listed buildings
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
in
Aarhus
Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...
,
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
and is the former DSB central train repair facility for
Jutland
Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...
and Fuenen. The buildings were completed in 1862 and was listed by the Danish Heritage Agency in the Danish national registry of protected buildings and places on 11 November 2005. The complex includes the central workshop building (Danish: Centralværkstedet) and the smithy (Smedjen). The building complex is situated in the central
Indre By
Indre By (English language, English: ), also known as Copenhagen Center or K or Downtown Copenhagen, is an districts of Copenhagen, administrative district (''bydel'') in central Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. It covers an area of , has a p ...
Jutland
Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...
was established between
Aarhus
Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...
and
Randers
Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is List of cities and towns in Denmark, Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 64,511 ().English company Peto, Brassey and Betts. The workshop was established on an area between the Central Station and ''Spanien'' in a 3-winged complex with offices, smithy and a number of specialized workshops.
During the war between Denmark and Germany in 1863–64 the workshop was closed down and in 1867 the Danish state took control of the Jutland-Fuenen railroads. In the decades after the war the railroad expanded greatly with ferry connections across
Little Belt
The Little Belt (, ) is a strait between the island of Funen and the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish straits, Danish Straits that drain and connect the Baltic Sea to the Kattegat strait, which drains west to the Nor ...
in 1872 and the
Great Belt
The Great Belt (, ) is a strait between the major islands of Zealand (''Sjælland'') and Funen (''Fyn'') in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits.
Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Belt ferries fr ...
in 1883. In 1880 the state took control of the privately operated
Zealand
Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...
railroads and created the national Danish State Railroads or DSB. The workshop in Aarhus was named ''Centralværkstedet'' (English: Central Workshop) and became the primary workshop for train repair in Jutland and Fuenen.
In the 1930s DSB had 750 locomotives and trams and almost 15.000 cars, primarily for cargo. About half belonged to the central workshop in Aarhus which annually made some 7-8000 car repairs and 250 locomotive repairs. Beyond maintenance and repair the workshop did refurbishment and built most spare parts and specialized tools.
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and the
Occupation of Denmark
At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself Neutral countries in World War II, neutral, but that neutrality did not prevent Nazi Germany from Military occupation, occupying the country soon after the outbreak of ...
in 1940–45 the Danish rail network suffered much damage and supply shortages meant old maintenance-heavy steam locomotives were taken back into service. The extraordinary need for repairs in the post-war years created a need for a lot of labor and the workshop was expanded. Over time the steam locomotives were gradually replaced by diesel trains and many regional rail lines were closed down so need for labor diminished again. In 1867 the workshop employed 100 men, in 1880 it had risen to 300, 750 in 1900, 1000 in 1920s and almost 1850 in 1949. After 1950 the number of employees fell steadily as work was gradually centralized in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
.
In 1990 only 140 employees remained and DSB decided to close the workshop and sell the 16.000 m2 property. The buildings has since been renovated and are used for shops and conferences.
Architecture
The central workshops in Aarhus are the oldest train repair facilities in Denmark. The building complex has been extended and remodeled a number of times so it today illustrates the different industrial architectural styles from the 1860s to the mid-20th century.
The buildings can be roughly divided in 4 periods. 1860-70s when the rail lines to Struer (1863–65),
Fredericia
Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region Denmark, Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vej ...
(1868),
Silkeborg
Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025).Grenå
Grenaa (or Grenå) is a Denmark, Danish town and seaport on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula. Tourism, education and commerce are important sectors in the economy of Grenaa. It is the only larger town on Djursland. Grenaa is the municipal ...
(1877) was established. The smithy, ''Sibirien'', Electrical Workshop and
bogie
A bogie ( ) (or truck in North American English) comprises two or more Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets (two Railroad wheel, wheels on an axle), in a frame, attached under a vehicle by a pivot. Bogies take various forms in various modes ...
Workshop are from this period. The car repair facility and paint shop is from around 1911. The car repair facility was expanded in 1930 and several of the existing buildings were remodeled. Finally, the large halls facing ''Spanien'' was built in 1940–59.
The complex has examples of simple 1 story brick buildings barely different from a traditional warehouse and the hall-building which has the first locomotive repair workshop, both from 1862. The brick hall-building ''Sibirien'' was constructed between 1870 and 1880 and features brick arches to carry cranes which makes it unique in from other contemporary hall-buildings. The bogie workshop from 1883 is a flat brick building with unique tilted windows in the flat roof. The car repair facility from 1911 and 1932 is a characteristic example of the concrete hall-buildings developed in the
interwar period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...