Is Tirpitz Museum Worth Visiting?
While the Tirpitz Museum is tucked away under a sand dune, the bunker is hard to miss.
Once part of the Atlantic Wall defense, Tirpitz Museum is a must-see for WW2 fans. Here's what you need to know for your visit.
Located in the Blavand area, the Tirpitz Museum was one of the coolest WW2 museums we visited during our Denmark road trip. Exploring a sleek, modern museum hidden in a sand dune alongside an old bunker intended to hold a massive cannon was a fantastic experience. As we made our way up Jutland's west coast, we came across a lot of WW2 bunkers. But it wasn't until Tirpitz that we got the full-on museum experience.
The museum promised a trip back to the 1940s, showing us what life was like, why the Germans built these bunkers, and how they worked. The highlight was visiting the bunker, which has stayed relatively intact despite the years and attempts to destroy it. They also had two permanent exhibitions - one about Denmark's west coast and another on the amber collection, which felt a bit out of place. So, how was it? Let's find out!
If you're into history, you'll definitely want to spend hours at Tirpitz.
Visiting Tirpitz Museum
It was a hot, sunny afternoon when we arrived at Tirpitz. Curiously, we couldn't see the museum yet - just an old concrete tunnel disappearing into a sand dune, now used for maintenance and blocked by a big garbage bin. So, we took the only trail around and slowly made our way to the entrance.
Around the corner (do dunes even have corners?), we spotted a concrete bunker and a family of mammoths - a little teaser for 'The Last Mammoth - the First Human' exhibition. The huge concrete platform for the cannon was easy to spot, but the entrance just across it through a narrow concrete corridor was more low-key.
The first thing we saw at Tirpitz was a huge concrete bunker with mammoths.
The mix of grassy sands, concrete, glass, and some rusty metal around us actually looked pretty cool, yet basic. Still, the overall image of the outside was kind of dull (it used to be a military site, after all). However, the modern interior of the museum was a total contrast and hit us as soon as we walked in.
The History of Tirpitz Bunker
Tirpitz Museum has various parts, but our main interest was WW2 history, so we began with the Army of Concrete Exhibition. We'd never heard of the Tirpitz Bunker before our trip, so if you're in the same boat, we think it's a good time for a quick intro.
Long story short, the Germans built the Tirpitz Bunker during WWII as part of a gigantic Atlantic Wall defense network. This wall stretched from France to Norway and was supposed to protect the areas they occupied from Allied invasions.
The shells for the main guns in the Tirpitz bunker were seriously huge.
They started the project in August 1944, aiming to install two large naval guns to guard Esbjerg harbor and the Jutland coastline. But the war ended before they could finish it, so Tirpitz was left incomplete.
Tirpitz was just one of many bunkers, but unlike most that were abandoned, it got turned into an awesome museum. For anyone into WW2 history, it's a must-visit on their journey through Jutland.
The Army of Concrete Exhibition
The first part of our Tirpitz adventure was checking out the Army of Concrete exhibition. Driving across Jutland - from Romo Island in the south to Grenen at Denmark's northern tip - gave us a close look at the former Atlantic Wall.
We saw tons of WW2 bunkers in all sorts of conditions, but we were usually a bit let down by the basic info provided. To be fair, the bunkers usually had some info panels giving a quick rundown of their purpose, why they were built, and how many people ran them - but always just the basics. So every time we visited, we always wished there was more.
Seriously, the Tirpitz Museum was jam-packed with WWII info!
Tirpitz totally offered a more detailed and engaging experience with its well-structured exhibition. We could finally dive into more than just the dry facts about the Atlantic Wall and discover the personal stories of those involved in this part of WW2 history.
One of the coolest things was that the stories gave us a peek into the lives of both the Germans and locals - both sides who lived through this dark chapter of Denmark's (and Europe's) history. We've visited a ton of WW2 sites, and for obvious reasons, this isn't always common. But Tirpitz stands out because of this, making the experience way more immersive and thought-provoking. They really made it fascinating to read (or hear, in this case).
What made this exhibition really cool was that it was designed like a bunker landscape. Even though we were underground, there were bunkers packed with information all around us that we got to explore.
The museum section with life-size bunkers was packed with info and really fun to explore.
Gold of the West Coast and West Coast Stories
We were surprised to find two other permanent exhibitions at Tirpitz that weren't about WW2 - Gold of the West Coast and West Coast Stories. We peeked inside to see what they were about, but we had already spent too much time at the Army of Concrete exhibit and still needed to check out the bunker, so we just zipped through.
The Amber Forest in the Tirpitz Museum takes you back 40 million years.
