Museum Silkeborg

Tollund Man was found in a bog near Silkeborg in 1950, a body from around the fourth century BC preserved by the acid, oxygen-free peat so completely that his eyelashes, stubble and the calm expression on his face survive, along with the plaited leather rope around his neck that killed him. He is generally understood as a sacrificial deposit rather than an execution. Only the head was fully conserved, with the body reconstructed, and he is displayed in a darkened room that the museum treats with some care. The same museum holds Elling Woman, found nearby, and a wider collection on the region's prehistory and on Silkeborg's nineteenth-century paper mill, which is why the town exists at all.

The main sights

• Tollund Man - an Iron Age face preserved by the bog.
• The plaited leather rope - still around his neck as found.
• Elling Woman - a second bog body from the same area.
• The paper mill story - the industry the town was built around.

When to go

Year round. Two hours. Closed Mondays outside high season. It is rarely crowded. Combine with the Silkeborg lakes and Himmelbjerget, which are the region's other draw.

Before you go

It is a small museum built around one object, and visitors who come only for Tollund Man will see him in a few minutes. Only the head is original; the body is a reconstruction, which the display explains but which still surprises people. Photography is restricted in the bog body room.

Nearby

Himmelbjerget and the lakes are east; Aarhus lies further east again.

Key facts