Occupation Museum

The Occupation Museum, Besættelsesmuseet in Danish, is housed in a building that served as a place of interrogation and torture during the German occupation of Denmark in the Second World War. Its exhibition uses that history to tell the story of Aarhus in the war years. The cells are furnished with original items and equipment, and the torture implements used at the time are on display.

The museum concentrates on the major wartime events in the city. These include the Aarhus Air Raid, the 1944 explosion in the Port of Aarhus, the activities of the prolific informant Grethe Bartram and the resistance movement in general. A large collection of objects from 1940 to 1945 fills out the story, including uniforms, weapons, mines, tools and passes, along with German, English and Danish propaganda.

Founded in 2001, the museum suits visitors interested in how the occupation and resistance played out in Aarhus itself.