A brick’s journey. That’s what Teglholmen whispers. This peninsula in Copenhagen’s South Harbour has a story etched in clay. Teglholmen meaning “The Tile Islet” once housed a bustling tile works. It supplied Vesterbro with bricks for many years. Around World War I the tile works closed. The clay pit was transformed. It became a new harbour basin. This basin is now known as Teglværkshavnen. It separates Teglholmen from Sluseholmen.
Teglholmen then became home to shipyards foundries and even a car assembly plant. Heavy industry defined its character. The air must have vibrated with the clang of metal. The smell of coal smoke must have hung heavy in the air. Imagine the workers their hands calloused their faces smudged with grime.
But times changed. In the 1970s Teglholmen’s industrial heart began to slow. Factories closed their doors. The sounds of industry faded. However a new chapter dawned. From the late 1990s multinational companies arrived. Nokia Philips and Ericsson established their Danish or regional headquarters here. Teglholmen attracted residential developments. A new community began to blossom.
In 2006 TV2 a major Danish broadcaster opened a new media house. This solidified Teglholmen’s transformation. It changed from an industrial area to a vibrant hub of media and residences. The area became a blend of old and new. The ghosts of industry coexisted with modern architecture.
A bridge connecting Teglholmen to Sluseholmen opened in 2011. It linked the past with the present. Today Teglholmen boasts a mix of companies and residential buildings. It’s also home to Aalborg University’s AAU Cph Campus. Teglholmen continues its evolution. The sounds of industry are replaced by the rhythm of modern life. Yet the echoes of the past remain a reminder of Teglholmen’s rich and varied history. A history written not just in stone but in the very bricks that gave the place its name.