Museum of the Month is a series where I share my experiences of visiting unique and often strange museums from around the world. My aim is to rebuff the notion that museums are boring. Join me on my quest!
Visiting the ABBA Museum
If you could dedicate a whole museum to your favourite band, who would it be?
Admittedly, ABBA would not have sprung to my mind, but as it turns out, there’s a lot to say about ABBA, the most famous band to ever come out of Sweden.
While on my journey of exploring the world’s quirkiest museums, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to unleash my inner dancing queen.
I headed there with my friend Suzel who is a big fan of the band. She’s older and said the songs are like a theme tune to her teenage years. The conversation went something like this:
“I remember being at a party with my friends, and we went wild when Dancing Queen came on, purely because we were seventeen and felt like the lyrics had been written especially for us” said Suzel.
“Ah, the power of music” I replied. “Give me a rendition, I’m not sure how it goes”.
“You know how it goes, come on, everyone knows”
“I really don’t”
Suzel cleared her throat and continued,
“You are the Dancing Queen, young and sweet, only seventeen
Dancing Queen, feel the beat from the tambourine
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, diggin’ the Dancing Queen”
“Oh, I’ve heard that song plenty of times” I said as I listened to her trying to sing.
It was then that I realised I knew more about the music of ABBA than I had realised. I never listened to ABBA growing up but that didn’t stop them from making their way into my subconscious.
Unlike many of my friends, my parents didn’t listen to them. My dad was more into the Beatles, Don Mclen and John Denver. Nevertheless the music of ABBA was clearly difficult bunch to escape.
Even if I didn’t know all the songs, I definitely knew what the band looked like. Oce you’ve seen those diamond encrusted cat-suits and huge flares, you really don’t forget it, do you?
Inside the ABBA Museum
I knew ABBA were big, but I didn’t realise just how big they were until I visited the museum. The fact that they had their own museum was a giveaway though.
At one point they were Sweden’s biggest export, and that’s including Volvo. Everywhere they went a swarm of screaming fans and paparazzi followed. ABBA mania had engulfed the world.
As you enter the museum, you walk into a dark room showing a panoramic film of ABBA. It’s put together in the style of a 5-minute montage, mixing newspaper headings, interview clips and snippets of them singing their most famous songs.
The most memorable part of the montage for me was finding out about the world’s fixation with Agnetha Fältskog’s bottom. Apparently she was the J-Lo of the 70s! All those white lycra catsuits she wore ensured nobody could miss it!
The museum starts with an introduction to their childhood years. On display is a mixture of black and white photos accompanied with text. It’s a good and personal introduction for someone like me who isn’t a self-confessed ABBA encyclopaedia.
The ABBA stage & dancing holograms
Other rooms come in all different shapes and sizes, and offer visitors a unique chance to be part of the exhibitions.
One room even includes a stage where visitors can sing and dance alongside ABBA holograms!
Suzel nor I possessed the courage to get up on stage but we watched and cheered on a group of women singing along to Waterloo. They were having a blast.
It was great to see them dancing to the same music they probably did to when they were teenagers.
A chance to make your own music video
You also have the chance to make your own music video inside a booth.
I watched a mother and daughter duo making one whilst the husband and father captured his own version on his iPhone.
I’m not sure who looked happiest, but the mother was definitely in her element. She knew all the moves and she looked the part too.
When they came out we had a little giggle after I told her she should have been the 5th member of ABBA. Surely that’s the biggest compliment for any ABBA fan?
Original ABBA costumes worn at Eurovision
Other highlights of the museum include a section where you can watch the footage of the band performing Waterloo at Eurovision in 1973, and on displayed are the original clothes they wore at Eurovision along with platinum disks and countless awards.
I must say, the costumes are joyfully bad, but anyone who can still manage to look half-decent wrapped up in an explosion of velvet and satin deserves my admiration.
It’s easy to spend 1 or 2 hours in this museum, but die-hard fans could probably spend the whole days inside and not get bored.
It’s easy to to whittle away countless hours in front of all paraphernalia and interactional displays where you can listen, as well as make your own music.
And as I walked out of the museum it was difficult not to do so without humming one of their songs. They are far too catchy for their own good.
General Information about the ABBA Museum
How to get there: Take the number 7 tram from Sergels torg, and exit at the Liljevalchs/Gröna Lund stop.
Book tickets: For less fuss and easy access, you can book your ticket here.
Opening Times: Check website below for accurate times
Website: www.abbathemuseum.com
Nearby attractions: In the immediate vinicity, you can also head to Skansen and the Vasa Museum.
For more inspiration: The Best Museums is Stockholm.
19 Responses
‘trying to sing’? Speak to the hand….
