Workers Museum (Arbejdermuseet), Copenhagen

A historic house of the labour movement

The Workers Museum is housed in the former Workers’ Assembly Hall, a red-brick complex completed in 1879 as a meeting place for Copenhagen’s emerging labour movement. Built when authorities restricted public gatherings, it was financed by small contributions from workers determined to secure their own democratic space. Inside, the grand hall still carries decorative murals, union banners and an architecture designed to express pride, solidarity and a belief in collective progress. For a century this building hosted fiery debates, union congresses, lectures, dances and social events that helped shape Denmark’s social democracy. Today it remains remarkably intact and forms part of a Danish UNESCO tentative listing of workers’ assembly halls, underlining its importance as a rare, well-preserved witness to the organization of industrial-era workers.

Everyday life in Copenhagen’s working-class homes

The museum’s permanent exhibitions focus on everyday life rather than heroic statues. You step into reconstructed workers’ apartments, moving from cramped late‑19th‑century rooms through 1930s interiors and into more spacious 1950s and 1980s flats. Scuffed floorboards, enamel stoves, hand‑embroidered textiles and children’s toys evoke families stretching wages, sharing beds and slowly gaining comfort as the welfare state expanded. Shops and workplaces are rebuilt at full scale: a pawnbroker’s counter, modest clothing and grocery stores, and hints of the long hours that paid for even simple luxuries. Labels and audio stories highlight food, leisure, gender roles and housing shortages, showing how incremental reforms transformed daily routines over generations.

Activism, rights and the making of the welfare state

Beyond domestic scenes, the museum traces how union organizing, strikes and political campaigns translated into collective bargaining, paid holidays and social security. Displays chart the rise of mass organizations, from trade unions to cooperatives and political parties, and show how they used the assembly hall for rallies, negotiations and cultural events. Recent exhibitions have explored themes such as slavery, migration, refugees and modern labour exploitation, linking Denmark’s colonial past and global supply chains to contemporary social struggles. Interactive elements invite you to consider your own working life, voice opinions on current debates, and see activism as an ongoing process rather than a finished chapter.

Spaces for children, coffee and conversation

Families are well catered for in the Kids’ Workers’ Museum, where children can play shopkeeper in a 1930s grocer, dress up, try simple chores and learn through role‑play. It turns complex topics like class and rights into tangible experiences sized for smaller visitors. On the ground floor, a 1950s-style coffee bar serves classic Danish treats and nostalgic coffee substitutes once used during wartime shortages, while the listed basement "Café & Ølhalle" offers traditional open sandwiches and beer in a wood‑panelled hall. Bookshop shelves carry titles on labour history, politics and social issues, encouraging visitors to continue reflecting long after leaving the exhibitions.

A living forum for democracy and learning

The Workers Museum is not only a guardian of artefacts but an active forum for civic education. It collaborates closely with schools and adult learners, using the building’s history to frame discussions on democracy, inequality and participation. Workshops, talks and events often take place in the same halls where workers once argued over strategy and policy. By combining immersive period settings, critical exhibitions and a powerful historic venue, the museum offers a nuanced perspective on how ordinary people helped shape modern Denmark. It is a place to slow down, listen to many voices from the past and consider how ideas of fairness, solidarity and rights continue to evolve today.