Aabenraa (; , ;
Sønderjysk: ''Affenråe'') is a town in
Southern Denmark
The Region of Southern Denmark ( da, Region Syddanmark, ; german: Region Süddänemark, ; frr, Regiuun Syddanmark) is an administrative Regions of Denmark, region of Denmark established on Monday 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Munici ...
, at the head of the
Aabenraa Fjord
Aabenraa (; , ; South Jutlandic, Sønderjysk: ''Affenråe'') is a town in Southern Denmark, at the head of the Aabenraa Fjord, an arm of the Little Belt, north of the Denmark–Germany border and north of German town of Flensburg. It was the se ...
, an arm of the
Little Belt
The Little Belt (, ) is a strait between the island of Funen and the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits that drain and connect the Baltic Sea to the Kattegat strait, which drains west to the North Sea and Atlant ...
, north of the
Denmark–Germany border
The Denmark–Germany border ( da, Grænsen mellem Danmark og Tyskland; german: Grenze zwischen Dänemark und Deutschland) is long and separates Denmark and Germany.
History
In the treaty of Heiligen year 811 the Eider was recognized as a b ...
and north of German town of
Flensburg
Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...
. It was the seat of
Sønderjyllands Amt (South Jutland County)
until 1 January 2007, when the
Region of Southern Denmark
The Region of Southern Denmark ( da, Region Syddanmark, ; german: Region Süddänemark, ; frr, Regiuun Syddanmark) is an administrative Regions of Denmark, region of Denmark established on Monday 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Munici ...
was created as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform. With a population of 16,401 (1 January 2022),
[BY3: Population 1. January by urban areas, area and population density]
The Mobile Statbank from Statistics Denmark
Statistics Denmark ( da, Danmarks Statistik) is a Danish governmental organization under the Ministry of the Interior and Housing and which reports to the Minister of Economic and Internal Affairs. The organization is responsible for creating st ...
Aabenraa is the largest town and the seat of the
Aabenraa Municipality.
The name Aabenraa originally meant "open beach" ( da, åben strand).
History
Aabenraa was first mentioned in historic accounts in the 12th century, when it was attacked by the
Wends
Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various peopl ...
.
Aabenraa started growing in the early
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
around Opnør Hus, the bishop's castle, and received status as a merchant town in 1240, and in 1335 it received a charter.
During the Middle Ages the town was known for its fishing industry and for its production of
hops
Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whi ...
.
Between 1560 and 1721 the town was under the rule of the
Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp
Holstein-Gottorp or Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp () is the historiographical name, as well as contemporary shorthand name, for the parts of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, also known as Ducal Holstein, that were ruled by the dukes of Schlesw ...
.
The town's glory days were during the period of the 1750s to c. 1864, when ship traffic was at a high growth rate with trade to the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. It possessed a good harbour, which afforded shelter for a large carrying trade, Aabenraa having the Danish monarchy's third-largest trade fleet, after
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
and
Flensborg
Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...
. The city had a number of
shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
yards, which were known for their fine ships. The best known being the
clipper
A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...
''Cimber,'' which in 1857 sailed from
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
in 106 days. Fishing and various small factories also provided occupations for the population.
From 1864 as a result of the
Second War of Schleswig
The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...
it was part of
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
, and as such part of the
North German Confederation
The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...
, and from 1871 onwards, part of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. In the 1920
Schleswig Plebiscite
The Schleswig plebiscites were two plebiscites, organized according to section XII, articles 100 to 115 of the Treaty of Versailles of 28 June 1919, in order to determine the future border between Denmark and Germany through the former Duchy of S ...
that brought
Northern Schleswig
South Jutland County ( Danish: ''Sønderjyllands Amt'') is a former county ( Danish: ''amt'') on the south-central portion of the Jutland Peninsula in southern Denmark.
The county was formed on 1 April 1970, comprising the former counties of A ...
to Denmark, 55.1% of Aabenraa's inhabitants voted for remaining part of Germany and 44.9% voted for the cession to Denmark. However, since a plurality of votes in the surrounding
Aabenraa municipality voted to join Denmark, the town was thus ceded to the Danish crown.
After the 1948 Danish
spelling reform
A spelling reform is a deliberate, often authoritatively sanctioned or mandated change to spelling rules. Proposals for such reform are fairly common, and over the years, many languages have undergone such reforms. Recent high-profile examples ar ...
, which abolished the digraph Aa in favor of
Å, there was fervent resistance in Aabenraa. The town feared, among other things, to lose its status as first in alphabetical listings (and reputedly the first town alphabetically anywhere in the world), because the letter ''Å'' is the last letter in the
Dano-Norwegian alphabet
The Danish and Norwegian alphabets, together called the Dano-Norwegian alphabet, is the set of symbols, forming a variant of the Latin alphabet, used for writing the Danish and Norwegian languages. It has consisted of the following 29 letters sinc ...
. A later revision of the spelling rules allowed for retaining the Aa spelling as an option. While the municipality of Aabenraa and most local citizens use the Aa spelling, Åbenrå remains the option recommended by the
Danish Language Board.
