Energy Hall’s Machinery – 1

This Danish made refrigeration compressor unit is a part of Finland’s history of margarine production. Atlas, the name deriving from the Danish manufacturing company A/S Atlas, was used in the margarine factory of Osuustukkukauppa (OTK) in Helsinki, where it served as the factory’s primary compressor unit from 1929 to 1956.

Atlas is one of the first items ever to be added to the museum’s collection. The unit was moved from OTK in 1967 to the City of Helsinki, which in turn was donated to the museum of technology 1970. At the time, the museum had been established the year prior, and the premises were only just recently vacated and reestablished from its former usage as a filtration hall and a hydroelectric plant. A suitable location to display the compressor was decided early on in the museum’s history, and ever since then, Atlas hasn’t moved from its spot . Atlas is a magnificently large object, and it must have been quite the operation to get it into place. Later down the line, OTK donated more machinery that were associated with Atlas, thus completing the refrigeration machinery display in the museum’s collection.