Opens again 10:00
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Traditional Building Crafts with Lime, Timber & Linseed Oil

3 – 4 May 2025

Den Gamle By is home to around 20 building craftsmen and apprentices, who, with their extensive knowledge of both historical and modern techniques, maintain, restore, and construct throughout the museum. During this weekend, they will demonstrate some of the techniques they use in their everyday work.

Watch the bricklayers slake lime and build wattle infill in half-timbered walls, and meet the carpenters as they hew and shape timber.

You can also visit the painters in the tent, where they restore the town’s beautiful old windows using linseed oil paint and putty – or try your hand at printing wallpaper as it was done in the 18th century.

The Painters Restore Windows

Watch Den Gamle By’s painters restore window frames for Aarhus Mølle and demonstrate how to cut glass, fit it, and paint the frames with linseed oil paint – in the tent at the Festival Grounds.

Try Glass Cutting, Pinning & Puttying Yourself

In the tent at the Festival Grounds, adults can try their hand at cutting glass and practising the traditional techniques of pinning and puttying window panes.

The Masons Slake Lime

Watch the masons slake lime in the Craftsmen’s Yard at 11 am & 3 pm.

Wallpaper Printing for Children

In the tent at the Festival Grounds, children can have a go at printing postcards using the same pattern and colour as the wallpaper in the grand bay room of the Mintmaster’s Mansion.

The Carpenters Hew Timber

Watch the carpenters work with pit saws and hewing techniques in the Tobacconist’s Yard.

Brickwork in Half-Timbered Walls

Watch the masons at work laying brick infill in half-timbered walls by the Ropewalk.