Qeqertarsuaq Museum

© Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Infrastruktur
Harpoon gun at Qeqertarsuaq Museum. Around 1860, the harpoon gun was invented and, with the steamship, heralded a new era in whale hunting. It was now possible to hunt blue and fin whales, both of which are relatively fast species that had not previously been conspicuous prey.
ANINGAAQ R. CARLSEN/VISIT GREENLAND, 2020

The original museum building is the old inspector’s residence, later the bailiff’s and doctor’s residence, erected in 1840. Established in 1992, the museum was given another building in 2005, in which a so-called cold museum is designed for kayaks, boats and sledding equipment, as well as other major exhibits. The collections are quite comprehensive and include originals and copies of Jakob Danielsen’s watercolours, a fine collection of carving works, finds from several archaeological sites in the area, costumes and clothing, hunting implements, a cooper’s and joiner’s workshop, the bailiff’s full-dress uniform, measuring instruments from and a picture exhibition on the Arctic Station as well as an exhibition on whales.

A particular focus of the museum is the whale hunting period, the time of the town as the ‘capital’ of North Greenland and the life and work of Jakob Danielsen. In addition, there is a small room where the museum has a memorial room for writer and priest Otto Sandgreen.

Further reading

Read more about Culture in Greenland

  • Daniel Thorleifsen

    (b. 1962) MA. Director of the Greenland National Museum & Archives.

  • Bo Albrechtsen

    (b. 1968) MA. Director of the Greenlandic House in Aalborg.