Frilandsmuseet De Gamle Huse (Maribo)

The open-air museum De Gamle Huse in Maribo is one of the exhibition venues under Museum Lolland-Falster, beautifully situated by Bangs Have in the Maribosøerne Nature Park down towards Maribo Lake. The museum is Denmark's third-oldest open-air museum: its history began in 1923, when the chairman of the Lolland-Falster Diocesan Museum secured a plot for the preservation of old houses from the area, and the museum opened in 1927. Today, 13 half-timbered houses from Lolland-Falster have been reconstructed on the site — buildings from the late 17th century to the early 20th century that served as farmsteads, smallholdings, agricultural labourers' cottages, rectories, schools, smithies, windmills and fire engine houses. Original artefacts and small scenarios convey rural life in the 18th and 19th centuries, and gardens have been laid out along with opportunities for traditional village games. The museum also houses a steam-powered ploughing machine from 1872. The venue is well suited to a family excursion and can be combined with a walk in the surrounding nature park.