Thorvaldsens Museum

What Thorvaldsens Museum does

Thorvaldsens Museum is a municipal art museum located at Bertel Thorvaldsens Plads 2 on Slotsholmen island in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded on 18 September 1848, it was Denmark's first public art museum and was built specifically to house the complete works and collections of the Neoclassical sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844), who bequeathed his entire oeuvre to his native city. The museum is housed in an architecturally iconic Neoclassical building designed by Michael Gottlieb Bindesbøll and is renowned for its Pompeian-inspired colors, decorated ceilings, and mosaic floors. It is owned and operated by Copenhagen Municipality's Culture and Leisure Administration (Kultur- og Fritidsforvaltningen) as part of the Kunst & Historie museum cluster, alongside Copenhagen Museum and Nikolaj Kunsthal. The institution is a registered Danish public entity (CVR 64 94 22 12) with no private equity, venture capital, or individual ownership interests.

The museum's product portfolio spans a permanent physical exhibition of Thorvaldsen's sculptures, paintings, antiquities, and plaster casts, supplemented by temporary exhibitions, a digital audioguide (featuring art historian William Gelius), a mobile app on iOS and Android, an inventory-numbered online catalog (Kataloget), a research archive (Arkivet), and a podcast series ('Bag om Thorvaldsen'). Educational services include free educator-led programs for daycare, primary, after-school, and upper secondary institutions, an autumn drawing course (1,800 DKK), the Thorvaldsen Club for Copenhagen seniors aged 65+, and a corporate workshop ('Forbundne verdener') combining art, psychology, and creativity for 8–24 participants. Visitor amenities include an on-site café (temporarily affected by courtyard renovation), a retail shop selling Thorvaldsen reliefs, catalogues, posters, and plaster casts (DKK 529–3,600), and private event rental of the entrance hall and courtyard (minimum DKK 38,500, up to 150 seated or 350 standing). The museum holds Green Attraction, God Adjang accessibility, and AutismGoTo certifications.

The business model combines earned revenue from admissions (110 DKK adults; free for under-18, seniors on Tuesdays, and all visitors on Wednesdays), shop sales, event rentals, guided tours (900 DKK + 110 DKK/person), drawing courses, and fee-based youth education (500 DKK/hour), supplemented by a DKK 5,439,250 Velux Foundation grant for the 'Powerful Presences' research partnership with the University of Copenhagen (2017–2020) and historical Realdania support for the 2001–2008 façade renovation. Primary funding flows from Copenhagen Municipality. Distribution is multi-channel: physical reception, Billetto online ticketing, mobile apps, and Google Arts & Culture virtual tour. Marketing is driven by the museum website, a newsletter, organic social under #thorvaldsensmuseum, press relations, and educational preparation content.

Name

Thorvaldsens Museum

Legal name

Thorvaldsens Museum

Website

https://thorvaldsensmuseum.dk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1848

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Thorvaldsens Museum is a Copenhagen-based municipal art museum and Denmark's first public art museum (est. 1848), housing the complete works of Neoclassical sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. It serves visitors, schools, seniors, and corporate clients through exhibitions, educational programs, events, venue rentals, and digital archives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Art Museum

NAICS

Museums (712110)

akta.pro primary industry

Art Museums (THAJADAA)

Keywords

• Art museum exhibitions
• Sculpture collection tours
• Museum education programs
• Guided museum tours
• Venue rental events

