39 kmHjedding Dairy Museum
The cradle of the cooperative dairy complements the lignite history as concrete local history
Søby Brunkulslejer is best explored as a single visit: the museum explains the work, while Brunkulsvej and the trails lead through the landscape left behind by the excavations. The terrain is still unstable. The risk of landslides is greatest near water and on sand that has been excavated and put back. Follow the signs, stay on roads and marked trails, and bear in mind that you travel at your own risk. The blue trail loops around Langesø, while the white route begins at Elmers Hus; its length and difficulty are not provided.
At the museum, the brown-coal era is brought to life beyond the display cases. Three authentic workers’ homes, a grocery store, a weighbridge with a truck, a miniature brown coal pit and a smithy illustrate everyday life and technology. Opposite the museum, on the north side of Brunkulsvej, the last dilapidated houses from the barrack town have been preserved as cultural traces. At the museum, Mindelunden commemorates the workers who lost their lives in the pits.
Beyond the cultural traces, the terrain is hilly, with sand heaps, plantations, self-seeded scrub and lakes. Søby Sø, north of the pits, is natural and privately owned; the public barbecue and picnic area is east of the lake, where swimming is also possible. In the middle of the pits stands Ørkenarboretet, a curious afterthought: trees were tested on the bare sand hills, and more than 500 species were included in the experiment.
The Memorial Grove at Søby Brown Coal Museum consists of 57 memorial stones for workers who lost their lives in the brown coal pits. 45 of the men died in Søby, and 17 were killed by landslides.
The stones soberly tell of a workplace where the danger came not only from shifting sand, but also from machinery, wells, high-voltage power lines, and explosives. Most fatal accidents occurred in the years 1941-1948, when digging was largely carried out by hand.
Søby Brown Coal Museum tells the story of the 30 years when brown coal was excavated near Søby from 1940 to 1970. Here, workers’ homes from the 1940s stand side by side with a grocery store, barber shop, dining hall, smithy, and heavy machinery.
The museum began in Tørve Sørens Hus, occupied on the site from 1947 to 1956 and, according to the museum, the only original house on “Skovgade”. The model of a brown coal deposit shows the well, hoist, sorting works, and the practical seriousness of water problems.
The viewpoint is located in the southern part of Søby Brunkulslejer, about 30 metres above the hilly landscape of sand dumps and old pits. From here, it is clear how dramatically brown coal mining has shaped the terrain.
The summit lies on a terminal dump, beneath which no brown coal has been excavated, and the site is therefore considered safe to walk on. The trees are kept low so that the view is preserved in all directions.
