B&O Struer

Facts

B&O blows up

By Kathrine G. Bjerregaard, Cand.mag i historie og filosofi / Master of Arts, History and Philosophy (33 stories)

Bang & Olufsen A/S was founded in 1925 by two young engineers, Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen. They experimented by creating a radio powered directly from the mains rather than running on accumulators or batteries. In 1929, they were successful. The first mains-run radio, Five Lamps", signalled the company's breakthrough. The first factory was built in 1927 in Gimsing, south of Struer. But the factory complex was blown up by the occupational forces in 1945. After the war, B&O gained a new headquarters, and five modern factory halls with sawtooth roofs, reinforced concrete frames and brick facades followed. "

Not a public place

Selected entry

Schalburgtage" action "

Story written by Kathrine G. Bjerregaard

Time / Periode 1927 1945

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Schalburgtage" was the nickname for the terror campaign the Germans waged in the last part of the Danish Occupation. The occupational forces called the actions "countersabotage", whereas the Danes' name for it was based on the Schalburg corps (volunteers fighting on the German side led by Christian Frederik von Schalburg). The B&O factory was one of many locations that were hit by schalburgtage in 1944/45, probably because several of the company's employees were active resistance fighters. On the night of 14 January 1945, the B&O factory was blown up. Those responsible were a group that, according to the police report, were acting on orders from the Gestapo. The group included the infamous Kaj Henning Bothilsen Nielsen, a member of the Free Corps Denmark (a Danish volunteer army corps created by the Danish Nazi Party in cooperation with Germany). Nielsen was executed after the liberation. The police report also mentioned that: "The damage of the schalburgtage amounted to about DKK 3 million. The damage was complete. The buildings were completely blown up and the fire triggered by the explosion led to total destruction". "