On June 14, 2019, an low-end F2/T4
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
touched down in Aabenraa. Two vehicles were flipped on the local hospital's parking lot.
Today
The town has a harbour, with a significant shipping trade. There is varied industry in the city, including
Marcussen's Organ Building (''Marcussens Orgelbyggeri'') and Callesens Machineworks (''Callesens Maskinfabrik''). The city is the administrative center for the county.
Danmarks Radio
DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterp ...
has an office in the city. A
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
minority live in Aabenraa and they publish "
Der Nordschleswiger
''Der Nordschleswiger'' is a German-language internet newspaper in Denmark with its main editorial office in Aabenraa and local editorial offices in Haderslev, Sønderborg, Tinglev and Tønder. The media house functions and sees itself as the mou ...
" newspaper in German.
Some note worthy buildings in the town are (''St. Nikolaj kirke'') from the time of King
Valdemar with construction beginning ca. 1250, and restored from 1949 to 1956.
(''Brundlund Slot''), erected by Queen
Margaret I Margaret I may refer to:
* Margaret I, Countess of Flanders (died 1194)
* Margaret I of Scotland (1283–1290), usually known as the Maid of Norway
* Margaret I, Countess of Holland (1311–1356), Countess of Hainaut and Countess of Holland
* Ma ...
1411, and rebuilt in 1807,
today is home to the Brundlund Slot Art Museum (Kunstmuseet Brundlund Slot). The town is a bathing resort, as is
Elisenlund close by.
The city has several preserved neighborhoods from the 1800s including ''Slotsgade'', ''Store Pottergade'', ''Lille Pottergade'', ''Nygade'', ''Nybro'', ''Skibbrogade'' and ''Gildegade''.
Education
A branch of
University College South
University College South Denmark Internationalt > English">University College Syd > Forside > Internationalt > English/ref> ( da, University College Syddanmark) is a university college in the southern part of Denmark. It offers bachelor courses in ...
( da, University College Syd) can be found in Aabenraa.
Notable people
The arts
*
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (2 January 1783 – 22 July 1853) was a Danish painter. He was born in Blåkrog in the Southern Jutland region of Denmark. He went on to lay the foundation for the period of art known as the Golden Age of Dani ...
(1783 in Blåkrog – 1853) Danish painter, laid the foundations for the
Golden Age of Danish Painting
The Danish Golden Age ( da, Den danske guldalder) covers a period of exceptional creative production in Denmark, especially during the first half of the 19th century.Kulturnet DanmarkGuide to the Danish Golden Age Although Copenhagen had suffered ...
*
Anna Christiane Ludvigsen (1794–1864), poet who gained popularity in Southern Jutland
*
Magda von Dolcke (1838 in Åbenrå – 1926) a Danish stage actress, known for her relationship with King
Oscar II of Sweden
Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905.
Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...
*
Emil Nolde
Emil Nolde (born Hans Emil Hansen; 7 August 1867 – 13 April 1956) was a German-Danish painter and printmaker. He was one of the first Expressionists, a member of Die Brücke, and was one of the first oil painting and watercolor painters of the ...
(1867 in Burkal – 1956) a German-Danish painter and printmaker, one of the first
Expressionists
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
*
Karl Clausen
Karl Søren Clausen (15 August 1904 – 5 December 1972) was a Danish pianist, conductor, composer and musicologist. In addition to his work as a high school teacher in German and Music, he composed several instrumental and choral works, a ...
(1904 in Åbenrå – 1972) a Danish pianist, conductor, composer, and musicologist
*
Lisbeth Balslev
Lisbeth Balslev (born 21 February 1945) is a Danish operatic soprano with an international career, especially in Wagnerian operas.
Balslev was born in Aabenraa and originally trained as a nurse. She then studied singing, first at the Academy o ...
(born 1945 in Åbenrå) a operatic soprano, especially in Wagnerian operas
IMDb Database
retrieved 28 April 2020
Public thinking and public service
* Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu (1852 in Åbenrå - 1932) Danish naval officer and businessman, became a Siamese admiral and minister
* Ernst Reuter
Ernst Rudolf Johannes Reuter (29 July 1889 – 29 September 1953) was the mayor of West Berlin from 1948 to 1953, during the time of the Cold War.
Biography
Early years
Reuter was born in Apenrade (Aabenraa), Province of Schleswig-Holstein ...
(1889 in Apenrade – 1953) the German Mayor of West Berlin
The Governing Mayor (german: Regierender Bürgermeister) of Berlin is the head of government, presiding over the Berlin Senate. As Berlin is an independent city as well as one of the constituent States of Germany (''Bundesländer''), the office i ...
from 1948 to 1953
* Frits Clausen
Frits Clausen (12 November 1893 – 5 December 1947) was leader of the National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark (DNSAP) prior to and during World War II.
Life
Born in Aabenraa, since 1864 a part of Prussia, Clausen served in the German Ar ...
(1893 in Åbenrå – 1947) leader of the National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark
The National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Nationalsocialistiske Arbejderparti; DNSAP) was the largest Nazi Party in Denmark before and during the Second World War.
