Aarhus
Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwe ...
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Denmark
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, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
. The company was established in 1945 based on installations left by occupying German forces. From the mid to late 20th century it became one of the largest employers in the city and employed some 900 workers at its height. Aarhus Flydedok both produced and repaired ships although in its later years production focused on smaller vessels. The company entered bankruptcy proceedings in 1999 and finally closed in 2003.
History
Aarhus Flydedok was founded in 1945 but the early history extends back to the earlier 20th century. In 1913, Hans Nielsen, a lathe operator who had worked at the Frichs
ironworks
An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''.
Ironworks succeeded bloomer ...
, started the small machine shop ''Hans Nielsens Maskinfabrik'' to service cranes, elevators and other transport infrastructure. The company over time transitioned to servicing ships and by the start of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
in 1939 and the
Occupation of Denmark
At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was a protectorate and then an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 Decem ...
in 1930 the machine shop handled almost all ship repairs in Aarhus harbor while also doing subcontracting work for'' Helsingør Skibsværft'' ( Elsinore Ship Yard).
Shortly after the war ended in 1945 Hans Nielsen and Helsingør Skibsværft created a new shipyard in Aarhus named ''I/S Aarhus Flydedok og Maskinkompagni''. In 1941 Germany had built a floating dock in Korsør, used as a
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
dock, which was moved to Aarhus harbor on 16 August 1945. The dock had been sabotaged by the
Danish resistance movement
The Danish resistance movements ( da, Den danske modstandsbevægelse) were an underground insurgency to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the initially lenient arrangements, in which the Nazi occupation autho ...
but after a few months of repairs it was back in service and along with the new dock a hall for shipbuilding and a repair facility was constructed on the harbor front. The first task of the new shipyard was to repair
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
minesweeper
A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.
History
The earliest known usage of ...
s which were cleaning the Danish territorial waters of mines. In 1948 the company was turned into a
public limited company
A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a limited liability company whose shares may be fr ...
under the name Aarhus Flydedok og Maskinkompagni A/S with Helsingør Skibsværft as the main
stockholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...
. The ownership of the facilities were not finalized until 1952 when the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
officially transferred the dock to the Danish state after which
Orlogsværftet
''Orlogsværftet'' () was a Danish naval shipyard under the Royal Danish Navy. Before 1924, it was an integral part of the naval base at Holmen Naval Base, Holmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark, with an independent management from 1692 when Olau ...
temporarily leased it to Aarhus Flydedok before ownership was fully transferred on 1 January 1958.
Up to 1967 the company was healthy and in the early 1960s it employed some 900 people; during this time the harbor facilities were expanded when a workshop was constructed in Risskov. In 1968 the shipyard suffered from fewer orders and were forced to cut the employees to about 450. In 1970 the board considered closing the company down but instead the company ''Rederiselskabet Dannebrog'' bought the shipyard from Helsingør Skibsværft. In 1972 the company changed name to Århus Flydedok A/S although some orders were still completed under the old name. In 1976 the shipyard changed name again to Dannebrog Værft A/S, Århus.
From 1972 to 1984 the company was profitable again and there were enough orders to keep the department of shipbuilding running. The Danish shipyards suffered a general decline starting in the 1979s and employment dropped from 20,000 in 1976 to 14,000 in 1980. In the 1980s the crisis also reached Århus Flydedok and the number of employees fell to 180 in 1989. The company was close to bankruptcy when it was bought by the
Ringkøbing
Ringkøbing (older spelling ''Ringkjøbing'') is a town in Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality in Region Midtjylland on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in west Denmark. It has a population of 9,894 (1 January 2022).