Tellus is one of central Ljungby's oldest

city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets, not counting any type of thoroughfare within t ...

s and was spared by the fire of 1953. It is bounded by ''Smedjegatan'' in north, ''Kungsgatan'' in east, ''Stationsgatan'' in south, and ''Föreningsgatan'' in west. To the west lies also the

plaza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

''Stora Torg'', and across is block ''Minerva'' with the ''Terraza'' building.

''Tellushuset''

''Tellushuset'', or The Tellus Building in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, is a three story tall

residential A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...

and

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

building in the south-western corner along ''Storgatan'' and ''Föreningsgatan'', it is also met by the street ''Stationsgatan'' from south-west, and is one of the few remaining buildings from Ljungby's

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

period. It was finished in 1906 after the former wooden building with Peter Adam Johansson shoe factory burnt down 1904. ''Tellushuset'' is constructed with bricks from one of Ljungby's two

brickyard A brickyard or brickfield is a place or yard where bricks are made, fired, and stored, or sometimes sold or otherwise distributed from. Brick makers work in a brick yard. A brick yard may be constructed near natural sources of clay or on o ...

s, dressed in pink

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for Molding (decorative), moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of ...

with a base and decorations in brown-red bricks, adorned with a patina coated copper roof with an

onion dome An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point. It is a ty ...

, and

verdigris Verdigris is the common name for blue-green, copper-based pigments that form a patina on copper, bronze, and brass. The technical literature is ambiguous as to its chemical composition. Some sources refer to "neutral verdigris" as copper(II) ac ...

windows. ''Tellushuset'' was designed by architect Aron Johansson, raised in Ryssby outside Ljungby, who also designed the

national parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

building '' Riksdagshuset'' and then

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...

building '' Riksbankshuset'' on the island

Helgeandsholmen Helgeandsholmen () is a small island in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is located north of Stadsholmen, and east of Strömsborg, with which, together with Riddarholmen, it forms Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm. Helgeandsholmen contains the Rik ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. It is also likely that Aron Johansson designed ''Tellushuset's'' one story shorter twin-sister ''Fogelbergska huset'', that stood finished 1910 and lay diagonally across the plaza ''Stora Torg'' on city block ''Månen''. According to the artist and former

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts ( sv, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architec ...

and the

Royal Institute of Art The Royal Institute of Art ( sv, Kungliga Konsthögskolan) is an institution in Stockholm, Sweden for higher education in art,Sven Ljungberg, the two buildings contributed the impression of being in a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n city, especially wintertime.

Plans for demolition

While both ''Tellushuset'' and its sister ''Fogelbergska'' survived the fire of 1953, they were about to be demolished to give room to the newly planned modern metropolitan city centre. The ''Månen'' block with ''Fogelbergska'' was demolished already in 1963 and was replaced by an

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

department store. After that, it was ''Tellus and ''Tellushuset's'' turn. The whole block had been sold to ''Kooperativa Förbunde''t who planned to construct a

Domus In Ancient Rome, the ''domus'' (plural ''domūs'', genitive ''domūs'' or ''domī'') was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the ma ...

department store. However, there was an error among the calculations and it turned out that the block was too small for both the department store and its parking lot. Therefore the block was repurchased by Ljungby Municipality and the department store was instead built on block ''Violen''.

The rescue

While it had some tenants, ''Tellushuset'' was mostly dilapidated with falling plaster and an old neglected interior, it even carried the vernacular name ''"the Brick Barn" Tegelladan"'. Ljungby Municipality was of the opinion that the whole block had to be demolished and give room to new, more modern, buildings. ''Tellushuset's'' rescue came 1978 in the form of Louise Andersson who shared her idea about buying ''Tellushuset'' with her husband Rune "

Truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

-Rune" Andersson, who recently sold his share of Ljungbytruck to

Kalmar Verkstad Kalmar Verkstad AB (''KVAB'') was a Swedish train and automobile manufacturer in Kalmar, Sweden that made the Tjorven and Terminal. KVAB was founded in 1902 and closed in 2005 by Bombardier. History and products KVAB's core business was trai ...

, and would later found

Ljungby Maskin Ljungby () is the central locality of Ljungby Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden, with 15,785 inhabitants in 2015. Ljungby was instituted in 1829 as a ''köping'', or ''market town'', and did not become a municipality of its own when the fir ...

. Rune Andersson hesitated at first when he heard his wife Louise's suggestion, but soon realized that she was right. However, during the meeting with municipal commissioner Nils-Ivar Påhlsson the negotiations came to a complete halt as the demolition plans were too far advanced for any changes to be done. In a last effort Rune Andersson offered one million SEK for the whole block, including the renovations. This made the municipal commissioner hesitate for a moment before he, according to Rune Andersson, lit up and said ''"This we can earn votes on"''. This decision nevertheless encountered protests with slogans such as ''"Tellus to the people - not the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

"'' with an

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

as a result, but the purchase finally went through in 1979. The couple has thenceforward spent many times over renovating the block.

