The story of Thy – from the Stone Age to surfing culture The objects' stories and modern forms of communication
At Thisted Museum you can get closer to the good stories about Thy - the many years and the great lines - and about the area's contacts with the wider world from the first Stone Age people to today's entrepreneurial culture. The museum opened in the summer of 2023 in completely new, beautiful surroundings and with updated information. At this "Thyboernes Nationalmuseum" you can visit seven permanent exhibitions, where the focus is on the objects' stories about life in this area. In the Gravhøjen exhibition, which is about Thy's rich bronze age, you can meet the Kaller Fund, which, among other things, consists of a unique ceremonial axe; a find that is on a par with the sun chariot and gives us an insight into a past religion. You can also see interesting objects that came to the area in the Viking Age as a result of trade or robbery, and you can get up close to a rune stone and practice writing with runes. But it's not just about Thy in the very old days, because you can follow the story right up to our own time. Who are the Thybos really? Some have lived here for many generations, while others have moved here with a surfboard under their arm and a dream of what Thy is or can become. In the museum's attic you can experience history at a child's level and play through what you have seen in the exhibitions.

“Shelter – The Trees of Thy”

New special exhibition at Thisted Museum opening on 28 March.

The new exhibition Shelter – The Trees of Thy at Thisted Museum tells the long history of the people of Thy and their relationship with trees and forests, focusing on changing views of nature closely linked to human use of it. Forests are nature, but they are also cultural history to a great extent.

Forests cover 14% of the area in Thy, and for today’s residents they are a natural part of the landscape – including plantations, shelterbelts, and trees around us. Trees provide shelter and form the setting for leisure activities. We notice when the beech trees leaf out, and we enjoy walks in the forest when autumn turns the leaves golden. For most people today, forests are synonymous with nature.

It has not always been this way. In the Stone Age, primeval forest dominated what we now call Thy, but around 6,000 years ago people became farmers, and over time forests were cut down and replaced by fields and open landscapes. By the transition to the Early Bronze Age (1,700 BCE), the forest had almost disappeared, and for the next 3,500 years there were no forests in Thy.

“Forests are entirely absent in Thy.” This is what the parish priest in Skjoldborg, Knud Aagaard, wrote in his book about Thy in 1802. Ten years earlier, in 1792, a royal decree had initiated large-scale efforts to combat drifting sand, which for centuries had damaged living conditions along the west coast. Sowing and planting trees was one method used to stabilize the sand. After several failed attempts, the right tree species were found in the late 19th century, and within a few decades the well-known dune plantations, shelterbelts, and inland forests were established.

It was all the result of human effort, driven by the need for shelter, sand control, and timber production – a matter of survival. Today, this is no longer the case; only few people depend directly on forest resources, and drifting sand is no longer a threat to livelihoods. The forest continues to evolve, and concepts such as rewilding and native species are now central. Trees play a key role in environmental debates, and efforts are underway to increase forest areas, as we now understand their importance for ecosystems.