We open the door to Norrbotten's history, both the known and the undiscovered.
Norrbotten's museum cherishes and protects the multicultural way of life and traditions that shaped us and our place in the world.
With knowledge and creativity, we bring to life the stories that enrich and touch – for curious explorers, history buffs, those who want to get to know the region and those who have lived here for generations.
We invite you to explore Norrbotten with us, now and for the future.
The museum's areas of activity include archaeology, archives, buildings, libraries, image archives, ethnology, photography and collections of objects.
We work with documentation, care and registration of collections, knowledge transfer and advice, research, digitization, museum pedagogy, and exhibition and program activities.
The collection of objects began in Norrbotten in 1878. Initially, they were kept at the home of the company's manager, JA Wikström, in Luleå.
On 20 September 1886, the Norrbotten Museum Association was formed with members from the upper bourgeoisie of the residence city. The association's main issues were the economy, premises and collections. The issue of premises was made more difficult by the Luleå city fire of 1887, when large parts of the city center were destroyed.
In 1901, rooms were furnished in the county board's building for the museum association's collections, which had previously been exhibited in the educational institution.
On the initiative of the writer David Törnqvist and the county councilwoman Anna Gustafsson, the association began in the 1910s to discuss the formation of an open-air museum at Gültzauudden. The idea was realized in the early 1920s. In 1922, the association was reorganized into the Norrbotten county homestead association.
In the 1920s, the home village association employed Einar Möller as a caretaker. He remained in service until the 1960s. Bertil Waldén became the first professionally trained museum curator in 1926.
Plans for a separate museum building emerged. The financing was resolved, and the then Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf was able to inaugurate the current museum building at Storgatan 21 in Luleå on 1936 July 2. The building was designed by architect Eberhard Lovén.
During the Second World War the business declined. Parts of the museum building were used by the county board's crisis agency and national antiquarian Reinhold Odencrants was periodically mobilized. It was not until 1950 that the county museum was able to reclaim the entire museum building again.
The staff until 1956 consisted of a country antiquarian, a caretaker and temporary amenuenses and a cleaning lady.
In 1961-1972, Harald Hvarfner was national antiquarian and under his leadership the museum developed rapidly. Fieldwork and book publishing complemented the exhibitions that toured the entire county. The museum was organized in 1964 into three departments. In 1966, the museum had 15 employees.
The museum's logo began to be used in 1972. The shape is a copy of an iron stamp from Törefors mill.
The Open Air Museum at Gültzauudden was moved around 1970 to Gammelstad and became the Open Air Museum Hägnan.
In 1967, the home village association changed its name to Föreningen Norrbotten museum. In 1977, the museum was transformed into a foundation with two principals; Luleå Municipality and Norrbotten County Council. The old association was split into two parts. The county museum itself was transferred to the new foundation, while the association for homeland stakeholders gathered in Norrbotten's homeland association and in the early 1980s the association changed its name to Norrbotten's homeland association.
On July 1, 1976, cultural heritage preservation in Sweden was reorganized. At the county administrations, county antiquaries were established, which took over the executive part of the county antiquaries.
The foundation was reorganized in April 1992. The county council completely took over the operations of Norrbotten's museum, while Luleå municipality took over responsibility for the Open Air Museum Hägnan in Gammelstad.
On October 1, 1999, the Norrbotten Museum Foundation became a base unit within Norrbotten County Council and today the workforce consists of around fifty employees. Activities are conducted not only in Luleå but in the entire county, with, for example, investigations and documentation, cultural projects and exhibition production, as well as a children's and youth activity.
On 1 January 2017, the county council changed its name to Region Norrbotten. The Norrbotten Museum is part of Region Norrbotten, the regional development department as a base unit within culture.
Managers at Norrbotten Museum:
Gunnar Ullenius, March 1929 – December 1936
Reinhold Odencrantz, 1937 – 1945
Hans Beskow, 1946 – 1961
Harald Hvarfner, 1961 – 1971
Björn Hallerdt, 1972 – 1975
Kjell Lundholm, 1975 – 1987 (ordinary from 1981)
Pär Hallinder, 1988 – 1990
Disa Åberg, 1990 – 1992
Majvor Östergren, 1992 – 1994
Majlis Granström, 1995 – 2001
Johan Lilliehöök, 2001 – 2004
Curt Persson, 2004 – 2012
Jan-Erik Lundström, 2012 – 2016
Margaretha Lindh, 2017 – 2025
Lennart Pettersson, 2026 –
Norrbotten Region is the principal authority for Norrbotten Museum. The museum is part of the Department for Regional Development, Culture.
