Collections
Welcome to Kode’s digital home for learning!
Get to know our collections and composers – and learn more about our work at the museum.
Our collections
Search our collections
Part of our collection are digitized at Digitalt Museum. Have a look!
Our collection
Kode’s history dates back to 1825. The collection counts more than 50, 000 items, spanning visual art, objects, buildings, photos and digital art, from antiquity to today.
Kode is home to the third largest Munch collection in the world. The museums also house national treasures by Nikolai Astrup, J.C. Dahl and Harriet Backer and items of Norwegian silver. We have an extensive collection of Norwegian and international contemporary art and also the largest national collection of Chinese art.
The composer’s homes are historic memorials as well as vibrant music arenas. Her you can experience Ole Bull’s violins, Edvard Grieg’s grand piano and Harald Sæverud’s study, and last, but not least: their brilliant music.
Foto: Dag Fosse / Kode
Our most important work
Kode stewards, researches and presents a 200-year-old collection of art and music to our visitors. The collection is always kept relevant through new exhibitions and catalogues, and it is steadily growing with new purchases and gifts. We also lend out artworks to other museums the world over.
Collection management is the museum’s core activity. Our main purpose is to preserve the cultural heritage we are safeguarding for future generations. We do this through conservation, restoring, handling and transport, and preventive conservation and storing.
Read more about how we manage the collection
Foto: Dag Fosse / Kode
Our history
How did Kode become the museum that it is today? What does our nearly 200-year-long history look like?
Kode stewards around 50, 000 works of art including paintings, paper works, sculptures, installations, video, objects, furniture, handicraft and design and also instruments. Throughout our history, the museums have been gifted substantial collections, like the Rasmus Meyer and Stenersen collections. Long-term deposits from private individuals and foundations help us present our visitors with new experiences.
Read more about the driving forces, collectors and institutions that make our history.
The institution's history
Historisk foto fra Rasmus Meyers allé, udatert / Historical street view of Rasmus Meyers street, undated. Foto: Olai Schumann Olsen / Universitetsbiblioteket i Bergen
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