Headquarters

HQ city

Copenhagen

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: The museum generates revenue from admission fees. Adults pay 110 DKK, with free admission for children under 18, seniors on Tuesdays, and all visitors on Wednesdays. An annual pass (1+1) costs 320 DKK, granting free entry to Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenhagen Museum, and Nikolaj Kunsthal for a year.
2. Museum Shop Sales: The museum operates a retail shop selling Thorvaldsen reliefs, exhibition catalogues, gifts, publications, posters, and plaster casts. Items range from approximately DKK 529 to DKK 3,600.
3. Museum Café: The museum operates a café offering wine, water, beer, coffee, cake, and sandwiches. Revenue from food and beverage sales supplements museum income.
4. Private Event Rentals: The museum rents out its entrance hall and courtyard for dinners and receptions outside normal opening hours. Minimum price is DKK 38,500, covering room rental. Maximum capacity: 150 seated, 350 standing reception.
5. Guided Tours: The museum offers guided tours (approximately 50 minutes, up to 20 people) for 900 DKK, plus 110 DKK entrance fee per person.
6. Drawing Courses: Autumn drawing courses (12 sessions) offered on Thursday or Sunday afternoons for 1800 DKK per person, taught by Henrik Leach Hansen.
7. Educational Programs (Upper Secondary): For youth education programs with museum educators, a 1-hour session costs 500 DKK, with an optional 30-minute drawing add-on for 150 DKK.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels9 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Thorvaldsens Museum operates a single-site art museum in Copenhagen dedicated to the complete works and collections of Danish Neoclassical sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844). The museum presents permanent and temporary exhibitions of sculptures, paintings, and antiquities, complemented by guided tours, educational programs for schools, drawing courses, professional workshops, an on-site shop, a café, and event venue rental services.

Product overview

Thorvaldsens Museum is a single-site art museum dedicated to the works of Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844), located in Copenhagen. The museum operates as a unified physical visitor destination rather than a software platform. Its core offerings center on the permanent exhibition of Thorvaldsen's sculptures, antiquities collection, and cast collection. Digital touchpoints include the Kataloget (online catalog), Arkivet (research archive), audioguide, and Bag om Thorvaldsen podcast. Visitor services encompass the museum shop, café, guided tours, and event venue rental. Educational programs serve schools and day-care institutions with free educator-led sessions and self-guided visits. The museum also offers specialized offerings including drawing courses, professional workshops, and the Thorvaldsen Club for seniors. The museum holds Green Attraction environmental certification and conducts research in partnership with universities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Thorvaldsenklubben 65+: A club for seniors aged 65+ in Copenhagen, meeting twelve times at the museum to share life experiences inspired by Bertel Thorvaldsen's art and life.
• Museumscafé

Products and services

• General Admission Tickets Paid museum entry for individual adult visitors to view the permanent collection of Bertel Thorvaldsen's sculptures, paintings, and antiquities, plus temporary exhibitions. Open Tuesday-Sunday, with reduced and free days specified for children, seniors, and Wednesday visitors.
• Annual Pass 1+1 (Årskort 1+1) Subscription annual pass for repeat visitors. Priced at 320 DKK, it grants the holder and one guest free unlimited entry to Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenhagen Museum, and Nikolaj Kunsthal for one year.
• Guided Tours Professional guided museum tours for groups of up to 20 people, lasting approximately 50 minutes. Topics include the museum's architecture, Thorvaldsen's life, his sculptures, or his collection of paintings and antiquities. 900 DKK per tour plus standard entrance fee per participant.
• Sculpture Analysis Educational Program Educator-led 1-hour sculpture analysis session for upper secondary school classes, with an optional 30-minute drawing add-on. Focuses on Greek-Roman mythology and Thorvaldsen's Neoclassical works. Priced at 500 DKK per 1-hour session and 150 DKK for the drawing add-on.
• Autumn Drawing Courses (Efterårstegnehold) Seasonal 12-session drawing course taught by graphic artist Henrik Leach Hansen. Sessions cover anatomy, composition, proportions, and plan drawing techniques, held on Thursday or Sunday afternoons. Priced at 1800 DKK per person for the full course, including museum entrance on course days.
• Workshop: Forbundne verdener - Kunst, kognition og kreativitet A 3.5-hour professional workshop for 8-24 corporate or institutional participants, combining art experiences with psychology and neuroscience. Designed to strengthen creative thinking, reflection, and team collaboration.
• Event Venue Rental Private event rental of the museum's entrance hall and courtyard for corporate dinners and receptions outside normal opening hours. Minimum room rental is DKK 38,500 excluding VAT, accommodating up to 150 seated guests or 350 standing reception.
• Museum Shop On-site museum shop selling Thorvaldsen-inspired merchandise, including plaster cast reproductions, exhibition catalogues, publications, posters, and gift items. Items are priced between approximately DKK 529 and DKK 3,600.
• Museum Café On-site café serving coffee, cake, sandwiches, wine, water, and beer. Operates during museum opening hours as a visitor amenity.

