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Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5am Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 8pm Friday 9am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 6pm Sunday 10am - 6pm

Museum of Danish America

Name: Museum of Danish America
Address: 2212 Washington Street, Elk Horn, IA, 51531, US
Telephone: +17127647001
Price range: $
Rating: 4.7

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Museum of Danish America

Celebrating Danish roots and American dreams! National museum, nationally accredited. (Also known as The Danish Immigrant Museum.)
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The Museum of Danish America includes the main museum, the 30-acre Jens Jensen Prairie Landscape Park, a Genealogy Center on Main Street, the Jens Dixen homesteader's cabin, and Bedstemor's House - a historic house museum in Elk Horn. The Museum of Danish America is the only national museum dedicated to preserving and promoting Danish culture in America. The museum cares for a collection of over 3

0,000 artifacts, photographs, and archival materials that document the experience of Danish immigrants and their descendants, and the ongoing expression of Danish-American cultural identity. Since 1994 the museum has welcomed visitors to its facility in Elk Horn, Iowa, while also engaging in an active national outreach effort that brings the museum to communities from Washington, DC, to Los Angeles, California.

09/03/2026

We welcomed 13,010 visitors to the Museum of Danish America over the course of a truly incredible summer.

From exploring our exhibitions and collections to wandering the prairie, meeting Fjord Færgemand, discovering Elk Horn, and making memories with family and friends, you helped make this summer one to remember.

Now, we want to hear from you!

What was your favorite part of your visit?
Did you discover something new about Danish-American history or culture?
Did you spend some time exploring Elk Horn while you were here?
And most importantly… when are you coming back?

Whether you visited for the first time, returned for your annual trip, or made the Museum one stop on a longer adventure, we're grateful you chose to spend part of your summer with us.

Share your favorite photos from your visit in the comments! We’d love to see the Museum—and your summer memories—through your eyes.

Tusind tak for visiting! We hope to see you again soon. 🇩🇰

09/01/2026

Building on a Family's Legacy: Amber Walter

For Amber Walter, helping build Fjord Færgemand was more than a day spent volunteering. It connected her to her family’s history in Elk Horn—and to a tradition of building something meaningful for the community.

Her grandfather, Howard Sorensen, helped rebuild Elk Horn’s Danish windmill. Five decades later, Amber found herself helping build a very different kind of landmark: a 22-foot Thomas Dambo troll.

Read Amber’s story and discover why being part of Fjord’s build meant so much to her—and why one moment with her grandmother made it all worthwhile.

Find the story at the link in our comments!

08/25/2026

Education is foundational to who we are—and one of the most powerful ways we learn, grow, and discover who we want to become.

As students head back into classrooms, we’re thinking about the many ways learning happens beyond the walls of a school. We are incredibly privileged to welcome students to the Museum of Danish America and to be a place where young people can explore, ask questions, make connections, and see themselves as part of a larger story.

Field trips to the Museum offer students the opportunity to supplement what they’re learning in the classroom with hands-on experiences, whether that means building their own LEGO creations and exploring creativity and engineering, identifying native prairie plants and discovering the world outside, or walking through our exhibitions and learning about Danish immigration, the Danish-American experience, or a particular moment in history. Whatever brings them through our doors, we hope students leave having discovered something new.

In May, kindergarteners and fourth graders from Exira-EHK Schools spent a day exploring the Danish Villages, visiting the Museum of Danish America, the Danish Windmill, and The Kringleman Pastries. Experiences like these remind us just how meaningful it is to connect classroom learning with the places, people, and stories that make our community special.

We wish all students, families, and educators a wonderful school year! Here’s to all the learning, growing, and possibilities ahead! 🇩🇰📚

08/23/2026

What Comes Next?

Fjord has arrived, visitors are coming, Elk Horn is changing, and the Museum of Danish America has an extraordinary opportunity in front of us.

But Fjord was never the finish line. She was a beginning.

The success of this project has shown us what happens when people come together around an ambitious idea. It has shown us that people are curious about Danish-American stories. It has shown us that visitors will come to Elk Horn—and that once they're here, they want to discover more. It has also shown us the incredible things that can happen when a community supports our Museum.

