History
Aalborg Søfarts- og Marinemuseum with its main attraction, the submarine SPRINGEREN, was opened on 24th May 1992 by His Royal Highness, Prince Consort Henrik in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen.
Since then, the Museum’s collection has increased considerably, and the museum houses a comprehensive collection of maritime radio receivers and transmitters, as well as nautical instruments illustrating the evolution of these navigational aids among other things. The museum has become one of the major tourist attractions in Aalborg and Northern Jutland, annually visited by several thousand Danish and foreign tourists. The submarine SPRINGEREN will always be a part of the Museum’s history, because it was the reason for its establishment and later expansion. When the Danish Navy took the SPRINGEREN and her sister ships of the DELFINEN-class, the last submarines to be fully designed and built in Denmark, out of active service, many people were of the opinion that at least one of these submarines should be preserved for posterity. Enterprising people in Aalborg heard about this, and negotiations between Aalborg City Council and the Navy began in 1986. The SPRINGEREN arrived in Aalborg in 1990, at the same time as plans for a maritime and naval museum developed.
Soon afterwards the Navy offered the last decommissioned, gas turbine torpedo boat, SØBJØRNEN, to the Museum. Many government institutions like Farvandsvæsenet (Navigation and Hydrography Authority) as well as private companies, Aalborg Havn, (the Port), Aalborg Værft (the Shipyard), shipping companies and individuals donated objects worth preserving to the new museum. Kind assistance from the City of Aalborg made it possible to place the Museum in an ideal maritime setting by the Limfjord next to Skudehavnen. The architecture of the museum is designed to make the buildings blend in with its maritime environment. The green areas, where many of the larger exhibits are placed, give, together with the scattered buildings a feeling of space and interaction between in- and outdoor exhibitions.
On Saturday the 10th of September 2011 a large fire unfortunately started in the wheelhouse where the museums virtual sailing simulator is. The fire was caused by a short circuit in the wiring of the simulator. The fire caused extensive smoke and soot damage to the entire museum, which damaged almost every exhibited object. Among the object which could not be salvaged were the ship radios and the collection of Greenland artefacts.
On the 24th of May 2012 the museum received a new name ‘Springeren – Maritimt Oplevelsescenter’ and on the 4th of August 2012 the museum was once again open to the public, who are invited in for exiting stories of the Danish maritime life and a journey on-board of the submarine.
