Visiting the Karen Blixen museum near Copenhagen

Why did I want to visit the Karen Blixen Museum near Copenhagen? Karen Blixen returned from Kenya to her family home to write her book, Out of Africa. Well now, let me tell you the story.

I spent a month in Kenya as a student and took with me as holiday reading, Karen Blixen’s memoir Out of Africa. I was enchanted by her tales of daily life on the coffee plantation near Nairobi.

The story of ‘her’ Kikuyu and the flights she took over the rift valley with her lover Denys Finch Hatton were absorbing.

‘I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong hills’ the story begins. It goes on to describe the colours, the scents, the shapes, the essence of Africa.

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Falling in love with Kenya

Like Karen Blixen, I was taken flying by a pilot friend in a light aircraft. I looked down on those same Ngong hills and that same Rift valley. How could I not fall in love with Kenya as seen through Karen Blixen’s eyes?

So when I came to Copenhagen, it was high on my list to see the house at Rungstedlund overlooking the Sound. This had been Karen Blixen’s family home.

Her coffee plantation in Kenya had failed and she had to sell everything in the 1930s. This was where she returned and devoted herself to writing, becoming a celebrated and respected author by the end of her life.

This was the house where she entertained guests and collected a devoted following of writers and artists around her. She turned the woodland at the back of her house into a bird sanctuary.

A cut flower garden existed to create beautiful arrangements in all her elegant rooms. This is where she is buried under a big tree in the woodland bird sanctuary.

Karen Blixen’s family home

Although the house at Rungstedlund is a little way out of Copenhagen, it’s easy enough to get to on the train from the city centre. When you reach the station at Rungsted it’s a 30 minute walk or a short bus ride to the house. Better still wander along the woodland path, following the clearly marked signs for the Karen Blixen museum.

We chose to hire bikes for the day which we took on the train with us. Then we cycled back part of the way along the coast road towards Copenhagen, before returning by train from Klampenborg station.

The house is a traditional Danish farmhouse, that was originally made up of four buildings set around a courtyard. Two were destroyed by fire in the past and what remains is an L-shape house of two wings.

The outside is softened by greenery and the courtyard in front and gardens behind. You enter at the front to find a small shop and a cafe that extends to the terrace at the back.

There’s an exhibition room upstairs with photographs and information about Karen Blixen and her life. You can see the the old fashioned typewriter on which she would type her stories. There are couple of small library rooms to the side, where you can sit down and read all the books written about her and by her.

Taking a guided tour

Although this was an interesting start to our visit, the highlight was to see the rooms where Karen Blixen lived. The decor and furniture are just as they were in her lifetime, as if she had stepped out for a moment to cut a few flowers in the garden.

This part of the house is open for a guided tour of small groups at regular intervals which seemed to be about every hour when we were there. At the appointed time the door is unlocked and you are allowed to enter.

You’ll hear a short introduction from the guide who was happy to give it in English as well as Danish. We looked around an exhibition room showing a timeline of Karen Blixen’s life. There’s a documentary film continually running on a loop about her life and achievements.

Have you ever flicked through one of those interior design books about Danish country houses? All pared down classical elegance, washed out colours to reflect the sea and sky and lovely antique furniture.

It was all recreated here – the chandeliers and decorative cast iron stoves. Lace curtains at the window making pools on the polished wood floor and framing the view to the garden.

Karen Blixen’s African collectibles

In one room are displayed the pictures that Karen Blixen painted, of her African staff, the warrior and the Kikuyu ndito (which you’ll often see on the cover of her books). Throughout the house are the arrangements of cut flowers that she loved to make, taking cultivated and wild flowers from the garden in the woodland behind the house.

Many of these pictures, ornaments and furniture had been to Kenya and back again. From the screen by the fire she took motifs to inspire the stories she told to Denys Finch Hatton.

You can see the dark wood Swahili chest studded with brass decoration that was a gift from her loyal Somali servant Farah. The chest returned with her to Denmark and is normally topped with a flower arrangement from the garden.

When I chatted to the Danish chef of Kiin Kiin, Henrik Yde Andersen, he was also enchanted by the house. He told me that for his graduation meal he had recreated a menu and table setting, complete with the lovely wild flower arrangements. All this would have been eaten by a guest in Karen Blixen’s house when she was still alive.

Karen’s tragic life

Karen Blixen endured great tragedy in her life, the suicide of her father and the breakdown of her marriage. The death in a plane crash of her lover Denys Finch Hatton and the failure of her coffee farm. It must have been very difficult to return with no money to Denmark.

She left her beloved Africa behind, to return to the family estate of Runstedlund with nothing. Yet by the end of her life her strength of character had prevailed and she had become a literary celebrity. She visited America and broadcasted on Danish and American radio.

After her death in 1962 the house at Rungstedlund was maintained through the trust that she established to receive all the royalties from her books. The success of the film Out of Africa in 1986, with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in the starring roles, also brought in funding.

Both the house at Rundstelund and the farm house in Kenya were restored, and interest was renewed in Karen Blixen. She was above all a storyteller and if you enjoy both her stories and the story of her life, then you’ll find the Karen Blixen museum at Rungstedlund near Copenhagen a fascinating place to connect with her.

Directions to reach the Karen Blixen Museum at Rungstedlund, near Copenhagen

To reach the Karen Blixen Museum at Rungstedlund, take the S train line to Klampenborg and change for the Coastal line to Runsted station. Or, take the Coastal train direct to Rungsted, depending on your starting point.

You can take bikes on the train as we did and there are normally at least 3 trains per hour to Rungsted. Once you get to Rungsted station you can follow the well marked signs to the Karen Blixen Museum. It is a 30 minute walk or 15 minute cycle ride.

Alternatively you can get off at Klampenborg and take the No 388 bus up the coast, admiring the views of the sea and the sound on the way. The bus will take you close to the museum which is on the coast road.

Resources for visiting the Karen Blixen House and Museum

• Visit the website of the Karen Blixen Museum at Runstedlund near Copenhagen
• Visit the website of the Karen Blixen Museum at Karen, Nairobi, Kenya
• The Visit Copenhagen website has plenty of information about places to visit in Copenhagen
• We visited the Karen Blixen Museum and travelled there with the Copenhagen Card that gives free entry to 65 museums and attractions as well as free public transport around the city

Thanks to Wonderful Copenhagen for sponsoring* our weekend in Copenhagen.

* More info on my policies page

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com

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