Arsenalen – Swedish Tank Museum

Arsenalen, or the Swedish Tank Museum, is a popular visitor’s attraction boasting more than 70 military vehicles, an extensive collection of metal military figures and an interactive 19th-century soldier’s croft exhibit.

History of Arsenalen

Arsenalen was officially opened on 17 June 2011, and its operations are handled by the Södermanland Foundation Military History Collections.

The museum’s artefacts, meanwhile, are the property of the Swedish National Museums of Military History. Many of the site’s vehicles once resided in different historic sites around Sweden, such as Malmköping’s Military Vehicle Museum and Axvall’s Tank Museum.

Arsenalen’s collections have grown to encompass more than 300 vehicles, with around 70 of them on display at any one time.

Arsenalen today

Visitors to the Swedish Tank Museum can expect to see historic military vehicles and exhibits that trace the transformation of warfare in Sweden from the early 20th century through to the close of the Cold War.

There is a Figure Museum on the site, which boasts an impressive collection of tin figurines crafted by the artist Holger Eriksson. The museum’s Soldier and the Croft exhibit, meanwhile, recreates the experience of a soldier in mid-19th-century Sweden.

Arsenalen also features a play room for younger visitors, where they can draw, dress up in military uniforms and interact with a large model tank.

Getting to Arsenalen

The museum is located 7 km from Strängnäs, Sweden, along the E20 motorway. Take exit 135 to Härad and at the T junction turn right towards Strängnäs.

The site can also be reached from the north via road 55. Follow blue signs for the local road towards Eskilstuna.

Visitors can also catch a train to Strängnäs, and then take bus 220 or 820 to bus stop Näsbyholm, which is just outside the museum.