Skip to main content

Cargo Bike History - Svajere in Copenhagen

King Christian X Guarded by Copenhagen Bicycle Messengers
Here are some historical photos of a cargo bike life in Copenhagen. Above, King Christian X on one of his daily rides through the streets during the Second World War occupation. He always rode without official guards through the streets and was much loved for it. Here, however, he was guarded by the bicycle messengers from the company Achilleus.

Here is a link to an earlier post about the Svajere - or cargo bike messengers of Copenhagen.

Copenhagen Bike Messengers 1917
The bicycle messengers at the headquarters of the Post & Telegraf service in 1917. Dressed splendidly. The bike messengers - or Svajere - in official service were usually uniformed until the end of the 1940s, when casual wear became the norm.
Illum's Cargo Bike Messengers in Copenhagen 1940s
The bicycle messengers for Illum department store in the 1940s, during the occupation.

Illum's Cargo Bike Messenger in Copenhagen 1940s
A double cargo bike nicknamed Skildpadden - or The Turtle - in the service of Illum department store. 1940s.

Byposten Bike Messenger Company in Copenhagen
The bike messenger team at Byposten messenger company.

Bike Messengers on City Hall Square in Copenhagen
Bicycle messengers from the telegraf service lined up on City Hall Square.
Dapper Bike Messengers in Copenhagen
Brilliantly dapper.
Young Bicycle Messenger in Copenhagen Copenhagen Bike Messenger from the Post and Telegraph Service 1941
Young bicycle messengers. Ca. 1940s at left and 1941 at right.
Copenhagen Bike Messenger - Svajer Copenhagen Bike Messenger - Svajer Copenhagen Bike Messenger
Heavy loads.
Copenhagen Bike Messenger
A "svajer" giving free rides to kids in the neighbourhood, 1942.
Svajerløb - Cargo Bike Race on Israels Plads
The legendary Svajerløb on Grønttorvet - now Israels Square. The races were organised by a man with a messenger company and the money raised was used to send the young bike messengers to summer camp. The races were popular events in Copenhagen. They were revived in 2009.

More about the Svajere - then and now - right here.
Svajerløb - Cargo Bike Race on Israels Plads Svajerløb - Cargo Bike Race on Israels Plads

Svajerløb - Cargo Bike Race on Israels Plads

Svajerløb - Cargo Bike Race on Israels Plads

Svajer Cartoon-005 Svajer Cartoon Svajer Cartoon-001 Svajer Cartoon-002 Svajer Cartoon-003 Svajer Cartoon-004
Cartoons about the feisty bike messengers.
Quiet Moment for Copenhagen Bike Messenger - Svajer
A quiet moment with a pipe.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

7550 New Bike Parking Spots at Copenhagen Central Station

For all of Copenhagen's badassness as a bicycle city, there remains one thing that the City still completely sucks at. Bicycle parking at train stations. At Copenhagen Central Station there are only about 1000 bike parking spots. Danish State Railways can't even tell us how many spots they have. They're not sure. Even in Basel they have 800+. In Antwerp they have this . Don't even get me started on the Dutch. 12,500 bike parking spots are on the way in some place called Utrecht . Amsterdam has a multi-story bike parking facility, floating bicycle barges round the back and are planning 7000 more spots underwater . Even at the nation's busiest train station, Nørreport, the recent and fancy redesign failed miserably in providing parking that is adequate for the demand . Architects once again failing to respond to actual urban needs. It is time to remedy that. Here is my design for 7550 bike parking spots behind Copenhagen Central Station. Steve C. Montebello i...
Read more

The Race for Lithium for Electric Cars and Bicycles

Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia. Photo: Ezequiel Cabrera/Wikipedia The coming boom in batteries to electric cars and Lazy Bikes (electric-assist bicycles) means a boom in batteries with which to run them. A new race for natural resources has begun. Enter Lithium, the world's lightest metal. For 150 years it's been nickel and lead that have been used in batteries but the advent of lithium technology has allowed for a revolution. Longer battery life, lighter batteries in our laptaps and mobile phones and iPods. Lithium weighs 1/20th of what nickel and lead do. Lithium is also used in anti-depressive medicine, ceramics and nuclear power. With all this talk of electric cars and bicycles, the demand for lithium is on the verge of exploding. Lithium is the new oil. Enter Boliva. This developing country sits on at least half of the world's supply of lithium, most of it in underground salt layers beneath the world's largest salt flats in Salar de Uyuni , in south-west Boliva. Betwee...
Read more

Traffic Safety Orgs Speak for Themselves - Not the Rest of Us

Classic traffic safety organisation narrative. "Stop cycling". By Stephanie Patterson With Mikael Colville-Andersen In the diverse world of traffic planning, advocacy and various movements for liveable cities, there is an odd group of outliers who broadcast conflicting messages. While “traffic safety” organisations seem like a natural part of the gallery and of the narrative, upon closer inspection they exist in a communication vacuum populated exclusively by like-minded organisations. There is little correlation with those organisations who advocate cycling, pedestrianism or safer streets. The traffic safety crowd are in a world unto themselves, with little or no accountability for the campaigns they develop or the messaging they broadcast. They are often allied with insurance companies who clearly take comfort in working with others who embrace scaring the population at large through constructed fear . In many ways, they are a classic subculture, with strong hints...
Read more