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of CopenhagencoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Thorvaldsens Museum collaborates with the University of Copenhagen on the 'Powerful Presences' research project (2017-2020), investigating the meaning and significance of the sculptural portrait. The project combines art history, archaeology, and museology with written sources from Thorvaldsen's era. It includes individual research projects, a Ph.D., and a postdoc, culminating in an exhibition, conference, seminar series, and publication.
• Kunst & Historie (Art & History)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThorvaldsens Museum is part of the Kunst & Historie museum cluster under Copenhagen Municipality's Culture and Leisure Administration (Kultur- og Fritidsforvaltningen). The cluster also includes Copenhagen Museum and Nikolaj Kunsthal. Together they share the Green Attraction certification and collaborate on environmental policies including the 'Circular Exhibition Practices' project.
• Copenhagen MuseumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner museum within the Kunst & Historie cluster. Together with Thorvaldsens Museum and Nikolaj Kunsthal, shares the Green Attraction certification and joint annual pass (1+1).
• Nikolaj KunsthalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner museum within the Kunst & Historie cluster. Together with Thorvaldsens Museum and Copenhagen Museum, shares the Green Attraction certification and joint annual pass (1+1). Nikolaj Kunsthal has also contributed to the development of the Danish version of Creative Green Tools.
• Museernes Grønne Akademi (Museums' Green Academy)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration partner in the 'Circular Exhibition Practices' project. Experience from this project will be disseminated broadly to the museum sector through collaboration with the Museums' Green Academy.
• Odense Bys Museer and Vejen KunstmuseumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on the development of the 'Skulpturstudier' website, which presents a broad selection of Danish sculpture from Thorvaldsen's era to the present, with introductions to three sculpture analysis methods and creative interpretation ideas.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Ordrupgaard: Copenhagen-area art museum featuring French Impressionists and Danish Golden Age works. Comparable as a single-estate art museum with collection-specific focus, event hosting, and educational programs.
• The David Collection: Copenhagen-based art museum featuring Danish and European art, with similar boutique scale, free-admission policy for parts of the collection, and cultural-tourism orientation.
• Nikolaj Kunsthal: Contemporary art exhibition space in Copenhagen and the third member of the Kunst & Historie cluster. Shares joint annual pass, Green Attraction certification, and municipal funding model.
• Designmuseum Danmark: Copenhagen design and crafts museum in a similarly historic building, with comparable shop, café, exhibition, and educational programming operations targeting cultural visitors.
• SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst: Denmark's national art gallery in Copenhagen, housing a comprehensive collection of Danish and international art. Highly comparable in scale, educational programming, and public-museum funding model.
• The Hirschsprung Collection: Copenhagen art museum focused on 19th-century Danish Golden Age art, directly overlapping with Thorvaldsen's era. Comparable single-period focus, scale, and visitor profile.
• Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek: Major Copenhagen art museum with a similarly diverse fine art collection, comparable visitor scale, café, shop, and event venue operations. Closest direct peer in terms of city, size, and revenue model.
• Museum of Copenhagen (Københavns Museum): Sister institution within the Kunst & Historie cluster under Copenhagen Municipality. Shares the joint annual pass, Green Attraction certification, and collaborative programming model.

Broad incumbents

• The National Gallery, London: Major global art museum with Western European painting and sculpture collections spanning multiple centuries. Useful as a broad incumbent benchmark for digital cataloging, education programs, and visitor experience.

Regional players

• Nationalmuseum Stockholm: Sweden's national art and design museum in Stockholm, a Scandinavian regional peer. Comparable in scale, public-museum structure, and focus on Nordic and European art, but operates in a different geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thorvaldsens-museum

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Thorvaldsens Museum