The museum today

A ship in a hall

Vasa has had two homes since 1961: a temporary one for 27 years, and the Vasa Museum since 1990.

Vasa, the Swedish warship of 1628. Dates and figures come from the sources linked beside them; where sources disagree, we show each one.

Two museums

From 1961 until 1988 Vasa lived in a temporary home, the Wasavarvet museum. Vasa Museum

The temporary museum opened on 16 February 1962 with a salute from two of Vasa’s cannon; 439,300 people bought tickets that year. Vasa Museum timeline

A Nordic architecture competition in 1981 drew 384 designs. The museum’s page on the building names the winners as Marianne Dahlbäck and Göran Månsson, with their design ‘Ask’. Vasa Museum

The museum’s timeline names the winning firm as Hidemark Månsson Arkitektkontor AB. Vasa Museum timeline

Who designed the museum? Sources differ in the wording

A Nordic architecture competition in 1981 drew 384 designs. The museum’s page on the building names the winners as Marianne Dahlbäck and Göran Månsson, with their design ‘Ask’. Vasa Museum
The museum’s timeline names the winning firm as Hidemark Månsson Arkitektkontor AB. Vasa Museum timeline

The two museum pages probably describe the same win, one naming the architects and one their firm. We have not found a source that joins the two up, so we give both.

Building began on 2 November 1987, in a dry dock from 1878. Vasa Museum

In December 1988 Vasa made her last voyage, on a pontoon inside a protective shell, into the water-filled dry dock inside the new museum. Vasa Museum

King Carl XVI Gustaf opened the museum on 15 June 1990. Vasa Museum

The Vasa Museum seen across the water on a sunny day: a dark red-brown building with tall metal masts rising from its roof, and a red lightship moored in front — The Vasa Museum from the water. The masts on the roof show the height of the ship’s masts.Picture: Arnoldius, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped and resized)

The masts on the roof are a nod to the ship inside; the caption above is our description of the photo, not a sourced fact.

2019 was the busiest year in the museum’s history, with over 1.5 million visitors. Vasa Museum

Vrak says the museum has 1.5 million visitors a year, and more than 40 million people have seen Vasa since she was raised. Vrak museum

The whole of Vasa seen from the side in the museum hall, with three tall lower masts and rigging, on a support cradle on the floor — Vasa in the museum hall, almost the whole ship in one view.Picture: Hugh Llewelyn, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped and resized)

Holding her up

The cradle that has held Vasa since the 1960s is damaging the hull. Its 17 pairs of supports are being replaced with 27 steel cradles plus an internal steel skeleton; the work began in April 2024. Vasa Museum

Vasa leans slightly to port, and the lean is getting worse. The new support is designed so the ship can be straightened once it is all in place. Vasa Museum

Twice-yearly measurements of 400 points since 2000 show the ship settling about 1 mm a year. Vasa Museum

In weakened parts of the hull the wood carries on average 40 per cent less load than fresh wood, and in places 80 per cent less. Vasa Museum

The museum says that without the new support, the ship is at risk of ‘sinking under its own weight’. Vasa Museum

The aim is to finish the new support by 2028, in time for the ship’s 400th anniversary, with the museum open as usual throughout. Vasa Museum

What Vasa weighs depends on when, and who is counting.Drawing: our own, simplified and not to scale

What does Vasa weigh? Sources differ

Fitted out with ten sails, 64 cannon, 120 tonnes of ballast and hundreds of sculptures, she weighed over 1,200 tonnes, according to the museum’s timeline. Vasa Museum timeline
The museum’s preservation timeline gives the ship’s weight in 2000 as around 900 tonnes, too heavy for its support. Vasa Museum preservation timeline
Nobody knows exactly what the ship weighs today: the museum’s estimate is between 800 and 1,200 tonnes, worked out from the density and volume of the timbers. Vasa Museum FAQ

These measure different things at different times: the ship fitted out with guns, sails and ballast in 1628; the hull around 2000; and today’s estimate, which the museum says is uncertain.

The research goes on

Skeletons from at least 17 people were found during the excavation of the 1960s, and more remains were found by divers in 1966. Vasa Museum

New DNA work in 2023 showed that one skeleton thought to be a man was a woman. Vasa Museum

In 2014 researchers test-fired an exact copy of one of Vasa’s guns over 50 times. Its range was over 1,000 metres, but real fighting range was probably under 500, and every shot went through up to 80 cm of oak. Vasa Museum timeline

Visiting

Check before you go. Opening times and prices change. These are from the museum’s own page as we read it on 10 November 2026.

When we checked (page updated 8 October 2026), the museum opened daily 10:00–17:00 from September to May, with late opening to 20:00 on Wednesdays, and 08:30–18:00 from June to August. It is closed on 24 and 25 December. Vasa Museum

Adult tickets were 240 SEK from May to September and 195 SEK the rest of the year; visitors 18 and under go free, and the museum takes cards only. Vasa Museum

A ticket includes a guided tour of about 25 minutes, a 17-minute film about the ship, and free audio guides on your own phone. Vasa Museum

Twelve exhibitions around the ship cover life on board, ships in battle, the sculptures, sailing ships, preservation, the salvage, the sinking and the people who died. Vasa Museum

The exhibition ‘In Life and Death’ presents some of the people who died, using DNA, bone and isotope research. Vasa Museum

A detailed model of Vasa with white sails set, on a display stand in the museum, with visitors and an exhibition wall behind — A model of Vasa under sail, in the museum.Picture: Hugh Llewelyn, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped and resized)

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