The Carlsberg Museum in Valby

Last year Carlsberg shut the brewery on the ‘mount’ in Valby, Copenhagen, that was not only the company’s birthplace, but also gave rise to its name (Carls berg – Carl’s mount).

Many traditions were lost with the closure, and yesterday one of them took place for the last time ever. In one of the halls of the Carlsberg Museum, hang the portraits of Carlsberg employees with 50 years’ service. At a ceremony yesterday, the last Carlsberg employee in Valby had his portrait hung on the walls.

I saw it on the Danish local news last night and thought that it would make and interesting subject for a blog post about the disappearing industrial history of lager breweries.

Except that it has already disapeared. I looked for a press release from Carlsberg – nothing. There was also nothing on the TV site and so far nothing on any searches. It strikes me as a shame that a brewery that has been accused of throwing the baby out with the bathwater with the closure of the historic site, hasn’t done more to show that the traditions are still important.

While production has been moved from the brewy to Fredericia on the other side of Denmark, many of the brewery buildings still stand and you can wander freely between some striking examples of industrial architecture for the first time. It  is open to the public  in the space between closure and the property developers moving in, because its a car park.