I have been to … Tøjhusmuseet (The Royal Danish Arsenal Museum), Copenhagen, Denmark

Sue and I visited Tøjhusmuseet (The Royal Danish Arsenal Museum), Copenhagen, Denmark some years ago, but at the time of our earlier visit the Museum was undergoing a lot of building work and reorganisation. By the time of this visit, most the work had been completed, and the display area had more than doubled in size.

Rather than repeat the coverage of the exhibits that were included in my earlier blog entry, I am going to concentrate on the new exhibits … although I could not resist photographing some of my favourites, which include a model of the building that houses the Museum as it was when it was used as an arsenal, …

… a Carden-Lloyd Tankette, …

… and a mobile armoured pillbox … which bears a striking resemblance to a Dalek on wheels!

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1864
Denmark did not take part in the First World War and 2014 marks a very different anniversary for the Danes; it is the 150th anniversary of the war with Prussia that ended with the area of Europe controlled by the Danish monarchy being reduced to almost half of its former size. As a result, the Museum has mounted a small display to mark this anniversary.

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The Danish Armed Forces in Afghanistan
This exhibit was undergoing revision and expansion the last time we visited the Museum. It is now open, and gives a very realistic idea about the conditions under which members of the Danish Armed Forces operated in Afghanistan. It combines photographs, recreations, and sound to do this … and both Sue and I were very impressed by it.

(Please note that the lighting inside the exhibit was designed for dramatic effect and not for photography, hence some of the odd colours that appear in some of the following images.)

Arriving at Camp Bastion

Front-line Accommodation

Leaving Camp Bastion to go out on patrol

Afghan house

Patrolling the countryside

The impact of an IED (Improvised Explosive Device)

An Afghan polling station

An Afghan Market

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Denmark's Wars
On our previous visit the upper floor of the Museum had been close for renovation, but on this occasion it was open and housed a gallery entitled 'Denmark's Wars'.

To the right of the entrance to the upper floor was a collection of modern helmets displayed in the way that ancient armour is often displayed …

… as were a number of modern automatic rifles.

The exhibits included a number of sets of armour for horses …

… and men, …

… including some Japanese armour.

There were several display cases full of early weapons …

… and nineteenth century Russian uniforms.

There were also collections of military headgear, …

… examples of uniforms that were worn by various Norwegian monarchs, ...

… military medals, ...

… and models of artillery pieces.

The middle of the nineteenth century was also featured, and included two cabinets containing typical military uniforms of the period as worn by ordinary US soldiers.

The latter part of the nineteenth century was covered …

… as was the First World War, during which Denmark remained neutral.

There were several cabinets devoted to Denmark's involvement in the Second World War …

… and the Cold War.

The role of the Danish Air Force was not forgotten, and there were two display cases full of large-scale models of aircraft used by the Air Force.