Digital Exhibition
Viking Gold. Treasure politics since 1800
Treasures from the Viking Age (c. 800–1100) are still being regularly unearthed in the Baltic Sea region today, and it was no different in the past.
The discovery of these treasures sparked multifaceted processes of appropriation: Who gets to keep the “Viking gold”? Where will it be shown? Who identifies with this cultural heritage? Who rejects it? And how do these processes change over time? This exhibition about treasure politics shows that both the appropriation of cultural heritage and its rejection are politically charged. The exhibition addresses the the role that Viking-age gold treasures play as cultural heritage in people’s everyday lives, and the extent to which cultural heritage was – and still is – intertwined with politics: interpretations of the past are always shaped by their historical context.
Curators: Isabelle Dolezalek and Charlotte Wenke
Technische Universität Berlin and University of Greifswald.
Design: museeon, Berlin (https://www.museeon.de/).
The digital exhibition presents the results of a joint project between the Stralsund Museum and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research at Greifswald University (“Fragmented transformations”, sub-project “Viking Gold: Treasure Finds as Translocal Heritage”, 2021–25), led by Professor Isabelle Dolezalek.
