Aarhus River ( da, Århus Å) is a long

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

, in eastern

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. The river flows through the large

river valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

of Aarhus Ådal. The valley itself, stretches from

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

, but the Aarhus River only runs through the easternmost parts. The river drains a basin of in the eastern part of

Søhøjlandet Søhøjlandet (English: ''The Lake-highland'') is the highest lying region in Denmark and at the same time, it has the highest density of lakes.Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...

. It originates above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

in the swampy bogland of Astrup Mose close to

Stilling-Solbjerg Lake Stilling-Solbjerg Lake ( Danish: Stilling-Solbjerg Sø) is a lake in Jutland, Denmark between Stilling in Skanderborg Municipality and Solbjerg in Aarhus Municipality. The lake is 7 km long and it is a part of the upper section of Aarhus rive ...

, southwest of the city of Aarhus (56°6' northern latitude, 10°9' eastern longitude) and exits into Aarhus Harbour at 56°9' northern latitude, 10°13' eastern longitude. The river defines the border between Skanderborg and Aarhus Municipality during its first few kilometres.

History

Aarhus River has been important for the development of the city of Aarhus since its foundation in the early

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

, and archaeological and historical research suggests that it played a crucial role in the origins of the city. There used to be a sizeable catch of

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

, and to a lesser degree

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

, in the Aarhus River up until the later part of the 20th century. Several families, often based at the rivers' watermills, made a living from it with the Brabrand Lake as the most productive fishing spot. As seen the world over, eel went into a rapid decline and with it the local fishing industry in the Aarhus River dried up. Through the 20th century, the river and its

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

went into a serious decline due to nutrient pollution from household wastewater and farmland run-off. Today, after some costly efforts to restore the damaging effects of the destructive

eutrofication Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytoplank ...

, the ecosystem and

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

of the Aarhus River is recovering and now includes a wide range of fish species once again. Two former

fish farms upright=1.3, Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye">mariculture.html" ;"title="Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture">Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye, Scotland Fish farming or ...

along the Aarhus River at Pinds Mølle and Gammel Harlev has been re-purposed as put-and-take spots with

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

for sports fishing.See ''"Århus Å"'' p. 39-48 With the advance of the automobile, the river's run through the city of Aarhus was paved over and covered by roads in the years 1930-1958. In the process, the last long stretch was named

Åboulevarden Åboulevarden is a street and promenade in Aarhus, Denmark. It is 975 meters long and runs west to east from ''Vester Allé'' to ''Europaplads'' at Dokk1. The street is situated in the Indre by neighborhood where it is a popular thoroughfare for p ...

and created a new transport route to the thriving industrial harbour. In 1989, it was politically decided that Aarhus River should be opened again, and the project commenced in September 2005. In 2008, the reopened section of the river at Åboulevarden was inaugurated, and work on the last section at the harbor front began, finishing in 2015.

Gallery

References

Sources

* Søren Olsen: ''"Danmarks Søer og Åer"'' * Fode, Henrik (red.): ''"Århus Å - Natur og mennesker"'', Århus Byhistoriske Fond (2009) * Barbara Højlund & Frederik Schildt Nabe-Nielsen (2011)
Århus
Viking Ship Museum * Christina Jessen (2011)
Aarhus
Danmarkshistorien.dk, Aarhus University

External links

Århus Å
Den Gamle By. Paintings of the Aarhus through the ages.
Aarhus
Danmarkshistorien.dk, Aarhus University {{Coord, 56, 09, 16, N, 10, 12, 40, E, source:kolossus-dawiki, display=title Geography of Aarhus Aarhus Municipality Skanderborg Municipality Rivers of Jutland