IndustrIal HerItage In denmark

IndustrIal HerItage In denmark Landscapes, Environments and Historical Archaeology Edited by Caspar Jørgensen and Morten Pedersen

INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE IN DENMARK

INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE IN DENMARK Landscapes, Environments and Historical Archaeology Edited by Caspar Jørgensen and Morten Pedersen Aarhus University Press a

Industrial Heritage in Denmark The authors, Kulturstyrelsen and Aarhus University Press 2014 Layout, typesetting and cover design by Jørgen Sparre Typeset in ITC Charter and ITC Franklin Gothic Cover photo: Carlsberg s bottling hall ca. 1903 (reversed). Unknown photographer. Carlsberg archives. All maps Danish Geodata Agency, where nothing else is stated. Ebook production Narayana Press, Denmark ISBN 978 87 7124 414 4 Aarhus University Press Langelandsgade 177 DK-8200 Aarhus N www.unipress.dk International Distributors: Gazelle Book Services White Cross Mills Hightown, Lancaster, LA1 4XS United Kingdom www.gazellebookservices.co.uk ISD 70 Enterprise Drive Bristol, CT 06010 USA www.isdistribution.com Photo p. 6: The B & W engine at the H.C. Ørsted Power Station. Photo: Ole Akhøj 2007. Photo p. 8: The canteen at Novozymes. Photo from the 1950s. Novo Nordisk History and Art Collection.

Industrial 5

6 INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE IN DENMARK

preface 7 PREFACE... The Danish Agency for Culture works strategically to present and develop Danish arts and culture internationally, to further the cultural exchange between Denmark and other countries, and to strengthen Danish arts and culture through internationalization. At the same time, the goal of the Agency is to ensure that the cultural heritage that is being protected will also become and remain of great significance to the majority of people. One of the prerequisites for international understanding and cooperation is knowledge. This book, therefore, is a contribution to knowledge about one part of Denmark s history. Even though, with good reason, Denmark is often perceived as an agricultural country, industry is also a very important sector in the Danish economy, employing as it does a large number of people and having an appreciable influence on the Danish society in general. In 2007, as a result of a special commitment to set focus on industrial society s history and heritage, the Danish Agency for Culture elected 25 industrial monuments of national importance. Together, the 25 industries provide a complete picture of industrialization and of Denmark s transition from an agricultural to an industrial society over the last 150 years. It is the first time such an overview has been carried out in Denmark with its point of departure in the buildings the physical traces that can be seen in the landscape, while including at the same time the intangible culture. The initiative has parallels in our neighboring countries. In Denmark, just as internationally, there has been for some years and continues to be a growing interest in industrial heritage and an understanding of the need for increased research and overview. With this book the Danish Agency for Culture aims to present to an Englishspeaking readership some of the results of our undertaking. The book consists of a presentation of the history of industry s buildings and the 25 national industrial monuments, along with some of the results from the studies which the Agency has supported, in addition to reflections on the preservation of the industrial heritage. Anne Mette Rahbæk General Director of the Danish Agency of Culture

Content 9... INTRODUCTION Caspar Jørgensen and Morten Pedersen 11 INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS AND LANDSCAPES IN DENMARK 1770-1970 Caspar Jørgensen 25 FANTASTIC INDUSTRIES Caspar Jørgensen DANISH PORTS 1840-1970 Historical characteristics of the ports of the industrialisation René Schrøder Christensen DANISH SUGAR BEET REFINERIES 1872-1912 A technological, typological, architectural and cultural analysis Hanne Christensen CEMENT PLANTS OF A NEW ERA Morten Pedersen INDUSTRIAL PLACES IN NEW GUISE Anna Storm INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE IN DENMARK Caspar Jørgensen CONTRIBUTORS 27 65 157 181 213 237 257 284

10 INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE IN DENMARK The B&W engine at H.C. Ørsted Power Station. Photo Akhøj 2007

