Skive Cooperative Butchery

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Skive Andelsslagteri was a large slaughterhouse and an important workplace in Skive from 1903 to 2008.

The establishment

The year after Horsens established the first cooperative slaughterhouse in Denmark, Skive Landboforening and Skive Handelsforening wanted to follow suit. However, a private slaughterhouse was opened in Skive in 1889, and along with problems getting enough pigs, the project was temporarily abandoned. In 1902, they tried again and succeeded. Agreements to export to England and agreements with farmers on Mors to supply pigs ensured a solid foundation.

This meant that slaughtering could begin in 1903 in the new building in Brårupgade. The slaughterhouse was located right next to the then “new main train station”, so it was easy to load the slaughtered pigs into freight cars and drive them to Esbjerg.

Expansions

The slaughterhouse was a success and even with the loss of the Morsing farmers to Nykøbing Andelsslagteri in 1913, the slaughterhouse was expanded several times. In 1916-17 with a rendering plant, cattle slaughterhouse and sausage factory. In 1924-26, the slaughterhouse underwent a major expansion and capacity was tripled.

Sabotage

On April 3, 1945, during the occupation, an act of sabotage took place against Skive Cooperative Butchery. 4 armed men forced their way into the sausage factory, where they planted three bombs. The blast resulted in the machinery at the sausage factory being destroyed and several windows were shattered.

Mergers and name changes

In the time after World War II, many mergers took place and the local cooperative slaughterhouse ended up becoming large. First a merger with Viborg Cooperative, and then Nykøbing Mors’, after which the name changed to “Jutland”. There was a lot of fear in Nykøbing around this merger. Skive slaughterhouse had spent a lot of money on expansion and had a significant debt. There was therefore a fear that the merger would move all the slaughtering to Skive. However, after an exciting and debated vote, the merger was approved.

In 1990, after further mergers, Vestjyske Slagterier was formed, which finally became Danish Crown in 1998 with the major merger. In the following years, the closure of several parts of the slaughterhouse began.

The fire

On July 17, 2007, a large fire broke out at the slaughterhouse. Firefighters from Fjends, Viborg, Balling, Nykøbing, Struer and Vinderup assisted Skive firefighters to stop the fire and the massive smoke that covered parts of the city.

Shutdown and future plans

After the fire, there were hopes locally that the slaughterhouse would continue. Despite a local struggle, Danish Crown did not want to rebuild and closed the remaining parts of the slaughterhouse on June 18, 2008.

Sources

Forfatter vedelslund