Tellus, Ljungby
Tellus is one of central
Tellushuset
| The Tellus Building | |
|---|---|
Tellushuset | |
Residential and retail | |
| Architectural style | Renaissance Revival |
| Address | Stora Torget 6 Storgatan 21 |
| Town or city | Arkitekturupproret –
"Småland's most beautiful building" |
Tellushuset, or The Tellus Building in
Tellushuset was designed by architect Aron Johansson, raised in Ryssby outside Ljungby, who also designed the national parliament building Riksdagshuset and then central bank building Riksbankshuset on the island Helgeandsholmen in Stockholm.[2] 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.[2][4] According to the artist and former rector of the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts and the Royal Institute of Art, Sven Ljungberg, the two buildings contributed the impression of being in a Russian city, especially wintertime.[2][5]
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.[2] The Månen block with Fogelbergska was demolished already in 1963 and was replaced by an EPA department store.[2][6] After that, it was Tellus' and Tellushuset's turn. The whole block had been sold to Kooperativa Förbundet who planned to construct a Domus 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.[2]
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.[2][3] Tellushuset's rescue came 1978 in the form of Louise Andersson who shared her idea about buying Tellushuset with her husband Rune "Truck-Rune" Andersson, who recently sold his share of Ljungbytruck to Kalmar Verkstad, and would later found Ljungby Maskin.[2][3][7] Rune Andersson hesitated at first when he heard his wife Louise's suggestion, but soon realized that she was right.[3] 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".[3] This decision nevertheless encountered protests with slogans such as "Tellus to the people - not the capital" with an appeal as a result, but the purchase finally went through in 1979. The couple has thenceforward spent many times over renovating the block.[3]
"Småland's most beautiful building"
Since spring 2017 Tellushuset is featured on the national television channel
During 2019 the nonprofit association
Ernfrid
| Ernfrid | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Carl Meijer |
| Year | 13 January 1970 (cast) 13 November 2018 (current location) |
| Medium | cast January 13, 1970, together with three or four copies of the last melt from Vibro-Verket's foundry facility before it was put out of commission. The other copies were sent to the head office in Stockholm and the factories in Karlstad, Sweden and São Paulo, Brazil.[13] The prototype in bronze was given to Vibro-Verket's director Stig Giertz Hedström when he left.[13]
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.[12][13] The concrete vibrator was introduced in 1934 and was used to spread the concrete evenly around the reinforcing bars.[11] As model stood maintenance foreman Ernfrid Johansson.[13] Carl Meijer did first make a model out of wood, then plaster, before casting it in massive grey iron and then placing it outside Vibro-Verket.[13] There it stood until Dynapac 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 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.[12] During 2018, anticipating the upcoming embankment and the street Rune B. Johanssons gata. The statue had also been cleaned and had a back injury repaired.[13]
References
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