Holy Odin!

I started the topic with the Carpathian Troy and now I can't stop: There is an open air museum I really enjoyed over many years of living in the high   
  north of Germany. 

On the northern coast of the German Baltic Sea, the shore line is very irregular. The land is flat and hilly at the same time. Hills which are spread along the east coast of Schleswig Holstein had been formed by the glacier. The water forged ahead and built flat but very long zigzag-shaped fjords. One of them is called Schlei, here sweet and salty water are mixed and the fjord looks like a lake as you cannot recognize the connection to the sea when standing on the shore.

A replica of a Viking boat on the Schlei

When you look twice, you recognize 
the roofs of Viking houses above the reed bed.

On the very end of the Schlei, on the heartland there is an ancient medieval city called Schleswig with a cathedral out of red brick dominating the landscape. On the suburbs of Schleswig, you will find Haithabu, a Viking museum, a must see for people interested in history of Middle Ages and in Vikings. 
Haithabu used to be a flourishing metropole, center of trade between Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. Between the 8th and 11th century these were the Vikings who built the city and traded here. The end of Haithabu came with Christianity. Schleswig as a new Christian settlement took over the leading part.

The opposite side of the Schlei curve:
The Cathedral of Schleswig

The houses of Haithabu are reconstructions,
situated in the very place where the ancient
Viking settlement once stood.

A glimpse through the window of one of the Haithabu houses

For four centuries Vikings have been leaving remains of their existence. These findings are an enormous treasure to nowadays archeologists. The amount of excavations is huge - also due to the fact that nobody ever tried to build in this place anything new. The ground is swampy.

Bones of animals found around the settlement

A huge boat reconstructed based on remains found in the Schlei

Archeologists digged out of the swampy ground enormous evidence. Tools of everyday life, fragments of clothing, ritual figures and especially interesting - animal bones. This part is so interesting, according to what I learned in the museum, mostly because it gives us clues on the diet, the way of breeding and customs of killing and exploiting domestic animals. It gives us a glimpse how sophisticated the tool making of the Vikings was. Also there are parts of a huge Viking boat that has been elevated from the bottom of the Schlei. Of course the findings give much broader information on trading connections between European centers of early Middle Ages too.

A God or a toy? or both?

The swampy ground in the surroundings of Haithabu and Schleswig is a true paradise for archeologists researching another periods of time as well. Older ethnic groups living in this area left numerous traces of their rituals, of every day life and above all, the customs of dealing with death and the burial of important members of their society. The swamp revealed a sophisticated range of rites-de-passage by the pre-Viking societies. This is why there are two very important archeologic museums in a direct neighbouhood. The one of Haithabu with the reconstruction of a Viking city and the other one for even earlier communities from this region - in Schloß Gottorf, in Schleswig.

The museum of Schloß Gottorf is most known for the so called Moorleichen - bog people. The human remains have beed mummified by the lack of oxygen and special chemical condition of the swamp.

Next to the bodies, rich artifacts have been found, equipment of representative burial rituals.

The shooting star of the Museum Schloß Gottorf: Nydamboot. The boat measures 23 meters and this year the museum celebrates the most precious exhibit of its collection by a special show for the 150th anniversary of its elevation out of the swamp. The boat is such an archeological sensation that for decades it used to be a controversy between two countries: both Germany and Danmark claimed rights to own the boat. Nowadays both countries co-operate on scientific research and expositions.

Apart of the many archeologists, Schleswig and Haithabu attract a high number of freaks too. There is plenty of people who play the Vikings, especially in  the summer time. They spend almost all summer by dressing, living, eating and doing like Vikings. Some groups are allowed as residents to the Haithabu open air museum.

One of the most interesting and surprising things I have learned in Haithabu: the Viking society was based on matriarchy. Women were the ones who decided to take a husband, they chose the man and they were able to send him away and re-marry.

You can learn from contemporary Vikings in Haithabu the old technics of making honey, forming ceramic pots and building bows and arrows.

The modern Vikings sell their products to tourists. They are no fools!

But the most amazing guy, I ever met there was a guide, an archeologist pensioner, who looking like retired Indiana Jones (he only did not carry the whip around - at least not on the day I met him) was able to make a three-hours-tour in a most fascinating way showing very vivid insights into the world of Vikings and into the methods of work of archeologists.

The Haithabu-Indiana-Jones demonstrates to a group of tourists the usage of tools for a bow production.

At the crossroads of both, archeologists and role playing groups: there are the very few so called experimental archeologists. They are scientists who imitate in the most authentic way the production and functioning of ancient tools and weapons to check how close they can get by simulation to historical truth of the civilizational achievements back then. Apparently, one of the most significant of them is Harm Paulsen, associated with the Museum of Schleswig. He is not only representing one of the most exceptional forms of a profession but he also does something for living that many children dream about while their adults tell them to build a career on realistic expectations. 

I have never met Harm Paulsen in person. I came across his professional career by watching a documentary on Ötzi, the iceman. I have found for you some links with Harm Paulsen. Enjoy! The guy is quite entertaining, unfortunately the links are in German though. And go to Schleswig and Haithabu!

http://www.planet-wissen.de/politik_geschichte/archaeologie/methoden_der_archaeologie/av_archaeo_paulsen.jsp

Der Aalstecher:

Here the link for both museums, Haithabu and Schloß Gottorf:
http://www.schloss-gottorf.de