Faengslet

The state prison at Horsens opened in 1853 on a radial plan of wings around a central hall and held Denmark's long-sentence prisoners until it closed in 2006, after which the buildings were kept and opened as a museum. Visitors walk the wings, the cells, the exercise yards, the workshops, the chapel and the punishment cells, with exhibitions on the history of Danish imprisonment, on individual inmates and staff, and on how the regime changed over a hundred and fifty years, using the fabric itself rather than reconstructions. Some cells are left as they were on the day it closed. The site also functions as a venue: the yards host a large music festival each summer and the halls are used for concerts and events.

What you actually see

• The radial wings and cells - the 1853 prison layout walked in full.
• Cells left as they closed - rooms untouched since 2006.
• Punishment cells and workshops - the working parts of the regime.
• Exhibitions on Danish imprisonment - the changing system over 150 years.

When to go

Year round, though hours are reduced in winter. Two to three hours. The summer music festival closes the museum for its duration, so check dates. Weekdays are quiet.

Honest expectations

It is a bleak subject in a bleak building and some visitors find it heavy going. Much of the interpretation is in Danish. The site closes around festival dates. It is a large complex with a lot of walking on hard floors.

Nearby

Horsens town centre is a short walk; the Rediscovered Bridge lies west.