LÜTZHØFTS GROCER’S HOUSE: STEP THROUGH TIME INTO A DIFFERENT CENTURY
The coffee mill spins, the door bell chimes, the scent of spices is in the air…
Welcome to the old Grocer’s House! Here’s your chance to smell, feel, hear, see, and even taste history.
Go on and look behind the counter, hear the shopkeeper tell the story, and browse the wares. The shelves are stocked, and the shop is fully functional, with all the amenities, historical goods, and service of way back when, one hundred years ago.
A TIME CAPSULE ON RINGSTEDGADE
The moment you walk through the door, you know it. You have stepped one hundred years back in time. The Grocer’s House is a time capsule, where you can experience for yourself what commerce and shopping looked like around 1920.
The entire shop is open to you. Explore behind the counter, have a look at the many historical advertisements, look into the Grocer’s office, and – most importantly – go shopping for our specially curated historical wares, like sugarloaves, rock candy, handcrafted brushes, our lovingly recreated historical beer, and much, much more. The commis – the shopkeeper – will wrap it all up for you in neat brown bags and hand-twisted paper cones, all while explaining the working scales, fully functional antique till, and answering all of your most burning questions. It’s service just as it would have been a century ago!
Our museum has no long-winded signs in tiny fonts, but we are always in the mood to chat and tell, and you’ll be certain to leave with a good experience and some shopping done!
Admission is entirely free
THE ARTISANS’ MUSEUM
A true treasure chest of historical tools.
Immerse yourself in our collection of old artisan’s tools on the first floor in the Grocer’s old grain storage. Here, you can find everything from the impressive carpenter’s benches and lathes, to the humble clogmaker’s worktop.
Follow the journey of the wood itself, from forest to product, through the tools of the many woodworkers of the past. Visit the lumberjack, the cooper, the woodcarver, and even the wainwright. Finish off your exploration with a visit to the Naver’s cave, a gathering place for the unique brand of travelling journeyman craftspeople that still roam Northern Europe today.
Admission is free
The Artisan’s Museum shares the same opening hours as the Grocer’s House
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Opening Hours:
For opening hours during Easter, Christmas, and other holidays, check the Danish website or contact Roskilde Museum at romu@romu.dk
Please keep in mind that the museum’s opening hours are subject to Danish school and bank holidays.
January 8th – June 15th:
Wednesday – Friday: 12-16 (12 PM to 4 PM)
Saturday 10-14 (10 AM to 2 PM)
June 16th – August 31st (High season):
Monday – Friday: 11-17 (11 AM to 5 PM)
Saturday 10-14 (10 AM to 2 PM)
September 1st – November 16th:
Wednesday – Friday: 12-16 (12 PM to 4 PM)
Saturday 10-14 (10 AM to 2 PM)
Special opening hours for the Danish autumn vacation in week 42 may apply.
November 17th – December 20th (Christmas season):
Monday – Friday: 11-17 (11 AM to 5 PM)
Saturday 10-14 (10 AM to 2 PM)
Special opening hours for Christmas market and holidays may apply.
December 23rd – January 5th:
Closed
Address:
Lützhøfts Købmandsgaard, Ringstedgade 6-8, 4000 Roskilde
Further information:
Parking
Parking may be found at the nearby Schmeltz Plads, where the first two hours are free.
Strollers and mobility aids
All forms of mobility aids, strollers, prams etc. must be left outside the museum in the courtyard during your visit. The forward entry to the Grocer’s House is not wheelchair accessible, but a lift is available to the Artisan’s Museum upon request.
The courtyard features old and uneven cobblestones which can be difficult to traverse with wheelchairs or walkers, but if you ask us, we will do our best to help you get inside the shop from the back and guide you around. Due to the age of the buildings, however, access is limited, and wider wheelchairs and aids may not be able to pass through the doors or navigate the narrow passages of the shop itself. We apologise for this limitation.
Access to a wheelchair-friendly lavatory is available.
Photography
Photography, including with flash, is allowed.
Animals
Due to health and safety, pets are not allowed indoors.
Service dogs, however, are permitted.
Food and drink
You may enjoy your own food and drink in the museum’s courtyard, but keep in mind that we have free-roaming chickens, including a rooster, which are friendly but always hungry and always curious. These chickens are socialised, meaning they will likely approach you, and they may try to avail themselves of your food. Enjoy them, but be alert!
If you have any further questions, please contact us at romu@romu.dk
OUR TIMELINE
1892: Elias Lützhøft opens his Grocery shop in Ringstedgade 6-8. Here, he sells household goods, foods, dry and canned goods, and wholesale feed and fuel.
1903: Upon Elias’ death, the young and enterprising grocer Christian Pedersen takes over the shop. It is the duration of his ownership on which the museum has its focus.
Customers: Most customers came from the adjacent countryside, and purchased feed and grain wholesale in large amounts, often for farms with large households and staff. On a busy day, more than thirty horse-drawn carts and as many as fifty horses might pass through the courtyard.
Survival: While other old shops were converted to parking lots or housing, Lützhøft’s Grocer survived as a proper wholesale merchant all the way to 1979. Christian Pedersen’s sons, Werner and Carl Viggo, continued to run the shop in the old-fashioned way their father had right to the end.
The Museum Opens: In 1982, the shop returned as a museum. Today, we function as a location under the larger Roskilde Museum, and our proud motto remains: “The only modern thing are the prices!”.
