THE OLD RAILWAY WAREHOUSE
KUNSTPAKHUSET is housed in the former railway warehouse at the Ikast Railway Station, hence the name of the gallery. Today, the former warehouse is a red-painted, rustic, wooden building which has undergone a beautiful indoor restoration.
The private railway-route Silkeborg-Herning was opened on 14 August 1877. 1880 architectural drawings from the Danish State Railways (revised in 1889) show plans for the Ikast Railway Station's main building.
The drawings for the Station's main building were revised in both 1930 and 1944. The 1944 drawing shows an expansion of the existing warehouse. Thus, the present size and design of the warehouse date back to around 1944.
Until 1990 the building was used as a railway warehouse.
In 1998 the Municipality of Ikast acquired the building which was subsequently used as a store room by the Danish Civil Defence Forces.
In 2005 the Independent Institution KUNSTPAKHUSET was established and it rented the building from the Municipality of Ikast.
Today the Municipalities of Ikast-Brande are registered as the landlords of the building, which is presently known as KUNSTPAKHUSET and used for art exhibitions and other cultural events.
Early images of the warehouse building are from the Danish Lokalhistorisk Arkiv, Ikast. They are undated, but presumably from around 1920 to 1950.
