Jekt trade 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

Address and contact

Kvernhusveien 26, 8070 Bodø

From Bodø city center:
Bicycle: 13 minutes
Walk: 47 min
Car: 8 minutes
Bus: 16 minutes

Bus number 2 from Dronningens gate takes you to a bus stop called "Bodøgård". Get off at this bus stop, and continue forward 150m. At the crossroads you will see a sign that says " The Jekt trade museum". Continue inwards for approx. 3-400 meters, and you have arrived at the museum.

Contact us

booking.jektefart@nordlandsmuseet.no

Booking: +47 934 66 003

Reception/cafe: +47 930 02 950

Availability

  • Automatic entrance doors

  • Toilet/disabled toilet

  • Food service

  • Free parking

  • Handicap parking

  • Universally designed exhibition

  • Adapted gravel path in the outdoor area

  • Good lighting in cafe and toilet

  • Telecoil

Opening hours and ticket prices

Open Tuesday-Sunday 11:00 - 16:00 

Requests for bookings and price quotes can be sent by email or via the form at the bottom of this page.

Ticket prices

  • Adults 150 NOK

  • Students 120 NOK

  • Honorarium 120 NOK

  • Children and young people under 18: free

The last Nordland jet

Anna Karoline - The world's only originally preserved Nordlandjekt, and is a unique cultural monument.

The exhibition in 3 steps

  • 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. 

  • 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. 

  • 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.

News

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.

Golden horse stables and four traditional wooden cottages with thatched roofs, surrounded by green landscape and trees, with a gravel road in front.
Indoor view of an art installation consisting of images of wooden houses and cut-out images of interiors and kitchens, where the images are positioned and overlapping, with a focus on the wooden house, staircase and wood panels.

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. 

A woman in a blue jacket and black hat holding an old, bent sailing ship in the museum.

Booking

Guided tour, information and historical information

The Jekt trade museum has various informational offers, for both adults and children. Be guided through the exhibition, or sit in the beautiful amphitheater in front of the jetty while learning about the fantastic history of jetty travel. An informational presentation at the beginning of your visit will put you in the right mood to explore the exhibition further on your own afterwards.

  • You will be guided through the entire exhibition, and will learn about both the time before and during the launch. 

    Time required: 30 – 40 minutes
    Number: 15 – 30
    Available language:     Norwegian/English
    Price:     150NOK per person

  • Find all the bottle mails along with the house's the jekt skipper , on the way to the pier in Bergen! 

    The children meet the housekeeper the jekt skipper at the reception. The house the jekt skipper presents the fantastic ejekta, Anna Karoline, while they get an introduction to stockfish - this is the start of an exciting tour!

    Join in on the sailor songs, the search for messages in bottles and storytelling! 

    Time required: 25 - 30 minutes
    Number: 15
    Available language: Norwegian
    Recommended age: 4 - 13 years
    Meeting point: Reception
    Price on request

  • Learn about the amazing history of jet skiing

    A mini-lecture spiced with a little humor, excitement and pride! You will be taken through the long lines, interspersed with close and real stories.

    Time required: 15 - 20 minutes
    Number: 15 - 90 people
    Location: Seated in the amphitheater
    Available language:     Norwegian/English
    Price: 150NOK per person

  • Hear about the stockfish trade, the voyage to and from Bergen, the meeting with the merchant, and the status and responsibility that comes with being a merchant. the jekt skipper A theatrical presentation where you get to meet the yacht skipper.

    Time required: 10 - 15 minutes
    Number: 15 - 90 people
    Location: Seated in the amphitheater
    Available language:     Norwegian/English
    Price: 150NOK per person

Adventure Dinner: Our Arctic Treasure Chamber

Be drawn into a living story that offers humor, excitement and reflection - while you taste exciting dishes from the sea and land, inspired by the history of yachting.

You will join a voyage to Bergen together with several different characters from the past, and not least get a feel for what the journey home might have been like. You will end the evening with a tasty 3-course dinner in Vengen Skafferi.

Once upon a time, the annual jib voyage was the most natural of all. Hardships and life on board, the stockfish trade, power and powerlessness, profit and risk. When we talk about jibs today, coastal history has changed. How can we preserve the memories of the jib skipper, the fisherman's wife, the mate, the crew, the community? - those who risked their lives to put food on the table and brought with them new cultural impulses, habits and goods from distant lands.

This is Our Arctic Treasure Chamber.

Capacity

  • Minimum 20

  • Maximum 70

A group of people stand in a semicircle around a woman dressed in a long, historical dress with a large, voluminous skirt and a hood. The people smile and take pictures of her.

Lunch, party, memorial service, confirmation, christening/name party and other private events

We offer premises for lunch, parties, memorial services, confirmations, baptisms, name days and other private events in historic and atmospheric surroundings, with food provided by our restaurant Vangen Skafferi.

Choose between the conference room during the day or the restaurant in the evening. We have a capacity of 80 people. We arrange the tables as desired, and set them with white tablecloths, candles and a hint of the maritime theme. Put together your own menu with different dishes from our party menu, or explore one of our buffets with adventurous flavors.

In restaurant Vengen Skafferi you can also order lunch with 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 ingredients, together with foods that were transported by ships to and from Northern Norway - presented as modern dishes.

Table set with glasses, cutlery, white napkins and candles, decorated with green leaves, ready for a formal party or dinner event.

Course and conference in a historical setting

Are you planning a conference, course or team building? The Jekt trade museum offers good facilities and solid experience with meetings, courses and various types of events.

Group conversation among young adults at a social event, focusing on three people in the center.

Photo: Robin Bøe

  • Cinema setup: 100

    Classrooms: 60

    Boardroom: 20

    Group tables (4): 40

    Maximum 80

  • ✔ Free Wi-Fi
    ✔ Projector and screen
    ✔ Microphone
    ✔ Telecoil
    ✔ Service available
    ✔ Access to premises by appointment

  • Restaurant Vengen Skafferi is inspired by local traditions and raw materials, along with foods that were transported by ship to and from Northern Norway - presented as modern dishes.

    Catering options at the conference

    Coffee/tea
    Fruits and vegetables
    Sweet
    Today's hot lunch w/o dessert (served in the restaurant)
    Sandwiches with sourdough bread, cured ham and goat cheese (served in the meeting room)

  • Guided tour

    Be guided through the exhibition, and learn more about the time before and during the jet voyage.

    Mini-lecture

    A mini-lecture spiced with a little humor, excitement and pride! You will be taken through the long lines, interspersed with close and real stories.