The Five Sisters

Facts

A symbol of the new era

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

The silo complex belonging to Jysk Andels Foderstofforretning in Aarhus Harbour is called the Five Sisters. Denmark is dotted with silos, especially the harbours. These reinforced concrete silos from 1927 have five striking dormer windows that account for its nickname. They heralded a new era for the city and its harbour. The sisters" also represent an important change in how goods were handled. Before the silos were built, grain was stored in grocers' lofts, loose or in sacks. Now it was sailed straight to the silo, where ingenious machines sucked it up. "

Not a public place

Selected entry

A facelift for Aarhus

Story written by Kathrine G. Bjerregaard

Time / Periode 1927

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The higher echelons of Aarhus were upset that the old cathedral spire was no longer the city's only hallmark – a rough industrial building had stepped into the public arena. In 1927, as a local newspaper, Aarhus Stifttidende, put it: When approaching Aarhus from the bay, the cathedral is no longer the only feature of the city's silhouette: For the past year, the venerable green spire has had to share the honour with the colossal silo building that Jysk Andels Foderstofforretning has built in the South Harbour. ... There are those who find this colossus in grey reinforced concrete ugly. And yet it has its own undeniable poetry: It symbolises the work of the harbour and city and is part of the new Aarhus growing up alongside South Harbour Quay..." "