Mølleparken (Lit. The Mill Park) is a park in the city of

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 ...

located in Midtbyen. Mølleparken was constructed in 1926 where the, by then obsolete, mills of the city had been situated by the river since 1289. Today the park lies by the

Aarhus River Aarhus River ( da, Århus Å) is a long river or stream, in eastern Jutland, Denmark. The river flows through the large river valley of Aarhus Ådal. The valley itself, stretches from Silkeborg to the coastal city of Aarhus, but the Aarhus River ...

and the ARoS Art Museum and functions as a section of a pedestrian arterial from ARoS to the

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (french: Quartier latin, ) is an area in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros ...

. Mølleparken was extensively redesigned in 2006-2008, as part of the opening of the

and now contains large areas for public recreation and facilities for street sports, including basket ball, panna, table tennis and concrete board game tables for playing

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...

and

checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...

. Eleven busts of notable Danish authors line the northern section of the park, namely

Steen Steensen Blicher Steen Steensen Blicher (11 October 1782, Vium – 26 March 1848 in Spentrup) was an author and poet born in Vium near Viborg, Denmark. Biography Blicher was the son of a literarily inclined Jutlandic parson whose family was distantly rela ...

Marie Bregendahl Marie Bregendahl née Sørensen (6 November 1867 – 22 July 1940) was a Danish author. She is one of Denmark's most acclaimed authors of rural literature whose novels and short stories were written in a realistic, almost grotesque style. Biogr ...

J. P. Jacobsen Jens Peter Jacobsen (7 April 1847 – 30 April 1885) was a Danish novelist, poet, and scientist, in Denmark often just written as "J. P. Jacobsen". He began the naturalist movement in Danish literature and was a part of the Modern Bre ...

Johannes V. Jensen Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (20 January 1873 – 25 November 1950) was a Danish author, known as one of the great Danish writers of the first half of 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1944 "for the rare strength and fert ...

Jakob Knudsen Jakob Christian Lindberg Knudsen (14 September 1858 – 21 January 1917) was a Danish author, educator and clergyman. Biography Jakob Knudsen was born in Rødding, in the south of Denmark. Knudsen spent much of his childhood at Aggersborg ...

, Thøger Larsen, Jacob Paludan,

Henrik Pontoppidan Henrik Pontoppidan (24 July 1857 – 21 August 1943) was a Danish realist writer who shared with Karl Gjellerup the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917 for "his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark." Pontoppidan's novels and short ...

Johan Skjoldborg Johan Skjoldborg (27 April 1861 – 22 February 1936) was a Danish educator, novelist, playwright and memoirist. Biography Johan Martinus Nielsen Skjoldborg was born in the parish of Øsløs in Thisted in north Jutland, Denmark. He was educated ...

, Harry Søiberg and

Jeppe Aakjær Jeppe Aakjær (10 September 1866 – 22 (23) April 1930) was a Danish poet and novelist, a member of the ' Jutland Movement' in Danish literature". A regionalist, much of his writings were about his native Jutland. He was known for writings t ...

. The bronze sculpture of "''Elskovskampen''" (the lovemaking battle) by Johannes Berg from the original park is still on display and in 2014, the kinetic sculpture ''Snake'' by Phil Price was placed here too, after acquisition by the city council. The council bought the sculpture after it received the highest rating from guests at the Sculpture by the Sea, Aarhus 2013 art festival in

Tangkrogen Tangkrogen (lit.: The Kelp-nook) is a public park in Aarhus, Denmark. The park is situated in the neighborhood Midtbyen by the coast with the Bay of Aarhus to the southeast, the Marselisborg neighborhood to the West and the Port of Aarhus to the ...

History

In 1289

Valdemar II Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241. Background He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophi ...

(Valdemar Sejr) ordered the construction of the first mill in the city by the river. The area was expanded with several small mills and an open area in conjunction with them was maintained up to the 17th century when it was substantially expanded with a garden. The mill was demolished in 1903 and in 1926 the area became publicly owned and shortly thereafter the park was inaugurated. From 1934, Mølleparken contained the entrance to Aarhus main library - hence the authors busts. The park has recently been heavily reconstructed and refurbished - finishing in 2014 -, and in the summer of 2015 the library functions was moved to the newly constructed

Dokk1 Dokk1 or Dokken is a government building, public library and culture center in Aarhus, Denmark. It is situated on '' Hack Kampmanns Plads'' in the city center by the waterfront next to the Custom House. Dokk1 is part of the much larger developmen ...

at the harbour front.

Gallery

Århus-Å-Vester-Allé.jpg, The opening of the river and construction at Mølleparken (2007) Arhus-Åboulevarden.jpg, Recreational spot at the river after renovation (2008) Mølleparken 3.jpg, Table tennis with a view to the former main library in red brick Mølleparken panna cage.jpg, The panna cage Mølleparken 1.JPG, Board game tables in concrete Mølleparken (toilets).JPG, Public toilets Mølleparken (maj 02).jpg, The large old Copper Beech

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molleparken Parks in Aarhus