Now we have to build on that momentum. That means welcoming new audiences, creating meaningful exhibitions and programs, caring for the collections and campus entrusted to us, sharing Danish-American stories with people who have never encountered them before, and finding new, creative ways to connect the past with the present.

That's the work of the Museum of Danish America, and that's why our Summer Appeal is underway.

If you've ever visited MoDA, attended a program, explored our collections, brought your family, discovered something about your own heritage—or simply believe that stories like these are worth preserving and sharing—we hope you'll consider supporting the Museum this summer.

Fjord showed us what we can do together. Now let's see what comes next.

Make a gift to the Museum of Danish America today.

Image: Brian Abeling

08/22/2026

Every giant troll has a story. Fjord Færgemand has at least 175.

That's how many individual donors helped make Fjord possible.

Elk Horn residents and donors across the nation looked at a very big idea and decided to say: Yes. Let's build a troll.

That's what we love about Fjord. She may have been designed by Thomas Dambo, but she was funded and built by a community. Every person who gave, volunteered, encouraged, shared a post, brought a friend, or simply believed this could happen became part of her story.

To all 175 donors and 120 volunteers: Thank you. Fjord is standing because you gave her legs to stand on.

And now we're thinking about what we can build together next.

08/21/2026

Fjord's Impact 🌊

Read this twice.

In May 2026, the Museum of Danish America welcomed more visitors than we had welcomed in any full year since 2019.

Yes. You read that correctly. One month. More visitors than an entire year.

Fjord Færgemand has changed the geography of Elk Horn. People who might once have driven through town are now stopping to see her. Once they're here, they're discovering everything else our community has to offer—including the Museum of Danish America.

Local businesses are feeling that momentum, too. Restaurants have added dining days and expanded hours. New places to eat and stay have opened. Visitors are spending more time exploring Elk Horn.

A giant troll brought people here, but our community is giving them reasons to stay. That's what makes this story so exciting.

Fjord is more than an attraction—she's an invitation to stop, explore, learn, connect, and discover the Danish-American stories that have been part of this place for generations. Something extraordinary is happening in Elk Horn, and we're just getting started.

Support us as we continue to take extraordinary steps.

Image: Blake Petersen.

08/20/2026

Building Fjord

3 weeks.
120 volunteers.
100s of pieces of recycled lumber.

For three weeks in April, the Museum of Danish America's campus became a construction site—and a gathering place—as volunteers, staff, artists, and supporters worked together to bring Thomas Dambo’s vision to life.

Everyone's individual efforts became something much bigger than any one person could have built alone. And this is where the story gets even bigger….

Because the most remarkable part of this project isn’t just what we built. It’s what happened when a community decided to build it together.

Your support helps make moments like this possible.

08/19/2026

How MoDA Welcomed Fjord 👋

From an idea to a 23-foot-tall troll in just a few weeks.

Our story with Danish recycle artist Thomas Dambo actually began years ago. In 2018, former MoDA director Rasmus Thøgersen traveled to Chicago to ask Dambo about creating a troll for the Museum. He "lent" us a hand.

Years later, Dambo visited MoDA and gave an artist talk on our campus.

Then, in early 2026, we reached out again. The timing was right. By March 5, we had a contract. On April 6, construction would begin.

That meant weeks of fundraising, gathering recycled lumber, planning, problem-solving—and an enormous amount of community effort.

Fjord may be a giant, but she was built by many, many hands.

08/18/2026

A Troll Changed Elk Horn

No one could have predicted that when 2026 began, a 23-foot-tall troll would become one of the biggest stories in the history of the Museum of Danish America.

But here we are.

Meet Fjord Færgemand—a troll created by Danish recycle artist Thomas Dambo, poling a 30-foot longboat across the Iowa landscape. And she is doing far more than merely looking impressive.

She is bringing people to Elk Horn, bringing visitors to the Museum, and helping us tell the story of Danish immigrants in a way we never could have imagined.

This summer, we’re asking you to help us keep that momentum going.

Address

2212 Washington Street
Elk Horn, IA
51531

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5am
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 8pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 6pm
Sunday	10am - 6pm

Telephone

+17127647001

Website

http://www.danishmuseum.org/

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