Danish man who lost farm, family, and licence now lives on Grenaa’s troubled street

A 56-year-old man once owned a farm, raised a family, and worked abroad—now he sleeps on a sofa in Fredensgade, a street in Grenaa known for housing those struggling with addiction and hardship, Danish broadcaster DR reports.

Torben, who asked to be identified only by his first name, spends his days smoking and drinking in the small flat where he now lives. “There aren’t many other joys left,” he told DR presenter Anders Agger when asked about his heavy cigarette habit. His bed is the sofa, a routine he has kept since his younger years in England.

Three empty Tuborg Classic beer cans sat on his coffee table when Agger visited at 11 am. The first had been opened at 3 am to help him sleep. Alcohol, Torben admitted, is not under control.

His life was not always like this. Fifteen years ago, he co-owned Kristianslund, a farm in Trustrup, with his parents. He was married twice, had two sons, and spent summers in England in the late 1980s working on a large dairy farm with hundreds of cows—”the best time of my life,” he said, his voice breaking as he recalled the farewell party his 30 friends threw for him before he left.

The farm went bankrupt in the early 2010s. His marriage ended, and he lost contact with his sons. After the collapse, he stayed on as a tenant in the farmhouse for years, helping the new owners plough fields until his driver’s licence was revoked, ending his later work as a lorry driver.

Returning to Kristianslund with Agger, Torben noted the peeling walls and empty animal pens where he once tended cows and pigs, his daily routine starting at 6 am and ending only after the last check on the livestock. “It’s hard to see everything my father and I built just gone,” he said.

Back in Fredensgade—a street where Norddjurs Municipality has housed vulnerable residents since the 2010s—Torben said the visit to his old farm had been painful but necessary. He still hopes, one day, to sit behind the wheel again.