“To any museum, this would be terrible news. It is difficult to find the right words to describe my feelings towards what has happened”, says museum director Henrik von Achen.

400 objects are missing

An alarm went off Saturday evening. A security company investigated on the scene, but it was not until Monday it was discovered that burglars had entered the museum by climbing up a scaffold and breaking a window on the 7th floor.

400 objects from Norway's cultural heritage were missing from the museum. It is mainly objects from the Iron Age; from the Migration Age to the Viking Age, that have been stolen.

Employees at the museum are still going through the museum collection, to determine exactly which objects are missing.

The police do not have any suspects yet, and are interested in tips.

Historically important objects

“To us as a museum, taking care of our cultural heritage is the most important thing we do. We have not succeeded in this task. No explanations are good enough” von Achen says.

The stolen objects do not have great economical value, but are of great historical importance.

“We can only hope that what is lost will be returned, and work to make sure this does not happen again. I feel a heavy responsibility.”, he states.

The museum and scaffold has now been secured.

“We have one burning desire; that as many of the stolen artefacts as possible will be returned”, he continues.

Through the facebook group «Tyveriet på Historisk museum» (The burglary at the University Museum of Bergen) the University Museum asks for help. Here pictures of the stolen objects are posted consecutively. The University Museum also urges people to pay attention on the internet.