Kulturarv

The Risbjerg housing estate

The Risbjerg estate in Hvidovre Municipality east of Harrestrup Stream contains 1,500 single family homes built between 1912 and 2009. Initially, the area was dominated by summer houses built by the plot owners themselves. During the housing shortage of the 1920s, many people moved illegally into their holiday homes. But the struggle for the right to take up permanent residence did not culminate until the municipality had more illegal residents than legal ones. The conflict reached government level and resulted in several court cases, some even reaching the Supreme Court. The Danish national register, which made it possible to trace where people were living, was established as a result of the illegal occupancies in the municipalities of Hvidovre and Rødovre. The estate is still characterised by a DIY culture.

Escape to summer houses in winter

• Story written by: Poul Sverrild
• Time / Periode 1922

In the early 1920s, editor Jens Tybjerg, who owned a plot in Risbjerggårds Villaby, described developments in Hvidovre: Uppermost in the plot owner's mind on taking possession of his plot is the summer house he will be building. He sets about the carpentry before doing any spadework. These DIY efforts, reflective of their owner's variable abilities, are by and large blots on the landscape…". But the amateur home-builders had to own up to the quality of their efforts in hard times when they were forced to move into their summer houses: "…at least 30 families were forced to spend the winter in their wood cabins because they had nowhere else to live. One small room or two at most, only the best of which has double board partitions to keep out the west wind, is what they have to call home…". "

Read more about The Risbjerg housing estate at 1001fortællinger.dk