"Småland's most beautiful building"

Since spring 2017 ''Tellushuset'' is featured on the national television channel TV3's

idents Station identification (ident, network ID or channel ID or bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name (sometimes known, particularly in the ...

that is shown in conjunction with commercial breaks. During 2019 the nonprofit association '' Arkitekturupproret'' with 37 000 members begun a vote to elect ''"Sweden's most beautiful building"'', excluding churches and

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

s, with a preparatory vote in each

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

. The basis of the vote was to ''"show that there are alternatives to the modernism's square boxes and spectacularly boastful constructions"''. In the

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...

vote, with a total of 1 746 votes, the ''Tellushuset'' won with 276 votes, before '' Kalmar Stadshotell'' on second place with about half the number. In the national vote with a total of 18 127 votes the ''Tellushuset'' landed in twelfth position with 313 votes, between

Sollefteå Sollefteå () is a locality and the seat of Sollefteå Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 8,562 inhabitants in 2010. The earliest written account on Sollefteå is found in a script dating back to 1270. During this time the name o ...

court house and Visby's old pharmacy. In first place came Lund's

University Library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic librar ...

with 1 249 votes.

Ernfrid

Ernfrid is an industrial-historic

gray iron Gray iron, or grey cast iron, is a type of cast iron that has a graphitic microstructure. It is named after the gray color of the fracture it forms, which is due to the presence of graphite.. It is the most common cast iron and the most widely u ...

statue made by Carl Meijer (1908-2004) that stands in the south-eastern corner along ''Kungsgatan'' and ''Rune B. Johanssons gata'' portraying a worker holding a handheld concrete vibrator. It was

cast Cast may refer to: Music * Cast (band), an English alternative rock band * Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band * The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis * ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William * ...

January 13, 1970, together with three or four copies of the last melt from Vibro-Verket's

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

facility before it was put out of commission. The other copies were sent to the head office in

and the factories in

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 65,856 inhabitants in 2020 with 95,167 inhabitants ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. The prototype in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

was given to Vibro-Verket's director Stig Giertz Hedström when he left.
The sculptor Carl Meijer was a model carpenter and made casting models at Vibro-Verket. When the foundry department were to be closed, it was decided to make a statue of the company's first and most popular product, the handheld concrete vibrator, to which they owed much of their success. The concrete vibrator was introduced in 1934 and was used to spread the

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

evenly around the reinforcing bars. As model stood maintenance foreman Ernfrid Johansson. Carl Meijer did first make a model out of

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

, then

, before casting it in massive grey iron and then placing it outside Vibro-Verket. There it stood until

Dynapac Dynapac is a Swedish multinational engineering company located in Karlskrona. The company was founded in 1934 and today has subsidiaries in seven countries. Dynapac produces pavers, mobile feeders, rollers and planers. Since October 2017 it is par ...

took over and moved it to the new facilities some hundred meters away. When Dynapac Ljungby was defunct in 2011, the association ''"Vibro-Verken Ljungby Historiska Sällskap" Vibro-Verken Ljungby Historical Society"' took over much of the company's material, such as the archives and the statue. In 2013 they donated the statue to

Ljungby municipality Ljungby Municipality (''Ljungby kommun'') is a municipality in Kronoberg County, southern Sweden, where the town Ljungby is seat. In 1971 the ''City of Ljungby'' (1936-1970) was amalgamated with the rural municipalities surrounding it, thus creat ...

which promised to place it at a suitable spot by the central plaza ''Stora Torg''. One of the spots that were discussed was in the corner of ''Förningsgatan'' and ''Smedjegatan'', another spot was by the ''Tellushuset''. The statue did however remain stored. During 2018, anticipating the upcoming

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

, the local newspaper Smålänningen had an article series called "''#kandulova" #canyoupromise"' where local citizens aimed questions to local politicians. One of these questions was ''"Can you promise that the statue "Ernfrid" that Vibro-Verkens LHS donated to Ljungby Municipality 2013 during the next term of office will be placed according to agreement?".'' A couple of days later Ljungby Municipality's culture strategist answered that the next term will probably not even begin before the statue is in place. In November 2018 the statue was inaugurated, after extensive and several months long

repurposing Repurposing is the process by which an object with one use value is transformed or redeployed as an object with an alternative use value. Description Repurposing is as old as human civilization, with many contemporary scholars investigating tha ...

and

renovation Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, ...

work of the former railroad

embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...

and the street ''Rune B. Johanssons gata''. The statue had also been cleaned and had a back injury repaired.

References

{{authority control Populated places in Ljungby Municipality