Gold of the West Coast has a big amber exhibit (Amber is nicknamed 'Nordic gold' in Denmark) - from Stone Age amulets to a model of the Sydney Opera House and an interactive amber forest with plants and insects trapped inside the resin. Both seemed interesting at a glance, though more for families with kids. The West Coast Stories section, which covers 20,000 years of West Coast history, was aimed at an even younger crowd, so we pretty much just headed straight to the main highlight - the Tirpitz Bunker.
Tirpitz Bunker
The last place we checked out in the museum was the actual Tirpitz Bunker. Walking into this huge concrete monster with 3.5-meter thick reinforced walls was definitely a sobering experience. After going through the modern museum sections, it felt like stepping back in time - the bunker looks almost exactly like it did at the end of WW2 - dim, barren, and unfinished. Almost untouched.
Walking through the WW2 bunker was a pretty intense experience.
Using the audio guide, we made our way through the bunker, navigating dimly lit corridors and pausing at designated spots to hear all the info the museum staff had put together. The self-guided tour spanned two stories and was pretty interesting - we learned why it was built in Blavand, who was supposed to run it, and all the technical details.
That same year, we visited a couple more bunkers - one at the trailhead to Eagle's Nest in Bavaria and another in Krkonose National Park (built by the Communist regime in the 1980s). Regardless of the location or the era they were built, it was a pretty eerie experience.
The audio tour through the dim corridors of the Tirpitz bunker was awesome!
Tirpitz Bunker wasn't any different. It was supposed to hold a 20-meter 38 cm SK C/34 naval gun with a range of 36 kilometers. Although it was never finished, the bunker remains a stark reminder of the horrors WW2 caused all across Europe.
If you liked Tirpitz, make sure to check out Hanstholm Fortress too. Tirpitz was a thorough experience, but the well-preserved bunker at Hanstholm made it much easier to picture how these huge forts operated.
Audio Guide at Tirpitz Museum
After spending several hours driving and already spending the morning in Ribe, our attention and focus were not in the best shape, and the audio guide really came in handy here. It delivered a much more immersive experience since we could just focus on what's around us without the need to read some long walls of text.
The audio guide made the whole Tirpitz experience super enjoyable.
Tirpitz audio guide still offered a fairly classic experience (you can bring your own headphones with a jack connector), at least compared to the H.C. Andersen's House we visited a few days later while exploring the city of Odense. The audio guide also comes in handy on busy days when the museum gets crowded, so you can just stay a bit away from the crowd, but since we arrived relatively late, there weren't that many people around.
Exploring Tirpitz Grounds
Once we were done with the museum, we went outside and roamed around the Tirpitz grounds. We climbed the sand-covered roof to get a better view and wandered around for a bit. But since we also wanted to check out Blavand beach and the lighthouse nearby, we didn't wander too far and stuck to this area.
The Tirpitz museum, buried in sand, has amazing architecture, not just WWII stuff.
Standing on top of the museum was pretty awesome, and we got a better sense of what 'hidden under sand' really means. However, it was only the aerial photos of Tirpitz we saw later that truly revealed the whole concept. From above, the museum is almost invisible, and if it weren't for those cross-shaped concrete corridors (and the actual bunker), the illusion would be nearly perfect.
There were trails winding around the sand dunes near the Tirpitz Museum.
Tirpitz Bunker 2
If you have extra time, check out Tirpitz Bunker 2, 600 meters north. Similar to the Bovbjerg Lighthouse bunker, there should be a rope to help you reach the top for a different perspective. Tirpitz Bunker 2 gives you a much rawer experience since it's basically just concrete remnants without all the extras the museum offers. But that's what makes it worth checking out, at least if you have the time. Unfortunately, we didn't.
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Opening Hours
You can visit the Tirpitz Museum every day from 10 AM to 4 PM for most of the year. In the summer (mainly July and part of August), it's open from 9 AM to 5 PM. It only closes on Mondays from early November to the end of December.
Going to museums in Denmark on Mondays is always a bit of a gamble - some are open, some aren't. We've also visited Kongernes Jelling and The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, both of which stay open on Mondays.
The museum part was super quiet when we got there - kinda eerie with the bunkers around.
How Much Time to Spend at Tirpitz Museum
We spent the morning in Ribe, which is about an hour away and arrived at Tirpitz just after 2 PM. With less than two hours for our visit, we were concerned we wouldn't get to see everything this museum has to offer.
Turned out that two hours at the Tirpitz Museum were okay, but we still wished we could’ve spent more time. We didn't linger too much at the Gold of the West Coast and West Coast Stories exhibitions since they were more for the kids, but that wasn't a big deal.
So, if you're heading to the Tirpitz Museum mainly for the WW2 history, plan for 2-3 hours. And don't forget, you can also walk to the nearby Tirpitz Bunker 2, which will add at least another 30 minutes to your visit.
