Jamtli

Jamtli is the name of the regional open air museum of Jämtland and Härjedalen in Östersund, Sweden.

In the early years, the museum focused on collecting and exhibiting historical buildings and items, but also organized courses in folk dance, handicraft and music.

The new museum was stylistically inspired by the castle architecture of the Vasa-era of the 16th century, and its grandeur testifies to the importance attributed to regional cultural heritage at the time.

During the 1930s, the archaeologist, feminist and County Governor’s wife Hanna Rydh played an important part in the development of the museum, taking special interest in traditional costumes of the region.

He managed to attract more visitors to the museum with a steady flow of new exhibitions, and he also initiated various ethnological surveys in the region.

At the time, alternative learning methods and new thoughts on the museum’s role in society were spreading.

Since 1986, actors have moved into the historical buildings every summer, and recreated how people lived, worked and spoke in the past.

Five years later, the building opened to the public, with a series of new exhibitions showing the cultural history of Jämtland-Härjedalen.