Prima Donna… 😉
I must admit I found the museum rather strange, especially the part when you enter that big dark room which is supposedly a concert hall and you’re being yelled at “Welcome to the ABBA concert” even though you’re the only person in this room……I also wished to have more background info (and more in English for that matter although Swedish is fine for me, not everyone speaks it). Of course you can get an audio guide but the entrance fee is already quite expensive without it….
Haha, were you not tempted to get up and sing to a crowdless audience?! Oh, I thought the amount of information was quite impressive, but I agree with you about the price – it’s very expensive, but I imagine this museum, with all it’s new interactive technology, was very expensive to create as well as maintain. I asked them why they weren’t included in the Stockholm Card and they were quick to tell me that they have applied, but it takes up to two years for them to be accepted! So hopefully, it will be much cheaper (well… free… psychologically speaking) in future for those with a Stockholm card.
It’s a good museum to see in summer if you take in a day trip to Djurgarden and Skansen also. Was interesting to see how many Swedish people rejected Abba as they thought they were holding back other bands.
It also has the Swedish music Hall Of Fame at the end to enjoy so if you are also a fan or Ace of Base, Roxette, Europe or even more modern such as Swedish House Mafia, Avicii etc its a great museum to see.
Wow, that’s an expensive museum! But probably par for the course in Sweden, and worth it for the ability to make you’re own video! This is right up my alley, although my knowledge of ABBA is limited to the movie Mama Mia. We just went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland (which costs about the same, actually) and I loved it.
Hi Heather! If you loved the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this number! It’s difficult not to like ABBA, their tunes are pretty infectious! Indeed, it’s expensive, but as you pointed out, you have the ability to make your own video and lots of other interactional stuff that would have been very expensive to create. I haven’t watched Mama Mia, I got to know them from Murial’s Wedding, if you’ve watched that?!
What a cool place to explore. I’m not surprise you named it “the Museum of the month”! I would love to go there as I love listening to Abba songs from time to time!
The only problem is Agness… the entrance fee almost exceeds your daily budget! I’m sure you could definitely find a way around this 😉 I can see you on the stage, getting down to Dancing Queen!
Yes Abba have certainly been a large musical influence and it is little surprise that you realised you knew so many of their tunes.
I hear this museum is a massive hit and visited by many. Abba are one of those groups with staying power, even though they split decades ago!
Abba do have staying power don’t they? If they’re not outwardly loved, then they’re usually someone’s guilty pleasure! The museum is great, even if you’re not ABBA’s number.1 fan the work that has gone into this museum is impressive!
I didn’t know that song either, until I watched Mamma Mia! The Movie 😀
I really want to go to Sweden some day. My colleague just came back from a 2-week Scandinavian backpacking trip, his photos of Stockholm and Gothenburg are amazing. But he did say Sweden is a cheapo-unfriendly country, where everything is expensive. Is that true?
Not an ABBA fan myself though, so if and when I do go, I will probably save the £20 for something else.
Hi! Your colleague is right I’m afraid, Sweden is expensive but it’s not as expensive as Norway and Denmark (many of the Norwegians like to go over to Sweden to party because the alcohol is cheaper, and some of the people who work in Copenhagen actually live in Malmo and commute to work because it’s cheaper!).
Despite the expense, Sweden is sooooo beautiful and definitely worth saving up for, and if you plan properly there are plenty of ways to save money, and you should find many free things to see and do. The biggest expenditure will be food – it’s difficult to get around that one, so that’s what you might want to save that £20 for!! 😀
WOW a whole museum dedicated to them!! I love ABBA. Although they stormed stages two decades before my growing up days, I’ve always listened to their songs. The museum looks fabulous, especially I am eying those merchandise. How cool is that pink top!
Gosh! now I can’t stop humming ‘Yes, I’ve been broken-hearted, blue since the day we parted, Why Why did I ever let you go, Mamma Mia, now I really know, my my, I could never let you go…..’
Haha you’ve got me dancing Tiaraa! It sounds like you’d love this museum then… that pink top has your name written all over it! 😉
I must admit, embarrassing or not, I actually really like Abba music!! I just find the songs so catchy, timeless and infectious and Dancing Queen always makes me want to get up and dance around! I’ve not been to Stockholm before but if I go, I would definitely be up for checking out this place!
Get up and dance around, I hear you say? Then I would definitely expect to see you get up on the stage for a dance and sing-a-long with the hologram’s of Abba! You can do the job which everyone else is too shy to do 😉
I walked by the ABBA museum when I was in Stockholm and now I regret not going inside. I think I would have loved it! I’ll definitely put it on my list for next time.
There’s so much to do in Stockholm you can’t see it all – but next time you’re in the city it would be rude not to, I reckon it would fun to go after a visit to the Spirit Museum 😉