Mission and cultural exchange in 18th-century Sisimiut
In the spring of 2017 Sisimiut Museum opened a new permanent exhibition in the newly restored blue Bethel Church. Here you can meet the 18th-century missionary and the traditional Greenlandic shaman and listen to their solutions to the problems and dilemmas facing the local population in the early colonial era. Through interactive touchscreens, you can learn more about pre-Christian religion in Greenland, the missionaries, and the fascinating history of the Bethel Church.
Also on display is a Danish newspaper from 1773 in which the commission of the church was printed. In this letter the people of Sisimiut ask for a church building to be shipped to them in return for 60 barrels of whale blubber. This church building was the first in Greenland to be paid by the Greenlandic congregation itself.
The restoration of the church has been kindly supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond. The exhibition was made possible by Augustinus Fonden and Knud Højgaards Fond.
