THE MO I RANA MUSEUM
THERE IS AN EXCITING STORY TO TELL
Not all cities in Norway have a new and modern museum where the smell of mothballs and formalin is replaced by the smell of waffles and freshly brewed coffee from the adjacent cafe. In 2019, Mo i Rana opened a new museum just a five-minute walk from the city center and close to Moholmen and the sealine promenade. The museum special emphasis is placed on Mo i Rana's long and rich industrial history, but here is also a larger natural history department, a separate exhibition about our Sami history, not least a comprehensive exhibition about our war history. Upstairs are the Vitensenter Nordland and Rana Art Association, so families can spend many hours here. The popular cafe, The View fills the stomach when needed. Nice on a rainy day!
The Department of Natural History is as created for the curious, both large and small. Photo: Ketil Bord / Helgeland Museum
The museum in Mo i Rana has a long history as a museum. The original name was Hans A. Meyer's Collections, and consisted older objects from the Rana district that the merchant had taken care of. The socially engaged Hans Abraham Meyer, son of L.A. Meyer and the initiator of the University of Tromsø, had from 1910 until his death in 1927 cataloged more than 2200 objects.
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Hans A. Meyers delivered a speech on the national day in 1923, and his appeal "For the protection of the past in cooperation for the future". His daughter, Valborg Meyer, followed up her father's intentions by giving Rana municipality plot for a museum building free of charge. The Rana Museum was built in the early 60's in a corner of the property Ranheim, today known as Meyergården Hotell.
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When Valborg Meyer died in 1989, she left a will that established a fund of NOK 2.1 million, and the fund was to promote development and innovation within Rana Museum field. This fund was an important contribution to the realization of a new museum building. The original building in the middle of the city center had become too small, and the former warehouse after Meyer's wholesale business, was after a initiative from Rana History Association, rebuilt as to day's Moment.
Moment, Vitensenteret Nordland and Rana Kunstforening are located in the same premises. Photo: Rana Museum
The very content history department at the museum tells about the Arctic wildlife in the region. Here you get to study everything from the smallest organisms to one of the largest - the whale. The museum says on its website that the skeleton can also tell the whale's story.
Mo i Rana and the surrounding districts had a frightening war history that the museum emphasizes in one own exhibition. The exhibition shows pictures, films and objects from this dark time in our history. The museum also recommends a visit to the Dunderland prisoner-of-war camp a few miles north of Mo i Rana. The place has recently been adapted with memory support information signs that tell about the place, someone also this film can tell something from:
Motorcycle Museum
25 km north of Mo i Rana there is a privately owned motorcycle museum. Benny Sætermo combines his extensive knowledge of motorcycles and war history and has created an exciting museum for both motorcycle and history enthusiasts. The museum has a varied exhibition that is designed to arouse the interest of the whole family. The region's oldest motorcycle (1910) is located here. The museum is open every day throughout the summer and the rest of the year by appointment.
