Kongernes Jelling

How do you turn 1,500-year-old gold into a living story?When two locals unearthed 23 pieces of gold near Jelling, the museum faced a rare challenge: making an archaeological discovery feel alive, not just displayed. The exhibition needed to connect science, myth, and emotion in one experience that felt as powerful as the moment the treasure was found.

Bring the treasure home and let people feel its weight in history. We wanted visitors to experience the awe of discovery, understand the craftsmanship behind each piece, and sense how faith, power, and beauty intertwined in the Iron Age. Most of all, it had to feel personal; a story rooted in the soil of Vindelev.

Visitors step from the present and walk backwards in time into a dark, soil-like space the moment before the gold was buried. As they move through, gold emerges from the shadows, illuminated piece by piece. Projection, sound, and storytelling bring each artifact to life: Odin’s face shimmers across a bracteate; the gold details illuminated on a giant projection. Interactive layers reveal hidden details and European connections, merging archaeology with emotion.

The result is an encounter; arediscovery of belief, craftsmanship, and identity, 1,500 years later.