Have you ever wanted to step into a different time period? This is exactly what happens when you visit the Co-operative Village Nyvang on Zealand. You will come across men harvesting fields with horses and women washing clothes on washboards. You will meet farmers’ wives offering you samples of their cooking, all while you can hear the ringing sound of the blacksmith shaping red-hot iron into horseshoes in the background.
At the Co-operative Village 24 houses and buildings create the framework for how life was lived in Denmark 70 years ago. The village is a museum of cultural history covering the 1940’ties – the years when the co-operative movement had its heyday in Denmark. The spreading of the movement was of great importance to the democratic development in Denmark and despite its heydays being over the co-operative movement is still a strong part of Danish society today. Influences can be found in everything from the production and distribution of dairy products to co-housing and the use of windmills.
The shops offer a lively trade. At the dairy a bell rings every time a new milk delivery is ready and the 1940’s inspired bakery sells old fashioned bread made with bolted rye and wheat flour, or if you prefer sweet stuff maybe you’d like to try one of their apple fritters? At the bike shop you will see how bikes were produced and mended in Denmark back in the 1940’s.