Opening October 1st 2022
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Exhibitions

ENIGMA has something for those who learn best through experiencing, touching and trying out. And something for those who want to grapple with the existential and social issues we face as modern human beings – connected globally by cables, wires, radio waves and other means of communication. Our four exhibition and activity areas walk you through the great inventions and some of the ingenious tweaks and hacks of modern communications and media history - from the establishment of the Danish postal service in 1624 to the use of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites to provide internet to Ukrainians in the ongoing war. Past, present and future under one roof.

Communication in Crisis

In our daily life online, we are constantly confronted with stories about things that threaten us as individuals and as a society – from the selling of our personal data by big tech companies to sophisticated cyberattacks organized by nation states. Has communications technologies always been used as a weapon? In ‘Communication in Crisis’, we explore how the fear of terror, war, disruption and crisis has influenced the way we communicate today. We trace the emergence of mass surveillance during World War 1 and break the secret messages of the Enigma machine, used by the Germans during World War 2. We take you underground into a Cold War atomic bunker and bring you back up into our own time – to reflect upon how the conflicts and crises of the 20 century has defined the way we communicate today.

Ideas that Connect Us

The history of communications technology is brimming with great ideas. Small tweaks, big dreams and playful takes on existing technologies has often turned into incredible inventions – inventions that brought people closer together and made the world bigger and smaller at the same time. Some of these ideas have become established history – the inventors got famous and the companies got their patents. Other ideas belong to all of us. In our combined workshop and exhibition area, our guests get the opportunity to design and create their own inventions with communications history as a backdrop. If one is to understand our technological history, epoch defining inventions and their inventors is not the only important thing to focus on. At ENIGMA, we explore the history of communications technology by using, tweaking and playing around with the technologies themselves.‍

The Children's Area

Bring the kids to ENIGMA. Our new museum has a large playground for our youngest guests and their parents. Here you may climb up and slide down into our smartphones and tablets and explore our fascination with screens. Because we do love our screens! And sometimes so much that we disappear into them. At ENIGMA we disappear into our screens together. In our children’s area, we travel into cyberspace and experience our digital world in a physical form. Take our slide through the internet, dress up as an e-postman or play fake-or-fact in a world built of digital information. In ENIGMA’s children’s area, we learn together about modern technology through playing around with historical objects.

The Arcade Collection

In ENIGMA’s basement it’s all about gaming. Here, you may explore our historical exhibition of video games or play them yourselves in our very own video arcade. The video game is the most successful cultural product of our time. And it all began inside the dark video arcades where colorful machines lit up as portals into new exciting worlds – and into the future. In ENIGMA’s arcade, you will meet the arcade heroes of the 80s, the orcs, the elves and all the other creatures who play and inhabit our games – in front of and inside the screens. Kick back and play our Atari, Nintendo, C64 or Amiga and relive or discover the spirit of the gaming revolution. The exhibition is created in collaboration with Bip Bip Bar and Chrisstoffer Daniel.‍

The Danish Postal Service turns 400 years old

Christmas of 1624 marked the beginning of something big. King Christian IV signed the document “Regulation on Post Messengers”, and the Danish postal service was born. With eight fixed routes, the country's communication was organized and unified. Since then, the postal system has connected people, cities, and regions.Today, we can send messages across the globe in seconds, but once, reaching each other was a slow and challenging process. Fjords and straits were crossed by sailboats, row ferries, steamships, and iceboats. Over land, letters, parcels, and passengers were carried on foot, by horseback, and by stagecoach. The history of the post is not just about letters and parcels — it’s also about innovation, determination, and efficiency. For 400 years, the pursuit of faster and more reliable mail delivery has driven progress. From the clever design of the “Kuglepost” (ball post) to steamships, stagecoaches, Renault 4s, and electric vehicles — modes of transport have evolved with the times and technology. The goal has always been the same: to deliver news, joy, and concern quickly and safely. The story of the postal service is also a story of connecting people. About the invention of the stamp and the mailbox, which became an everyday fixture in Danish life. About the mail carrier, who for centuries has been the vital link between sender and recipient, between good and bad news. And so much more.We celebrate 400 years of postal history by highlighting the events, inventions, and means of transport that have connected Denmark since 1624.

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