Henrik Ibsen Museum

Visit the Henrik Ibsen Museum in Skien and experience the playwright's childhood home as it was when Henrik lived here. Try skittles, puppetry or dress up.

Ibsen's Venstøp is 4 kilometers north of Skien. ​The farm at Venstøp, which was Henrik's childhood home for 7 years, is today the Henrik Ibsen Museum. Here, skilled guides are ready to tell you about the upbringing of the little boy who became one of the world's most read and acted playwrights. The museum also offers guided tours in Polish, please contact the museum.

Henrik Ibsen's childhood home
The Venstøp farm consists of the listed main building from 1815, brewer's house, boys' room, barn and storehouse. Venstøp is located in a beautiful cultural landscape in Gjerpensdalen in Skien. The outdoor area is well suited for a rest, and in the garden there is a skittle alley, similar to the one in Henrik's time. You can use it when you visit Venstøp, as the guests who came to Knud and Marichen Ibsen did in the 1830s.

Fun for the kids
In a separate room there are dress-up clothes for the children and here they can also play puppet shows. The skittle alley is also very popular with the little ones.

Cafe and souvenir shop
The Henrik Ibsen Museum has both a souvenir shop and a cafe. In the cozy little cafe you can buy coffee and cold drinks, delicious waffles, ice cream and of course gingerbread, which Ibsen was so fond of! If the weather is bad you can sit inside, otherwise it's a lovely to sit outside when the sun is warm. In the souvenir shop you can buy things related to Ibsen. You can also buy the books of first conservator Jørgen Haave's book "Familien Ibsen" here. It was published in 2017 and sheds light on Henrik's upbringing in Skien.

History
At first the Ibsen family lived in Stockmanngården by the town square, then in Altenburgergården further up town. In 1834 the family moved out into the countryside, to the farm Venstøp. Henrik's father, Knud, had a heavy debt burden, and the family's assets had been sold at auction. From when Henrik was 7 years old, and until he was 15 years old, he lived at Venstøp. In 1843, the situation went from bad to worse for Knud Ibsen, and the Ibsen family had to move to the Snipetorp district, one of the city's poorest areas at the time. New research shows that Henrik did not move to Snipetorp with his family, but that he went directly to his apprenticeship post in Grimstad.