Gustavianum’s permanent exhibitions showcase a fascinating array of historical artefacts. In the exhibition The Dawn of the Viking Age, visitors can admire helmets, weapons, ornate bridles, jewellery, and glassware from the burial grounds of Valsgärde, just outside Uppsala. Another section of the museum is devoted to the Mediterranean and Nile regions, featuring artefacts from ancient Egypt and the classical cultures surrounding the Mediterranean – including mummy sarcophagi and pottery.
You’ll also find instruments and other objects that tell the story of Uppsala University’s scientific legacy and the great scholars who worked here, such as Rudbeck, Celsius, and Linnaeus.
Don’t miss the magnificent art collections, including the Augsburg Art Cabinet, presented to King Gustav II Adolf by the city council of Augsburg in 1632. This richly decorated cabinet, filled with visible drawers, hidden compartments, and a thousand objects, served as a kind of 17th-century internet – a world of knowledge in miniature.
At the very top of the building is the Anatomical Theatre, built in the 1660s for public dissections. Today, you can walk through the space and marvel at its remarkable architecture.
Gustavianum also hosts temporary exhibitions from time to time, often featuring rare objects normally accessible only to researchers in the university archives.
