The Nobel Museum (Swedish: Nobelmuseet) is a museum devoted to circulate information on the Nobel Prize, Nobel laureates from 1901 to present, and the life of the founder of the prize, Alfred Nobel (1833-1896). The museum is, together with the Swedish Academy and the Nobel Library, located in the former Stock Exchange Building (Börshuset) taking up the north side of the square Stortorget in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. A very interesting part of the museum is the gallery where artifacts donated by Nobel Laureates are showcased accompanied with fun and personal life stories.
A model of a Fullerene at the museum exhibition.
According to the manifesto of the museum, the intentions are to be a "reflecting and go-ahead spirited memory of the Nobel laureates and their achievements as well as of the Nobel Prize and Alfred Nobel". To achieve these aims, the museum offers exhibitions, films, theatre plays, and debates related to science; besides the regular book and souvenir shops, and cafés usually found in museums. The museum boasts exhibitions featuring celebrities such as Marie Curie, Nelson Mandela, and Winston Churchill, to name but a few. Besides that, they often offer creative exhibitions such as their current exhibition "Sketches of science". Sketches of Science is a photo exhibition with 42 Nobel Laureates photographed with their own sketch of their Nobel discovery. The exhibition is a very fun and playful way to present the Laureates. This exhibition has been showed in other parts of the world as well, such as Dubai and Singapore.
The museum opened in the spring of 2001 for the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize. Since, the great demand for guided tours from school classes have made the premises in the old town cramped for space, and ambitions are to relocate the institution to a more suitable building on Skeppsholmen (or more specifically the secularized church Skeppsholmskyrkan), an islet further east in central Stockholm already interlarded with museums and others related institutions.
For visitors who want to bring a piece of the museum home, a souvenir shop is available that contains items about Alfred Nobel and the museum. One of the most popular items is Alfred Nobel's gold medal made in dark fair trade chocolate. Another one is the Swedish "dynamite" candy that is flavored with jalapeño pepper. During 2011, the souvenir shop collaborated with the artist Artan Mansouri who made paintings that symbolized Alfred Nobel's life. Besides that, the shop offers a lot of educational toys for children, books by and about Nobel Prize Laureates, and also unique items only found in the Nobel Museum shop. Besides offering a Nobel Museum shop, there also is a Bistro Nobel where you can eat Nobel chocolate, Swedish cakes, and also lunch and dinner. At the bistro, the famous Nobel ice cream is served as well; this ice cream can only be found in the Nobel Bistro. A perfect match with the Nobel ice-cream is the Nobel tea that is usually served every year at the Nobel banquet.
