There are gargantuan museums out there which sit atop many a bucket list – and we recently compiled a collection of the crème de la crème which are actually worth travelling to – but the European Museum of the Year Awards does a stellar job of spotlighting new or redeveloped spaces which are showing particularly impressive ingenuity.
The 2026 ceremony was held in Bilbao on Saturday June 13 and Denmark’s Den Gamle By (the National Open-Air Museum of Urban History and Culture) was crowned champion.
Described as a space ‘by ordinary people for ordinary people’, the Aarhus-based centre is currently comprised of four different exhibitions which journey through the period from 1600 to 2014, featuring everything from horses wandering around to a retro Scandinavian Airlines ticket office.
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The whole idea behind this museum, rather than creating yet another static experience, was instead to let it evolve and be informed by the local communities.
According to euronews, the awarding committee said: ‘Volunteers play a central role, contributing expert knowledge and personal experience to the narratives explored, while participatory projects embed the museum deeply within civic life.’
And as for the judging panel, they said that: ‘Sustainability is an increasingly prevalent theme in the museum’s newly developed activities, which include cultivating and promoting heirloom plant varieties, courses on gardening, and workshops on clothing and building repair.’
Sounds pretty fun, right? If you’re keen to pay this place a visit, entry for an adult costs 205 DKK (around €27), but children under the age of 18 can enter for free (though make sure to still secure them a ticket). Find all the other information you need on the Den Gamle By official website.
However, it was far from the only museum recognised at the ceremony: London’s Young V&A won the Council of Europe Museum Prize, the Museum of Madness Institute in Trate, Slovenie won something called The Kenneth Hudson Award for Institutional Courage and Professional Integrity, and the Museum of the Rural Civilisation of Mendrisiotto located in Stabio, Switzerland, collected the Portimão Museum Prize for Welcoming, Inclusion, and Belonging.
How is the European Museum of the Year decided?
After the applications close (which is in the spring) a committee of reviewers assess each one for eligibility before they’re subject to site visits and potential shortlist inclusion.
Each museum which makes the shortlist is then anonymously visited by a member of the jury, who all reconvene to decide on the nominations, commendations and overall winners. Any institution which has made the final nominations receives a letter in the preceding January letting them know, and the awards take place in late spring or early summer.
Mark your calendars for May 30, 2027.
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