Daugbjerg Limestone Mine offers legends

Come underground, to a constant temperature of 8 degrees all year round in Scandinavia's oldest lime mine. Daugbjerg lime mine was in the old days an important source of lime used in construction, today it is the gathering point for several events every year. 

2022 brought a new era for the limestone mines and the new leaseholder

Carsten has been the tenant of Daugbjerg Kalkgruber since January 2022. But the mines were not new to him when he took over the daily operation, before that he had been working in the mines as a guide since 2004. 

When one of his eldest children fell ill a few years ago, Carsten decided that family came first and that there should be more time to do things as a family. 

At the time he was working as a teacher, so he took leave to be there for his child. When everyday life returned, he could feel that his drive and passion had shifted. He therefore decided to talk to the owner of the pits at the time. They had previously talked about whether Carsten should be a bigger part of the operation. When he came and said that if it was to be, it should be now, everything started to fall into place. And in January he was able to take over the role of leaseholder. 

A family project 

Today Carsten is the only man working in the Daugbjerg limestone mines. A tourist attraction in Central Jutland that welcomes 10,000 visitors to the mines every year for an experience. Here, the story of Jens Langkniv is allowed to unfold, under the ceilings of the mines where the bats live. 

Before he took over the role of leaseholder, Carsten has guided several school classes, family outings and other visitors around the pits with stories about what the mysterious caves are used for and what they housed back in time. 

Today, he continues to enjoy taking guests down into the pits, as well as running the kiosk and day-to-day operations. 

The whole family helps make it a place that works. His wife does the bookkeeping, the two oldest help out when it's convenient between friends and school, and the youngest spreads energy and smiles to all visitors.

A lime pit, not a gold mine

At Daugbjerg Kalkgruber, the focus is on the experience. It has therefore been the goal to establish this even more since Carsten took over. Daugbjerg Kalkgruber also has an assembly hall, and had great success in 2022 when a Danish/Australian singer visited the pits with an intimate concert for 50 guests. 

The first year as tenant has also offered several new experiences, as the job description now extends from being able to deep-fry fries in the kiosk to being able to capture and interact with visitors down in the pits.
Each year more events are created, something Carsten and the family want to maintain, but also to do even more in. The idea with Daugbjerg Lime Mine is not to get the same amount of visitors as the neighboring lime mine, the goal is instead to keep the authentic experience high at every event. 

Daugbjerg Limestone Mines therefore offers the opportunity to sleep in the pits, walk in Jens Langkniv's footsteps around the arched passages, or spot sleeping bats. In addition, there are a number of special events such as the lime mine race, team building opportunities and party room hire. Carsten hopes for even more concerts, lectures and events in the pits and the festival hall. 

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Read more about the opening hours and the many possibilities on their website daugbjergkalkgruber.dk

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