Tirpitz Museum was full of WW2 information.
Parking at Tirpitz Museum
Tirpitz Museum has two free parking areas - one right next to the museum and another a bit further away. Since we went on a sunny weekend, we were worried about parking, as we'd heard it wasn't ideal. But when we got to the main lot in front of the museum, there were still a few spots left.
The parking here has around 80 spots, but if it's full, you'll need to drive to the overflow lot 500 meters away (GPS: 55.55274, 8.17478). If you're coming from the east (Esbjerg, etc.), head back to the main road, drive about 350 meters, and turn left on Gl. Maelkevej. Keep going for another 350 meters on the dirt road until you find a big unpaved lot where you can park. Since P2 is about 600-700 meters from the museum, it's a 5-10 minute walk.
Getting to Tirpitz Museum
Since we were driving all around Jutland, naturally, we headed to the Tirpitz Museum by car too. It's a 40-minute drive from Esbjerg, two hours from Odense, and two and a half hours from Aarhus. The Blavand parking lot, which gives you access to the lighthouse, beach, and some other bunkers, is just six kilometers west. It was a weekend, and the town, being a popular vacation spot, was super busy. Driving through required extra attention because of all the pedestrians and cyclists. Other than that, driving around Blavand was fine. Check rental car prices in Denmark here.
It wasn't just the Tirpitz Museum that was busy; the whole Blavand area was packed on a sunny weekend.
If you're planning to stay in Blavand (we'll get to accommodation in a bit), you can leave the car and bike to Tirpitz instead. It's flat, with cycling lanes/paths, so no traffic stress—and bike rentals are available in town.
Unfortunately, there's no bus to the Tirpitz Museum, which might complicate things if you're relying on public transport.
Tirpitz Museum Tickets
Probably the main downside of our visit to Tirpitz Museum was that we found the tickets to be quite expensive. The entry fee to Tirpitz Museum was 160 DKK at the time of our visit, and that was even more than some of Denmark's most famous places like Egeskov Castle and Kronborg Castle; only ARoS Aarhus Art Museum was slightly pricier (and we're not including Lego House in this company).
We understand you get to see some extra stuff here, like the Amber exhibition, 4D movie, etc., but since we came to Tirpitz to see the bunker and WW2 history, we'd appreciate cheaper tickets for those interested just in this part of the museum. On the bright side, the audio guide was included in the price, which is not always the case.
The West Coast Stories exhibition was way more interactive for us but perfect for families with kids.
This bunker is one of two, and you can check out the northern one as well. There's no museum, so it's free, but the whole experience is much more basic compared to the museum.
Varde Museums Ticket
Lastly, we can't fail to mention that they offer a few more types of tickets, but we think only the weekly pass is worth a note for a regular visitor. There are, in total, 10 museums around the town of Varde included in this pass - like Frello Museum, Flugt Museum, Nymindegab Museum, or Panser & Artillerimuseum - focusing on Danish history, art, military, agriculture, etc.
The weekly pass that grants you access to all Varde Museums might be a good deal for those who plan to stay in the Tirpitz area longer (it's valid for seven days) or those who like to visit little museums that are not that known (and often completely missed by international tourists).
A small tip: if you just want to see the Blavand Lighthouse (which is also included in this pass) and Tirpitz Museum, then it's cheaper just to buy separate tickets.
After the museum, we went to Blavand Lighthouse, which is included in the Varde combo ticket along with the Tirpitz Museum.
Where to Stay Near Tirpitz Museum
The area around the Tirpitz Museum is a popular summer spot with tons of holiday homes and apartments like Little Red Cabin, which usually get booked out months in advance. Motel Garni Blavand is one of the few traditional hotels around, but that's about it. If you want to look beyond Blavand, you have options like Vejers Family Camping and Cottages in nearby Vejers, SportsPark Blaavandshuk in Oksbol, and Hotel Varde in the town of Varde. If countryside accommodations aren't your thing, there's always Esbjerg with places like the unique A Place To Hotel Esbjerg or the affordable Danhostel Esbjerg.
Travel Resources
Here you can find links to all the travel resources we use and which you might find helpful when planning your next holiday.
Accommodation: When looking for accommodation, we usually search hotels via Booking.com or Hostelworld.
Tours: Although we love to travel independently, some places are better to visit with a guided tour.
We prefer GetYourGuide for its easy-to-use interface and solid reputation. Another great alternative is Viator.
Rental Cars: When going on a road trip, we always use Rentalcars.com, a reliable site for booking a rental car in advance.
Flight Tickets: When looking for flight tickets, you can search Skyscanner to find the best price.
Travel Insurance: World Nomads and SafetyWing cover against risks of travel.