INTRODUCTION 11 INTRODUCTION... Caspar Jørgensen and Morten Pedersen The focal point of this book is the industrial environment, as understood through the objects, buildings and landscapes that came with industrial production, as well as its relationship to the natural conditions and the associated methods of production and lifestyles, organizations, assessments and knowledge (Jørgensen 2004, 50). Emphasis will be placed on the physical environment, although research has also been carried out on work culture and business history. Since the middle of the 1800s, Denmark has increasingly taken the form of an industrial society, also in the sense that the industry s physical environments have been a growing part of the cultural landscape and the development is still going on. Especially the massive building developments, which can be observed alongside the motorways from Randers towards Odense, and between Vejle and Herning, are a clear manifestation that industry although having moved out of the old neighborhoods in the major cities from the 1950s, if not before still dominates the landscape. And, notably, plants such as the Carlsberg brewery in Fredericia from 1979, the Danish Crown slaughterhouse north of Horsens from 2005, and Fiberline Composites near Middelfart from 2006, suggest that industry is still developing. Until recently, the industrial environment has only been a subject of sparse interest in the Danish historical research and heritage debate. Apart from a handful of works on individual companies that go beyond the history of technology perspective and examine the building character, Jørgen Sestoft s architectural-historical overview from 1979, with emphasis on the stylistic development, thus remains one of the few attempts at synthesis (Sestoft 1979; Jørgensen 2004, 51-56). It was not until 2011 that a nationwide, comprehensive guide to Danish industrial environments appeared (Harnow 2011).

12 INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE IN DENMARK When the Heritage Agency of Denmark (today Danish Agency for Culture) conducted 2004-2007 a special focus on the heritage of the industrial society, this also gave rise to increased attention towards industrial landscapes. This not only resulted in the selection of 25 industrial sites that are considered to be of national importance, but also in the implementation of a number of studies on industrial environments, which have been carried out by several of the Danish museums. In addition, the heritage sites selected have been followed up by municipal town planning and by dissemination of initiatives targeted at uppersecondary schools. The ambition here is to provide a comprehensive presentation of some of the main findings, with emphasis on the built-environment. The focus on this area was justified by a more pluralistic view of what heritage is, as well as the phasing out of industrial production in the old town centers during the past decades, leading to increasing attention to preservation issues in an intersection between a wide range of disciplines and interests. Therefore, it was a goal for the Heritage Agency to create an overview, among other things by inquiring into which 25 industries were most important in the period 1840-1970, and to obtain more knowledge about them. For ex- The Fiberlines Composites plant from 2005-06. Factories continue to be built in Denmark. This plant is located near the motorway at Middelfart and was designed by the architect firm, KHR Arkiteketer A/S. The building has a surface area of 170,000 m 2, and is for the most part constructed of composite materials. Photo: Poul Elmstrøm.

INTRODUCTION 13 Denmark as an agricultural country. Illustrated here by the poet-priest Kaj Munk s Danmarksbillede in Herluf Jensenius line drawing in a children s book on Denmark s geography and history. After Kaj Munk s: Danmarks Historie og Danmarks Geografi fortalt for smaa Børn (Denmark s History and Denmark s Geography told for children). Nyt Nordisk Forlag, Arnold Busck 1943. ample, we know quite a lot about the history of Carlsberg in the 1800s during the directorships of the two founders, J.C. Jacobsen and Carl Jacobsen, but we know much less about Carlsberg in the 1900s, even though it was in this period that the company became one of the leading international breweries. Furthermore, it was clear that the industrial-archaeological approach was relatively weak in Denmark, partly because the discipline had not been established at a university. The goal of the following chapters is to present the 25 industrial heritage sites and especially the industrialization they have helped to shape. Three point studies of ports, sugar beet mills, and cement plants are also presented and the book concludes with two chapters that discuss: perceptions and strategies for the conversion of industrial sites (with Avesta, in Sweden s Bergslaget region, as an example); and, an overview of the preservation of industrial heritage in Denmark, historically.