The ethnographical collections in the National Museum are among the oldest in the world. King Frederik III started the collection in 1650. At a later time, it was donated to the Danish state.  Therefore, there is a well-established tradition, when it comes to collecting artefacts from other countries. It was in this tradition that the curator Thomas Thomsen asked Dr. Møller to acquire objects of interest, while on Nias. At that time it was considered prestigious to be patriotic and as a result, the East Asiatic Company shipped artefacts back to the museum, without charging any commission; although it must be said, that they were rather stunned to discover that the Museum, wanted them to transport back the remains of an enormous house.

However, the department does not have all its artefacts on display. Most of the objects in the collection are kept in the storage facility outside of Copenhagen. The artefacts are kept in a secure and thermostatically controlled environment. A considerable amount of time is spent on conserving the objects.

The artefacts that are kept in the museum are therefore preserved for the benefit of many generations to come. Some of the objects thereby are saved from destruction due to diverse environmental threats.   

Since a significant part of the Nias collection was put in storage in 1937, it has not been possible to exhibit more than a few objects at a time, due to the economical situation at the museum.

All the artefacts kept in the National Museum, are not only open to the general public, but are also accessible for international scientific research; this of course does not include things that are too fragile to handle. It is therefore our ambition that the development of this page will make a small part the collection more accessible, not least for the people from Nias

STORAGE
See the photographs from one of the museum storage rooms, where most of the objects from Nias are kept.