Last year at the height of the pandemic the Lego house is closed to the general public. However the Lego house still managed to keep people engaged during the lockdowns associated with virtual tours of the history collection.
The Virtual History Tours will be returning in 2021, offering 5 presentations between May and November 2021. They will cover everything from the early beginnings in 1932 up until 2020. Each presentation is based on one of 5 important chapters of the LEGO Group’s history. Each tour will be are offered in two sessions per day, with the same content, to facilitate different time zones.
The virtual tour will yet again be hosted by LEGO Corporate Historian Kristian Reimer Hauge, who will take you on a detailed journey of the history of the LEGO Group and who will showcase highlights from the archive in the basement of LEGO House that have not been touched upon in last year’s live tours.
The price for each 60 minutes long virtual tour is 50 DKK, which translates to around $10-11AUD/8USD per session.
You can participate in any of the live tours by buying a ticket via this link. Read on for greater detail about the content:
Please note that participation does not require any special programs to participate in the tours –You will be sent a link for the session, which you need to click on - and you just join via a web browser.
Dates and topics
Tour 1:May 6, 2021. Duration: 60 min. Price: 50 DKK
The beginning of the LEGO Group, 1932 – 1946
Wonder how it all started?
Please join us for a guided tour in the LEGO House History Collection covering the beginning of the LEGO Group. The tour will touch upon the background of LEGO® founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen and how he started the company as well as cover the ups and downs he had to endure in the company´s first years of existence.
Tour 2:June 22, 2021. Duration: 60 min. Price: 50 DKK
The LEGO Group - Consolidating plastic, 1947 – 1961
Want to know more about the big gamechanger for the LEGO Group?
Through this guided tour in the LEGO House History Collection, you’ll learn about a crucial period in the history of the LEGO Group. The gamechanger happened in 1958 when the LEGO brick was introduced, but many other activities in the late 1940s and up through the 1950s contributed to creating the foundation of the company we know today, and we are here to tell you all about it.
Tour 3:August 30, 2021. Duration: 60 min. Price: 50 DKK
The LEGO Group – Expanding the LEGO System in Play, 1962 – 1978
Wonder how LEGO System in Play secured great expansion?
Go on a virtual guided tour in the LEGO House History Collection and learn more about how the LEGO System in Play was expanded up through the 1960s and 1970s. We will cover the introduction of movement and role play, talk about the background for creating the first LEGOLAND Park and much more. We will even touch upon who the first CEO/Managing Director to come from outside the owner family was.
Tour 4:October 11, 2021. Duration: 60 min. Price: 50 DKK
The LEGO Group - Introducing new ideas, 1979 – 2001
Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen and his many great ideas.
Third generation owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, and the new ideas he introduces, play a huge role in this virtual tour in the LEGO House History Collection covering the first 22 years of Kjeld at the helm. We will look into the introduction of storytelling, how the appearance of the minifigure was changed, the introduction of our first brick built IP products and more.
Tour 5: November 8, 2021. Duration: 60 min. Price: 50 DKK
The LEGO Group – Crisis and turnaround, 2002 – 2020
How do you make a turnaround in a giant crisis?
In this virtual tour in the LEGO House History Collection the theme is very much ups and downs, as we will look into the crisis and turnaround and some of the contributing factors.
We will also touch briefly on more contemporary topics such as collaborating with the AFOL community or setting up our sustainable materials center.
Each presentation will pre presented in 2 seperate sessions, to allow for different time zones.
Please be aware that we operate in Billund time (CEST). We kindly ask you to convert the timing to your time zone.
You can sign up for any or all of the tours here. The majority of the tours are run twice in the day, 10am and 2pm Billund time.
I had the good fortune to interview Corporate Historian Kristian Reimer Hauge back in January, as part of Brickvention Online. You can here about how he became involved in the Corporate History department in the video below: His joy in dicussing the history of the LEGO Group is apparent, and it is great that he will again be guiding these tours in 2021.
You can buy tickets for the virtual history tours through the LEGO House, or follow the link here to the event page.
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Play Well.