My new opdatet story about MINISEUM:

My story has change a lot, because my husband and I has sold ours work of life Auning Inn. It was a vey huge decisions, but seen in the light of the year a very good decisions.If I in short terms should tell you about the 27 years at Auning Inn, I could start with all the buildingproject; New hall, balroom, meetings rooms, restaurant and of couse a great wing with new rooms, a brand new kitchen with a huge capacity. We had a fantastic buisness but we also worked day and night. For the following owner on Auning Inn we leave a good reputation, a kitchen well-known for high quality and a compleat renovated Inn.

My museum with miniatureshop was also a succes, actually it never was ment to be, it was just my own hobby but it develop. when we sold Auning kro it was not a wish to become the nabo of the Inn and also I needed larger locations for my museum.We looked very long for the right "spot" in the right place. Nothing seems right around Auning.

By coincidence we found the property with the right potential near Mariager. It also was a must with beautiful nature and a location with interest for turist and we think it is right hier in the middel og Mariagerfjord. If I think of the movement, pure geographic, I hear customers tell me, that it is much easier to find oure new residence as it's not very far from the Highway E45. It's an area with many great small towns. The Highway also makes it much easier to come to Århus and Ålborg from hier than from Djursland.

More than a year the movement took, but who can move a huge castle from the fourteen century and a lot of real estate with a higher speed? My new place is approximatly 240 m2 it is so great and I enjoy every day in my new museum.

I have change my company name, so now it is just MINISEUM. My adress and opening hours you can see on the website. I promise that the Musem is worth visiting and also is my shop

The Miniseum is more than you can imagination

See you in Mariager

Best regards

Birthe

THE HISTORY OF AUNING MINISEUM.

My name is Birthe Knuth and together with my husband Johny run Auning Inn in Djursland, where we can offer rooms, restaurant, bar and meeting rooms.

I have always been fascinated by life like miniatures, which I have purchased on different occasions.

I am somewhat of a dreamer (who isn’t?) so I have often toyed with the idea of owning a dollshouse, which I could fill with my many miniature purchases.

My first house.

My dream came true in 1996 when Johny and I celebrated our Silver Wedding. In our daily work in the restaurant and meeting rooms, we are involved in many confirmations, birthdays and Silver Weddings, so a party was not at the top of the list for our own Silver Wedding.I persuaded Johny that we celebrated it quietly on the island of Møn!

I had read in a magazine that a married couple on Møn built and sold individual dollhouses, so I took the opportunity of making my dream come true! Of course I got my dollhouse- and one more – and one more -and one more!

I also made contact with a succession of collectors and miniature craftsmen who were just as fascinated with miniatures as I was myself.

The trip to Møn left its mark in many ways on a large part of our lives and the few hours we have to our own disposition each day, when we have a large Inn to run.

The dream grew.

One of the miniature craftsmen I made contact with was Kurt Jensen from Sæby. Pattern maker and a true craftsman when it’s a question of making fine precision models of furniture and houses. I simply had to own nearly all the models Kurt presented for me, and I was often teased about my large purchase, for where would I find room for that amount of furniture, I was asked? I need them for my castle, I replied.

My dream had already grown larger!

In 1998 Kurt visited us on the occasion of a birthday party. After a glass of red wine – or was it two. I asked Kurt “Can you build me a castle”? Kurt agreed to, as long as it was an exact model of an existing Danish castle. A building, which even in the International scale measurement for miniature works 1:12, would be of such a size that it would fill most of a normal sized Danish living room. So a new dream of a location to display my miniatures was about to be born!

Work on the castle.

Close by our Inn lies Old Estrup Castle. A fine castle from the early 15^th century, which today is a museum. We chose this castle so that visitors would have the possibility of seeing both the original castle and the model when visiting Djursland.

We contacted the assistant curator Vibeke Nielsen and told her of our plans to build a miniature model of the castle. She liked the idea and helped us to procure the original building plans, so that Kurt could make a start on the large project. We chose to make the main building in miniature, which when finished would measure four and a half meters in width and nearly two meters in height.

Work on the construction of the castle’s main building took almost a year to complete, but then it contained both turret rooms, carriage gateway, Knight shall, Kitchen and chapel – nearly 50 rooms in all. Through 58 windows can be seen the castles many halls, and satisfy oneself that the wooden and tiled floors, wall panels and ceiling decorations are all as they should be.

The wooden planks for the floors are cut from an old pinewood bed, and about 800 handmade clinkers used for the remainder of the floors. On the castle roof and parapets are used no less than 8.000 handmade tiles.

The castle is an impressive building in Miniature and one of Europe’s largest dollhouses.

Auning Miniseum.

We bought Auning Inn in 1980, and four years later bought the neighbouring property, which contained a discontinued butchers shop. The shop was. Renovated and repaired, so it was ready to receive the completed model of Old Estrup Castle in September 1999, and to be the setting for the grand opening of Auning Miniseum on October 1^st the same year.

I must admit, I had no idea what I had let myself in for at the time. It was my original plan that the museum should contain my own miniature collection, which could be presented for interested quests at the Inn and tourists in town.

I had not dreamt about regular opening times and additional collections from other miniature craftsmen and collectors, but I became wiser!

Today Auning Miniseum has regular opening hours, although some callers turn up unrepentantly. We have also opened a well-assorted museum shop, with items for both collectors and do-it-yourself customers. We have continually changing displays from other collectors, - and the museum is well attended by visitors from home and abroad.

The collection is a great success and very popular – but more time consuming than I had ever dreamt of when I chose to celebrate my Silver wedding “quietly” on Møn!

Miniature Fairs.

After our visit to Møn we also made contact with a married couple named Harms from Sjælland. They had started a magazine named “Miniature Magasinet” in 1996, and thereby had contact to a large number of readers. I suggested that they could join me in arranging a miniature fair here at the Inn so that people that were interested need not travel to Sjælland to see exciting miniatures. They unwillingly agreed to help arrange a fair in October 1997. The Fair was a great success for both visitors and exhibitors alike so great, that we decided there and then to arrange a Fair annually the first weekend in October.

We have held Fairs annually since then. And the number of visitors has grown from year to year.

The exhibitors are retailer and Danish and foreign manufactures of high quality miniatures.

Our target with the annual fairs is, to be able to present some of the many skilful individual craftsmen and their admirable work, for Danish collectors and miniaturise.

Therefore craftsmen will occupy a steadily increasing area of the exhibition in the years to come.

The fair in October is open both Saturday and Sunday from 11 am – 5 pm.

Regards

Birthe