February 2026, the museum has 16 employees.