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Vejle River ( da, Vejle Å, also called Sønderåen, "South River") is an approximately river in Vejle Municipality in
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 ...
. Its source is Engelsholm Lake near the village of Nørup. It first runs south to converge with the Egtved River near the village of
Egtved Egtved is a village with a population of 2,446 (as of 1 January 2022) near Vejle, Denmark in Vejle municipality in the Danish Region of Southern Denmark. Nearby is Tørskind Gravel Pit, a sculpture park. The village has a Romanesque church bui ...
, then flows northeast for through the Vejle River Valley ( da, Vejle Ådal) until it reaches the city of
Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and the R ...
. There, the river meets the
Grejs River Grejs River ( da, Grejs Å) is an approximately river in Vejle Municipality in Denmark. Its source is Fårup Lake, south of the village of Jelling. It starts by heading east through a tunnel valley, then turns south to run through Grejs Valley ...
and then empties into
Vejle Fjord Vejle Fjord is an East Jutland-type fjord in Denmark. It is approximately in length, and it stretches east from the town of Vejle at its head to the towns of Trelde Næs on the south side and Juelsminde on the north side at the mouth. The fjord' ...
. Vejle River Valley and Vejle Fjord together form the longest
tunnel valley A tunnel valley is a U-shaped valley originally cut under the glacial ice near the margin of continental ice sheets such as that now covering Antarctica and formerly covering portions of all continents during past glacial ages. They can be as lo ...
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 ...
. The lower river has an urban character where it runs through downtown Vejle, while the upper river is rural and is used for fishing and recreation.


Geology

Vejle River Valley forms a continuous geological feature with Vejle Fjord, and together the valley and fjord make up the longest
tunnel valley A tunnel valley is a U-shaped valley originally cut under the glacial ice near the margin of continental ice sheets such as that now covering Antarctica and formerly covering portions of all continents during past glacial ages. They can be as lo ...
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 ...
, with a length of about and a width of up to . The shape of the current valley was formed during the last glacial period, the
Weichselian glaciation The Weichselian glaciation was the last glacial period and its associated glaciation in northern parts of Europe. In the Alpine region it corresponds to the Würm glaciation. It was characterized by a large ice sheet (the Fenno-Scandian ice sheet) ...
, which ended approximately 11,600 years ago. Before that, there was already a valley in the same location, with a ground that consisted primarily of
mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...
-rich
quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
sand dating back to the
Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
. During the Weichsel, glaciers advanced from the east, moving up the existing valley.
Meltwater Meltwater is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found in the ablation zone of glaciers, where the rate of snow cover is reducing. Meltwater can be ...
from the glacier eroded the valley, shaping it into a tunnel valley. The glacier deposited sand,
silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...
, and
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
, and in most places flattened the valley floor. However, in a few locations (near Vork and Vingsted), the ice stopped and began to retreat, leaving behind hilly
terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front edge ...
s. After the ice age, water continued eroding the valley, covering the floor with a layer of organic material.
Mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...
shells have been found near Rosborg Gymnasium inland in this layer, suggesting that the fjord's water level used to be higher. It is one of the few places in Denmark with
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
in the groundwater.


Prehistory

Vejle River Valley has been inhabited for nearly 12,000 years, and it is the location of several important archaeological sites, such as the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
burial site of the
Egtved Girl The Egtved Girl (c. 1390–1370 BC) was a Nordic Bronze Age girl whose well-preserved remains were discovered outside Egtved, Denmark in 1921. Aged 16–18 at death, she was slim, tall, had short, blond hair and well-trimmed nails. He ...
, the
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
Troldborg Ring fortification, and the
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 ...
Ravning Bridge The Ravning Bridge (Danish: ''Ravningbroen'') was a former 760 m long timber bridge, built in Denmark in the 10th century during the Viking Age. Located 10 km south of Jelling near the village of Ravning, it crossed the meadows of Ravning E ...
. Crossing the river was difficult in places due to the extensive wetlands, and the Ravning Bridge was the longest bridge in Denmark from its construction in the 10th century until the
Little Belt Bridge The Little Belt Bridge ( da, Lillebæltsbroen), also known as the Old Little Belt Bridge ( da, Den gamle Lillebæltsbro), is a truss bridge over the Little Belt strait in Denmark. It spans from Snoghøj on the Jutland side to Middelfart on Fune ...
was built in 1935. It has been suggested that Vejle River was navigable from the fjord as far inland as Skibet, as shipwrecks have been discovered there.


Industry and river modification

The river's course has been subject to alterations throughout history. From the 1500s to the 1900s, at least 35
watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...
s were constructed along the river. The earliest mills were built to grind grain in order to bypass the royal monopoly on milling. In the 1600s, the first
stamp mills Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to: Official documents and related impressions * Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail * Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods * Revenue stamp, used on documents to ...
were built, and in the 1700 and 1800s, mills were primarily built or converted for industry and manufacturing. In the 1900s, one mill, Haraldskær Fabrik, was converted to generate
hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
, but it has since closed. Beginning in the 1800s, the rise of industry and industrial farming led to water management projects that attempted to straighten the river and open up wetlands for farming. In some sections, these alterations were reinforced with
levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...
s. From the 1890s through the 1960s, somewhere between 50 and 100
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 ...
were constructed along Vejle River. Each of these fish farms consisted of a network of small artificial ponds, further changing the river's hydrology. From 1894 to 1914, the Vejle–Vandel–Grindsted Railroad, also known as Vandelbanen ("Vandel Line"), was built along Vejle River to connect Vejle with the towns of Vandel, Billund and
Grindsted Grindsted, with a population of 9,750 (1 January 2022),BY3: ...
. The railroad operated from 1897 to 1957, and sections of the disused right-of-way have been converted into a
rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
known as Bindeballestien ("Bindeballe Path"). In 2016,
flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...
prompted the construction of a
pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses in situations such as well drilling, drilled wells and drinking water, are facilities containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastru ...
at the confluence of the Vejle and Grejs Rivers in Vejle. The facility is designed to prevent high water levels in Vejle River and Vejle Fjord from backing up into Grejs River and causing floods.


Stream restoration

In recent decades,
stream restoration Stream restoration or river restoration, also sometimes referred to as river reclamation, is work conducted to improve the environmental health of a river or stream, in support of biodiversity, recreation, flood management and/or landscape developm ...
projects have returned parts of the river to its natural course. In 2011, of straightened river were restored near Tørskind, lengthening the section to . In 2013, a project near Haraldskær restored an section of the river, which included of river and surrounding wetlands.


References

{{reflist, 30em Rivers of Jutland Valleys of Denmark