History
The party was founded on 16 November 1930, after ...
(DNSAP)
* Camma Larsen-Ledet (1915–1991 in Åbenrå), politician, Mayor of Aabenraa 1970–1986
* Bertel Haarder
Bertel Geismar Haarder (born 7 September 1944, in Rønshoved, near Aabenraa) is a Danish writer, teacher and politician, who was a member of the Folketing for the Venstre political party. He has served as minister several times, including Minist ...
(born 1944 in Rønshoved) politician, longest serving Danish minister since 2001
* Jens-Peter Bonde
Jens-Peter Rossen Bonde (27 March 1948 – 4 April 2021) was a Danish politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) with the June Movement. He resigned as an MEP in May 2008. Bonde was elected to the European Parliament in the ...
(1948–2021 in Åbenrå) a former politician and MEP
* Poul Mathias Thomsen (born 1955 in Aabenraa) a Danish economist working for the IMF
* Eva Kjer Hansen
Eva Kjer Hansen (born 26 August 1964 in Aabenraa) is a former Danish politician, who was a member of the Folketing for the Venstre political party. She held many ministerial positions, the last being as minister of Fisheries, Gender Equality and ...
(born 1964 in Hellevad) a Danish politician - Venstre (Denmark)
VenstreThe party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom. (, ), full name Venstre, Danmarks Li ...
Science and business
* Christian Friedrich Ecklon
Christian Friedrich Ecklon (17 December 1795 – 1 December 1868) was a Denmark, Danish botany, botanical collector and apothecary. Ecklon is especially known for being an avid collector and researcher of plants in South Africa.
Biography
Ecklon ...
(1795–1868), botanical collector and apothecary, came from Åbenrå
* Michael Jebsen (1835 in Apenrade – 1899) a ship's captain and ship owner, progenitor of the Jebsen Group
Jebsen Group () is a marketing, investment, and distribution organisation founded in 1895. It is headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in Mainland China and Macau. It consists of six business lines: Beverage, Consumer, Industrial, Motors, Logi ...
in HongKong
* Niels Jacobsen (1865 in Åbenrå - 1935) an architect and politician, Chairman of The Lego Group
Lego A/S (trade name: The Lego Group) is a Danish toy production company based in Billund, Denmark. It manufactures Lego-brand toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The Lego Group has also built several amusement parks aroun ...
* Jes Peter Asmussen
Jes Peter Asmussen (2 November 1928 – 5 August 2002), was a Danish Iranologist.
Asmussen was born and raised in Aabenraa. He studied theology and the Greenlandic language at the University of Copenhagen and earned his Cand.theol., candidatus the ...
(1928 in Åbenrå – 2002) a Danish Iranologist
Iranian studies ( fa, ايرانشناسی '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It ...
* Birte Melsen
Birte Melsen (born 9 June 1939) is an orthodontist from Denmark. She was the past President of European Orthodontic Society in 2004 and has made significant contributions in the field of orthodontics with her research, publishing about 350 papers ...
(born 1939 in Åbenrå) an orthodontist
Orthodontics is a dentistry specialty that addresses the diagnosis, prevention, management, and correction of mal-positioned teeth and jaws, and misaligned bite patterns. It may also address the modification of facial growth, known as dentofacial ...
Sport
* Morten Bruun (born 1965 in Åbenrå) a retired footballer, played 464 games for Silkeborg IF
Silkeborg Idrætsforening, (; commonly known as Silkeborg IF or SIF in short) is a professional football club based in Silkeborg, Denmark. The club was founded in 1917, reached the highest level of Danish football in 1987, and afterwards became ...
* Curt Hansen (born 1964 in Bov) is a Danish chess Grandmaster
* Sidsel Bodholt Nielsen (born 1989 in Åbenrå) a Danish handball player
Sister city
* Esztergom
Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Danu ...
, Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
''since'' 2000
Gallery
File:Aabenraa Museum Sønderjyllands Søfartsmuseum.jpg, Maritime Museum in Aabenraa
File:Rådhus Aabenraa.JPG, Aabenraa Town Hall
File:Storetorv, Aabenraa 2009.jpg, Storetorv
File:Aabenraa - Sct. Nicolai Kirke.jpg, Aabenraa - Sct. Nicolai Kirke
File:AabenraaBeach.jpg, Aabenraa Beach
File:Vægterpladsen 1A, Aabenraa 01.jpg, Aabenraa Handwerkerhaus
File:Vægterpladsen Aabenraa.jpg, Vægterpladsen Aabenraa
File:Aabenraa - Storegade.JPG, Storegade
References
External links
Aabenraa Kommune (Danish)
Aabenraa Ugeavis (Danish)
Aabenraa Port
Jydske Vestkysten Aabenraa
Newspaper (Danish)
Der Nordschleswiger
Newspaper (German)
*
{{Authority control
Municipal seats of the Region of Southern Denmark
Municipal seats of Denmark
Cities and towns in the Region of Southern Denmark
Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea
Aabenraa Municipality