exhibition about Vikings in Leoben

Yesterday we went to Leoben to visit the exhibition about the Vikings.

Great exhibition with a lot of fascinating and breathtaking artefacts. Weapons, armor, jewelry, dishes, etc.

They even had a lifesize repluca of wreck of a small ship.

The guided tour was very good. We heard a lot about the Vikings' life and beliefs. They hadn't been as bad as often pictured. The robberies of christian churches didn't have religious reasons; in fact it was just easier to rob an unprotected church then a castle with thick walls and a lot of soldiers. The just took the way of lowest resistance.

Women were very importent and powerful in the Viking society. They kept the keys to the houses and do to that their owned the houses. If a pair got divorced she kept the house and he had to leave.

In the last section there were some parts where you could see some writings in runes.

Another misbelief that was eliminated during the exhibition is, that their helmets never had horns atteched. In fact horns would have made the helmet nearly obsolet. Swords would have been caught by the horns and so a hit on the head wouldn't have slipped off but caused serious injuries.

The reason why they were and still are pictured like that is to make them look more dangerous and because the picture is branded into people's minds so marketing without horns just wouldn't work.

The exhibition is really worth a visit!

Next years exhibition will be 'The Steppe's Gold' with sensational findings from tombs of Scythian and Sarmatian counts. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in 2009.

Website: Leoben