The Buildings

 

Besides the main building with the stable wings and the Forest House, all the other buildings have come to through the last 20 years, either as an exact copy of the house or rebuilt, stone by stone, as Favrbjerg Forge

The buildings that have been moved are rarely furnished at the take over, but are equipped with original things from the warehouse of the co. operative village. It must be the contents and the tools that originally belonged to them.

The contents may be touched, but especially old books and textile are fragile!

 

The main building...
The Co-operative Village is located at Nyvang, an old large farm of 44 hectare just south of Holbæk. The first farm in this place was a half-timbered farm of four lengths erected in 1780 by district revenue officer Jens With after the enclosure movement in 1777. The farm has been for sale often. Among the owners are Lieutenant H. Holm, whose signature can be seen on the house ends of the former cowshed from 1903 and stable from 1904, which are the only remaining breeding buildings from this period. These two buildings contained a livestock of 150 milking cows, 60 young cattle and calves as well as four bulls, 18 horses and ten young horses and foals. Furthermore, the farm bred piglets from 30 sows. A farm bailiff, a herdsman, two apprentices, a farm foreman and ten farmhands were employed to tend to these animals. Other staff consisted of a wheelman, a housekeeper and four girls. In the summertime, further ten day-labourers and ten Polish beet workers were hired. The main building, which was built in the last half of the 1800s, was rebuilt in its current state in 1911. During this period two landless houses were attached to the farm. One of them still exists. The Nyvang Farm was used for farming until 1965, where the army took over the place and used it as an exercise area until 1985. After the closure of Holbæk Barracks, Nyvang was handed over to Holbæk Municipality, which started a production school in the area. During the following years, ideas were spawned to mediate the Co-operative Movement – from 1870 to 1950 – to generations to come; an era, which even then could only be recalled by people above 30 years of age. In 1992, the Co-operative Village of Nyvang opened.