The Norrbotten Museum's management team consists of:
Lennart Pettersson, County Museum Director
Sophie Nyblom, acting head of department, Cultural Environment Department
Nils Harnesk, Head of Department Collections Department
Anna Lundgren, head of department Public department
We are currently looking for an ethnologist.
Welcome to Norrbotten Museum! With us you can help highlight Norrbotten's rich history and culture, both the one we know and the one that is still waiting to be discovered.
We are looking for
We are looking for someone with a Bachelor's or Master's degree in ethnology, cultural heritage studies or equivalent education. We would like you to have worked as an ethnologist at a museum or equivalent institution. You should have good computer skills and good knowledge of Swedish and English - both spoken and written. A B driving license is a requirement as the position involves travel in the county. Postgraduate education in ethnology, cultural heritage studies or related subjects is also an advantage. We also value knowledge of national minority languages, technical knowledge in photography and sound recording, and documented experience as a project manager and work with diversity and minority issues.
We place great importance on your personal qualities, including good collaboration skills because you value and see the benefits of collaboration with others. You should have the ability to see the big picture and take the bigger picture into account, and that you can plan, organize and prioritize work effectively. We see that you take responsibility for your task and structure your approach yourself and drive your processes forward, and that you have ideas and suggestions for new approaches to work-related issues.
You get to work with this
Your position involves working with all of the museum's departments and areas of activity, such as archaeology, building conservation, collections, archives and public activities.
You are responsible for and run Norrbotten Museum's work with contemporary documentation. The work is carried out museum-wide based on the museum's operational planning. In your role, you lead the museum's documentation group, which is composed of cross-departmental members. The group plans and implements documentation projects annually according to established planning. You actively participate in the work with collection strategies for Norrbotten's intangible and tangible cultural heritage linked to the museum's cultural environment work, archives and collections.
You participate to varying degrees in Norrbotten Museum's exhibition productions, for example through background work and design of associated fundraising work or in some cases as a producer.
You work with qualified knowledge building and knowledge communication, for example via our cultural environment blog, our digital channels and lectures. We would like you to initiate and take responsibility for project applications, actively participate in museum-wide working groups and collaborate broadly with civil society as well as other actors in the county. You are expected to participate in ethnological networks where you take the initiative for collaborative projects, lead and communicate collaborations in interaction with the museum's needs and planned investments.
The position involves travel within the county and sometimes several days away from the workplace during the work week.
This is what we offer you
Flexible working hours
Experienced supervision
Health-promoting workplaces with access to wellness activities and wellness grants
Link to our benefits: https://www.norrbotten.se/sv/jobba-hos-oss/anstallningsvillkor-och-utveckling/
Information about the service
We offer you a permanent full-time, daytime employment. Access by agreement. Region Norrbotten applies individual salary setting according to collective agreements.
Application deadline: 2026-09-25
Location: Luleå
Workplace: Norrbotten Museum, Luleå
Access date: Access by agreement
Contact
TF Unit Manager: Sophie Nyblom, 076-132 80 01, sophie.nyblom@norrbotten.se
Union representative: John Sandström, DIK, 070-275 47 26, john.sandstrom@norrbotten.se
We work to have employees with knowledge of Sweden's national minority languages and therefore value your knowledge of Sami, Meänkieli, Finnish, Romani Chib and Yiddish. We actively work for an even gender distribution and see diversity as a strength. We welcome employees with different backgrounds and work to ensure that our workplace is accessible to everyone.
Welcome with your application!
We are happy to receive calls from you who are interested in the job, but we refrain from direct contact with staffing and recruitment companies and the sale of additional advertisements.
Here we have gathered information for you who work as a journalist or in the media.
The links open as PDF files in a new window.
2025-12-08 Norrbotten Museum Yearbook 2025
2025-11-05 Archives Day 2025
2025-10-24 Lennart Pettersson becomes the new county museum director in Norrbotten
2025-09-29 Museum cooperation Diginord
2025-05-08 Update, renovation of the museum building
2025-03-31 Fashion according to May
2025-03-10 Markbygden - collection of stories
2025-02-10 People's History
2024-11-28 Museum Yearbook 2024
2024-11-04 Air conditioning of the museum building
The Norrbotten Museum's logo is available in landscape and portrait format. Choose the option that provides the best visibility where it will be used. The logo may not be cropped or otherwise altered.
The Norrbotten Museum logo may only be used in contexts where the museum is the sender or collaborating party.
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