Come to Schleswig and Delve into History!

Hello history aficionados and valiant Vikings,

Today, I’d like to draw your attention to two exciting new exhibitions that have just opened—and that you definitely won’t want to miss. Conveniently, both are presented at the Archaeological State Museum Schloss Gottorf in Schleswig.

And if that only deepens your craving for Vikings and living history, consider visiting the spring market (18–21 April 2025) at the reconstructed Viking Age houses in Hedeby, just across the Schlei ford. The museum offers combo tickets for all events online.

Past Identities

This is the title of a compelling photo exhibition currently on display at Schloss Gottorf, conceptualised and initiated by photographer and living history enthusiast Jonas Radtke. His portraits of living history performers—captured in meticulously reconstructed historical garments and gear—create an immediate and sensory bridge to the past, or rather, to its modern visualisation.

In living history, performers cannot remain vague; they must make specific choices in interpreting research. This is both the strength and the limitation of re-enactment and living history: on one hand, they bring history to life, offering a tangible and relatable version of past worlds. On the other, they risk being misunderstood as historical fact, when they are in truth temporary interpretations of a fragmented legacy.

My New Early Medieval Belt

One such object—based on careful research, yet still an interpretation—is a belt I recently made. I used vegetable-tanned leather, dyed with walnut peels, and fitted with a bone buckle and strap end that I purchased from Reenactors years ago. I highlighted the fine carvings using egg tempera paint. I also carved two rings from local antler.

You can find an extensive making-of, complete with images, in a public post on my Patreon.

Twilight of the Vikings

The special exhibition Twilight of the Vikings – Turning Point in the North explores the transition from the Late Viking Age to the Medieval period, focusing on the shift in regional significance from Hedeby/Haithabu to Schleswig. It offers new insights into Scandinavian administration, as well as social and military organisation within the wider European context of the 11th century.

The exhibition runs until 2nd November 2025.

If you’ve never been to Schloss Gottorf before, now is the time. This may be your last chance to see the historic edifice in all its splendour—before it closes in September 2025 to receive a modern steel-and-glass extension, which will permanently alter its appearance.

A novelty likely to receive far more public approval than the museum’s architectural plans is Germany’s first Viking-themed traffic lights, complete with tongue-in-cheek graphics. You’ll spot them when crossing the road near Odin’s restaurant, not far from the Wikinger Museum Haithabu. Just be sure to attack only when the green light shows!

So, that's it for today. Take care, and keep your blade well-honed.

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Yours,

Roland

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