A digital platform for Denmark’s history and cultural heritage
The National Museum of Denmark is the country’s largest cultural history museum, responsible for preserving and sharing Denmark’s unique heritage. The institution encompasses a wide range of sites and castles, including the National Museum in Copenhagen, The Open Air Museum, Kronborg Castle, and the Museum of Military History. Every year, thousands of visitors experience history up close at the museums – and even more engage digitally with the museum’s many offerings.
The National Museum needed to develop and establish a new digital foundation for its websites to support its diverse network of museums. The existing setup relied on an outdated platform that was neither flexible nor easy to maintain. The museum therefore wanted to rethink, modernize, and future-proof its digital foundation.
At the same time, it was crucial that the new platform put audiences first while also serving as a tool to strengthen the museum’s commercial business development. In short, the National Museum required a completely new CMS and backend solution to support a multisite architecture with high flexibility, easier maintenance and scaling, and efficient management of individual websites using shared modules, functionality, and content.
The task was therefore to create a strong, flexible, and unified digital platform that could bring together the National Museum’s many sites and castles – including The Open Air Museum, Kronborg Castle, and the Museum of Military History.
The result is a modern, flexible, and future-proof multisite platform, built with Sanity as the CMS. In close collaboration with the National Museum, Spring/Summer, and WEAREHEAVY®, we developed a backend that brings together the museum’s many sites – from castles and museums to standalone projects – in one integrated digital solution.
With a whitelabel structure in Sanity, new sites can easily be rolled out. Editors can manage and adapt content across sites, while each retains its own visual identity and storytelling.
The platform is tailored to the museums’ needs, including easy setup of event calendars, management of seasonal opening hours, and seamless podcast integration via Spreaker. Everything is handled within an intuitive CMS, accessible to editors at every level.
The new cloud-based platform is built on an API-first architecture, ensuring high performance, robust security, and the ability to continuously evolve. The result is a powerful digital tool that supports the National Museum’s strategic goals of stronger digital storytelling and deeper engagement across its many digital touchpoints.
The National Museum’s new digital platform has already been launched on frilandsmuseet.dk, kronborg.dk, krigsmuseet.dk, froeslevlejrensmuseum.dk, kommandoergaardmuseum.dk and nationalmuseet.dk. It has created a strong and consistent digital identity across all websites – without compromising the unique character of each museum.
The CMS offers editors a significantly improved experience, with simple and effective content management regardless of technical skill or experience. Its flexible structure makes it easy to scale and add new museums and castles, providing a solid foundation for the National Museum’s digital future.
