[The camera pans high above a triangular-shaped building that appears to be in a park and then zooms in on a very elongated white pillared building jutting out into the water. Three different ships are moored at a quay next to the building. We then see an elongated white building with a rounded section in the middle. Finally, a steam train pulling a number of wagons passes a community with a number of red houses in the foreground] The Swedish National Maritime and Transport Museums is a government agency that operates five museums in three cities.
[Back to the pillared white building that we now see has the text MARINMUSEUM] The Naval Museum in Karlskrona covers the history of the Swedish Navy [four figureheads are shown], the naval battles of the Swedish Empire, [an old-fashioned sailing ship is anchored in the water and a modern motorboat passes by, then we see people standing and taking in the text and displays in an exhibition room], the Cold War and today’s operations [The front of a submarine is shown]. [The white building of the Naval Museum is again shown from the outside, now from a greater distance, with surrounding buildings and the water in the background. The camera zooms in on the museum building and we see a quay deck next to the building with the large sailing ship moored outside] The museum is a must-see when visiting the world heritage site the Naval Port of Karlskrona.
[Back to the building with a round structure in the centre: the camera zooms in and suddenly we find ourselves inside the building: behind two raised curtains we see a hall with a large stern piece in blue and gold] The Maritime Museum in Stockholm covers the thousands of years that man has sailed the seas. [A hall is shown with blocks and tackles, ship's wheel, etc., followed by what looks like a body wrapped for burial at sea in front of a computer screen with a sea view] The museum has networks across the country, lists culturally and historically interesting ships and pleasure boats, and provides support for maintaining them [A two-storey hall is shown where boats with and without sails are displayed. Then a new hall is shown where people walk past a sailboat without a mast. One of the display signs provides information about the IF-boat] The museum works side-by-side with dedicated volunteers and associations. [We find ourselves out on the water. On board the ship, a man stands looking out, dressed in an old-style uniform].
[We now see a building with a multi-level roof. Three different sailing masts rise out of the roof] The Vasa Museum in Stockholm is Scandinavia’s most-visited museum, [The ship Vasa stands inside a building and you can see visitors passing by in ultra-fast speed] and tells the story of the ship that sank in 1628 and was salvaged 333 years later. [Silhouettes and then the faces of two visitors looking at a life-size female model] It also highlights stories that are rarely told. For example, the Vasa’s Women exhibition is about the women of the seventeenth century. [Two visitors watch a film of a ship's hull being built]
[We see a railway setting with a roundhouse and a railway track with a building in the foreground, followed by images of the tracks outside the station house and a railway carriage being driven out of the train shed] The Swedish Railway Museum in Gävle has a unique collection of over 300 vehicles from the mid-nineteenth century till today. [Two children appear to be standing inside the locomotive cab watching the train run. There is heavy steam from the locomotive outside the windscreen] The collection also includes objects as well as a large amount of photographs. [3rd class carriages pass by and then a steam locomotive approaches] The museum arranges trips on historic trains throughout the country.
[From the water, the camera approaches a yellow building located inside a small marina] Stockholm is also home to Vrak, Museum of Wrecks. [King Carl Gustaf’s reflection is shown as he looks at a display. He then stands with two other men; they each have a VR camera] A museum that lets the wrecks remain on the seabed, where they are preserved, and utilizes digital technology to recount the unique cultural heritage submerged in the Baltic Sea. [A diver swims alongside a wreck underwater, shining a flashlight on the hull] [A large, rust-coloured excavator digs up gravel, with visitors in the background]
The agency’s operations involve much more than the museums. [Close-ups of machine parts and then a picture of a plastic bicycle and a pallet lifter] Outside the city of Eskilstuna is a collection featuring the history of roads, with everything from bicycles to heavy machinery like road graders. [Inside an airplane hangar you can see various airplanes, including wooden ones, plus airplane parts] And at Arlanda airport is a collection of some 40 aircraft, the oldest over 100 years old.
[A woman sits at a long desk with a computer and other equipment and looks into a microscope] We conduct research in collaboration with universities and colleges, [A woman in a lab coat and gloves lowers an object into a vessel with clear liquid] which not only forms the basis of our exhibitions, but also serves several other important purposes. [A folding rule is placed on top of a piece of very old wood and we see a man measuring parts of the hull. A computer screen shows a drawing of the ship] One of our greatest challenges is replacing the supporting structure of the Vasa, as the current cradle does not bear the weight sufficiently. [Two men point and look to explain how it should look] New research and collaborations will make long-term conservation possible.
[The Vasa Museum is shown from a distance and the camera zooms out from the museum while the inner city of Stockholm is seen in the background] We are one of Sweden’s most sustainable government agencies, and work with some 50 partners in Scandinavia’s foremost attraction, Djurgården in Stockholm, to welcome visitors to the unique national city park. [An album of black and white photos is held up, followed by drawings and book pages] Our collections include one-point-four million photographs, seventy thousand drawings, sixty thousand books and one hundred forty-one thousand objects of all sizes. [A model ship is seen up close, followed by the lightship Fyrgrundet] [Staff at a ticket desk greet visitors, two people clean a display stand, a man in blue overalls operates machine parts and a person holds a small white object and explains it to a group]
The agency employs just over 200 people, from exhibition producers and train drivers to educators. [Images of feet passing by and visitors to the exhibitions; some visitors are boarding a ship, while others are looking at a display] With millions of visitors over the years, the Swedish National Maritime and Transport Museums is Sweden’s most visited museum agency. [View of the sea with a small lighthouse on the horizon] We expand people’s understanding of the world through knowledge, experiences and involvement.