The Museum Journey

The history of Stavanger Museum began in 1877, during a time of great exploration. The port of Stavanger served as a gateway for sailors and missionaries traveling around the world, bringing exotic and rare animals back to the city. Many of these animals found their way to the museum. Thus, the museum's exhibitions became the public's window to the rest of the world. This period is characterized as the museum's epoque 1 (1877 – 1934).

In addition to being a curiosity cabinet, there was a growing focus on systematic collections of fauna. Stavanger Museum collected birds through trapping. Birds were either shot to become part of the skin collection or captured and released with a ring on their leg. The establishment of Revtangen Ornithological Station in 1937 marked a commitment to ring marking. This was epoque 2 in the museum's history (1934–1981).

Over time, a larger part of the effort was directed towards research and management tasks of regional and national importance. From 1987, Stavanger Museum assumed sole responsibility for operating the The Norwegian Bird Ringing Center. Ringing data is now the largest collection at the museum. Today, the museum focuses its works on the southwestern region with research, management, and dissemination of biological knowledge. This represents epoque 3 (1981–present).

Photo: Oddbjørn Erland Aarstad / MUST.