The Jekt Trade Museum
Practical information | Bodøsjøen open-air museum | What's happening | Booking | History of the museum
Experience Northern Norway's raw coastal culture
Right by the sea with the mountains in the background, amidst the spectacular natural landscape of Bodøsjøen Open-air museum, located The Jekt Trade Museum A museum that tells the story of the raw coastal culture, and the story of how the Jects brought Northern Norway and the rest of Europe together.
Together with the only originally preserved Nordlandjekt at the center of the exhibition, invites the Jekt trade museum you to take a deep dive into a world we don't recognize today.
On The Jekt trade museum you enter a world full of power and powerlessness, profit and risk. You will learn about hardships and life on board, the fishing and farming community, and not least the history of the stockfish trade. With Bodøsjøen Open-air museum consisting of 14 different buildings surrounding The Jekt trade museum , it helps to deepen the history of Nordland and life in the fishing and farming community.
Museum of the Year 2024
The Norwegian Museum Association has named Jektefartsmuseum the museum of the year in 2024. The jury says about the winner: “The winner of the museum of the year 2024 is a museum that has shown an impressive ability to build on its strengths. The museum appears motivated to develop, and does not shy away from thinking new things to reach out to the outside world. The museum works very well with creative communication concepts that are able to make the history they are supposed to convey engaging, understandable and relevant.”
This is happening
The last Nordland Jekt
Anna Karoline - The world's only originally preserved Nordlandjekt, and is a unique cultural monument.
Practical information
Opening hours: Monday: Closed - Tue-Sun: 11:00-16:00
The museum is closed on all national holidays unless otherwise specified.
Entrance tickets are purchased upon arrival at the museum.
Facilities: Café with food service and museum shop. Universal design. Toilet/HC toilet. Cloakroom. Free wifi. Free parking and HC parking. Adapted gravel path in the outdoor area. Good lighting in café and toilet.
Prices
Regular admission: adult 150 NOK, senior/student 130 NOK
Children under 18 have free regular admission.
Group entry (min. 15 paying): NOK 120 per person
Special prices apply for visits outside of regular opening hours.
Address: Kvernhusveien 26, 8070 Bodø
From Bodø downtown: Bike: 13min, Walk: 47min, Car: 8min, Bus:16 min
Contact us
booking.jektefart@ nordlandsmuseet .no Booking: +47 934 66 003 Reception/cafe: +47 930 02 950
The exhibition in 3 steps
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![Three people, two children and an adult, are looking at an exhibition panel in a museum with a large historical cartography in the background.]()
The time before jekt travel
Start your journey in the exhibition in the ship's hall, along the hull of the impressive Nordland ship Anna Karoline, and learn about the early history of the stockfish trade. Discover how Bergen and the Hanseatic League grew in importance, and how stockfish played a key role for kings and merchants. Here you will see one of the museum's valuable treasures, the silver chalice from the 1520s. The object symbolizes the important relationship of trust between fishermen in the north and German merchants in Bergen.
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![An exhibition with large photographs of old, wooden streets, interiors and handicrafts.]()
The Fishermen's society and Bergen
Continue your journey into the Activity Hall, which you will find in the annex building of the museum. Here, fun and interactive experiences await the whole family! Children can try their hand at hoisting sails and lowering barrels at Bryggen in Bergen. Explore the fishing and farming culture of Northern Norway, and learn about how the fishermen brought goods, cultural impulses and new habits from other countries. Here you can see, among other things, the beautiful Lurøyk Dress from the 1760s – a silk wedding dress, which shows how style and customs from the south found their way north.
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![An exhibition with an old wooden boathouse and a hostess in a 19th century dress and hat in a museum.]()
Meet the crew, supernatural powers, and exciting artifacts
End your journey by entering the jetty hall again, continuing up the ramp, and getting to know the crew, mates, hawsers and the jetty skipper who owned the jetty. What supernatural forces prevailed at sea, and how did they manage to navigate along the “world’s most dangerous coast” without a map or compass? A rudder from Helgeland from around the 19th century reveals the superstitions of the old jetty crew – you had to keep an eye on the vessel.
Restaurant Vengen Skafferi
In restaurant Vengen Skafferi you can enjoy exciting flavors in our beautiful and historic surroundings, with views of both the sea and the mountains. You will take part in a world of flavors inspired by local traditions and raw materials, together with foods that were transported by ships to and from Northern Norway - presented as modern dishes.
Bodøsjøen open-air museum
The Jekt trade museum is located in the heart of Bodøsjøen Open-air museum – a scenic area that will deepen the history of the fishing and farming community and the history of Nordland.
In Bodøsjøen open-air museum you will find 14 different buildings, each representing its part in history.
A 200-year-old Nordlandshus that has stood in Bodøsjøen since 1992, refers to a residential building that has been in use for several hundred years. Church arches that were erected in Bodøsjøen in 1970 – 1972, a forge from Medby in Saltdal and a brand new Storbåtnaust are just to name a few. The buildings have QR codes that you can scan to read more about each building and their history.
Booking
History of the museum
The story of The Jekt trade museum is closely linked to the unique Nordland jet Anna Karoline, the world's only preserved original jekt .
Built in 1876 in Brataker in Mosvik, she was originally equipped with a clinker hull and no fixed deck, specifically adapted for the carriage of stockfish. After several modifications, including engine installation and a new deck, Anna Karoline continued her voyages until 1929, when she was used as a barge. In 1954 she was purchased by the Nordlandsmuseet from the Angell family in Lofoten.
Although the purchase of Anna Karoline marked the start of conservation work, it took many years before a museum could be realized. Anna Karoline was landed in Bodøsjøen in 1959, but financial challenges led to several postponements in the restoration work. Throughout the 1970s and 1990s, several proposals for restoration and placement were discussed, including plans to house the jetty in a glass building, but none of them were completed.
In the 1990s, optimism blossomed again, and a project called "Anna Karoline's House" was proposed. The plan was to restore the jetty and present it in a historic setting, but this project was also not carried out.
The breakthrough only came in the 2000s. In 2011, funds were allocated for a feasibility study for a jet-powered museum in Bodøsjøen , and in 2015 the project was supported by the Ministry of Culture. After several revisions and tender processes, construction of the museum began in the fall of 2017. Finally, on June 22, 2019, it opened The Jekt trade museum doors to the public, with Anna Karoline as the main attraction in a modern building that honors the history of jet travel.
The project has been a long journey, but the result is a museum that not only preserves a unique cultural heritage, but also tells the story of the journeys that connected Northern Norway to the rest of the world. From ideas and dreams to a living museum – The Jekt trade museum is today a cultural landmark that allows visitors to experience the important history of the stockfish trade, voyages and coastal culture along the Norwegian coast.