Collections

The cultural history collections kept at the storage facility known as Kulturlagret are a result of nearly 140 years of accumulation. Based on the natural history collection of elementarläroverket, the grammar school in Vänersborg, a vision of starting a museum was implemented. In 1872, a section of the school building was dedicated to the first Vänersborg Museum.

The archive holds material from the extensive documentation of buildings performed during nearly 40 years by the County Museum of former Älvsborg. Furthermore, the archive consists of historical collections of photographs from the parishes of the county as well as material from several studios. These topographical archives and material of personal history covers the years from the 1860s till today.

The natural history collections of Vänersborg museum has its roots in the Wenersborgs grammar school and in a noble Englishman who discovered the west of Sweden in the 1820s.

The vast majority of the archive material at Kulturlagret consists of the government records from the Regional Museum of Västra Götaland, its predecessor the County Museum of Älvsborg, the Museum Organisation of Älvsborg, the Museum Organisation of Northern Älvsborg and the Council of Cultural Heritage in the former County of Älvsborg. The origin of this county-wide museum formation is Vänersborg Museum, which was established in 1885.