Vestereng is a nature site in the environs of northern

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 ...

and the suburb of

Skejby Skejby is a neighbourhood and former village in Aarhus, Denmark. The neighbourhood is part of the city district Aarhus N. The Skejby village was originally situated in the countryside north of Aarhus, overlooking the broad flat Egå Valley, bu ...

. The name literally translates as 'westward meadow'. The Municipality of Aarhus took ownership in 1939. The area has a lively history of recent times and is now used extensively by several civil groups and organizations. The most prevalent groups as of 2013, being Aarhus

Beach Volley Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

Club, the

roleplaying Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing as ...

club Einherjerne, Aarhus Dirt Jump Park and Aarhus civil dog handling Association.

History

Vestereng was used by the German occupational forces as ammunition storage for the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. They constructed a total of 14 concrete

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...

s; 10 as storage facilities and 4 for machinegun defence and the bunkers are still here today, as a historical testimony to the

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

. After the liberation in 1945, the Danish military forces took over and Vestereng was used as a

shooting range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, sports venue, venue or playing field, field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or shooting sport, competitions. So ...

and training ground for several decades. From 1978-87 the

Danish Home Guard The Danish Home Guard ( da, Hjemmeværnet) (HJV) is the fourth service of the Danish military. It was formerly concerned only with the defence of Danish territory, but since 2008, it has also supported the Danish military efforts in Afghanistan ...

took over the military practice on Vestereng.

Music

Up until 2013, Vestereng was used as a venue for large outdoor

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

s, but this activity has been discontinued due to the newly expanded

Aarhus University Hospital Aarhus University Hospital (AUH) is a university hospital located in Aarhus, Denmark. The hospital develops and provides highly specialised medical treatment, research and education at an international level. The university hospital's headquarters ...

in Skejby close by and inaccessibility to emergency and firefighting units. The Aarhus leg of the annual Danish

Muscular Dystrophy Association The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is an American 501(c)(3) umbrella organization that works to support people with neuromuscular diseases. Founded in 1950 by Paul Cohen, who lived with muscular dystrophy, it works to combat neuromuscular di ...

benefit concert tour,

Grøn Koncert Grøn Koncert (literally "Green Concert") is an annually recurring series of Danish one-day music festivals. Taking place in July, the concerts are performed by a selection of bands who tour around Denmark for about ten days. The concerts have bee ...

(Green Concert), was held in Vestereng since 1987 along with other large popular music concerts. Over the years, Vestereng has hosted big outdoor concerts with many popular Danish and several internationally acclaimed bands such as

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

Nephew In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of the subject's sibling or sibling-in-law. The converse relationship, the relationship from the niece or nephew's perspective, is that of an ...

Magtens Korridorer Magtens Korridorer is a band from Denmark which was started in 1995 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The band consists of Johan Olsen (vocals), Rasmus Kern (guitar, synth, samplers and other keys), Niklas Schneidermann (guitar), Terkel Møhl (bass) and And ...

and

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...

D-A-D D-A-D is a Danish rock band. They were originally named Disneyland After Dark, but changed their name to avoid a lawsuit from The Walt Disney Company. History In the early 1980s in Copenhagen, D-A-D started playing together under their orig ...

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

, etc. to name a few.

Nature

The nature of Vestereng comprise meadows, scattered vegetation and a woodland area. There are a number of smaller ponds here and a stream is running through the area to join the larger

Egå Egå is a both a suburban district and a stream in the Municipality of Aarhus in Denmark. Name Egå means 'Oak-stream' in English. The Egå stream The Egå stream runs north of the city of Aarhus, in the bottom of the flat valley of Egå ...

, a few kilometres north of here. The meadows are very popular with

moles Moles can refer to: * Moles de Xert, a mountain range in the Baix Maestrat comarca, Valencian Community, Spain * The Moles (Australian band) *The Moles, alter ego of Scottish band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound People *Abraham Moles, French engin ...

apparently, as evidenced by the many

molehill A molehill (or mole-hill, mole mound) is a conical mound of loose soil raised by small burrowing mammals, including moles, but also similar animals such as mole-rats, and voles. The word is first recorded in the first half of the 15th century. F ...

s. Hawthorns is the most common tree at Vestereng and they also forms a peculiar habitat of hawthorn-forest. Despite the relatively high level of activity, Vestereng supports a rich flora and fauna, with some species rare or almost rare to Denmark even. These are primarily insects and organisms depending on a wet environment.

Roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

can sometimes be seen here, as they roam the area of Vestereng and

Brendstrup Skov Thorald Brendstrup (25 May 1812, Sengeløse, near Taastrup – 4 May 1883, Copenhagen) was one of Denmark's Golden Age painters. Although he is not particularly well known, he is credited above all with many well-proportioned landscapes.

further east. They are to be protected.

Gallery

;Hawthorn Vestereng in May.jpg, View across Vestereng and the Hawthorn-forest in May. Crataegus monogyna (Vestereng 2).jpg, Single-seeded hawthorn (''

crataegus monogyna ''Crataegus monogyna'', known as common hawthorn, one-seed hawthorn, or single-seeded hawthorn, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. It is native to Europe, northwestern Africa, and West Asia, but has been introduced in ...

'') Vestereng16.jpg, Inside the Hawthorn-forest (March) Vestereng13.jpg, Hawthorn trees (March) Vestereng15.jpg, Forest floor in the Hawthorn-forest. Hawthorn outcompetes other plant-life. Vestereng17.jpg, The stream of Vestereng Bæk (March) ;Nature and landscape Vestereng i maj 2.jpg, View across the meadows in May Honningbi (Vestereng).jpg, Flowers and insects in the meadows (June) Vestereng in July.jpg, Vestereng in July. The meadows change character throughout the year. Mergelgraven (juli).jpg, An abandoned

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

pit has turned into a small pond (July) Shelter (Vestereng).jpg, Shelter Fra skoven på Vestereng.jpg, Forest path in June Erantis i skoven.JPG, Winter Aconite (''

eranthis hyemalis ''Eranthis hyemalis'', the winter aconite, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to calcareous woodland habitats in France, Italy and the Balkans, and widely naturalized elsewhere in Europe. Description I ...

'') in the forest floor, one of the earliest flowers to appear (March). Vintergækker.JPG, Snowdrop (''

galanthus nivalis ''Galanthus nivalis'', the snowdrop or common snowdrop, is the best-known and most widespread of the 20 species in its genus, ''Galanthus''. Snowdrops are among the first bulbs to bloom in spring and can form impressive carpets of white in areas ...

''), another early flower in the forest floor (March).

References

Sources

Vestereng
ULF i Aarhus, Aarhus Municipality
Vestereng
Arrangør i Aarhus, Aarhus Municipality

Aarhus Akademi * Thorkild Steenberg
Vestereng
educational pamphlet (biology), Aarhus Akademi

External links

Map of Vestereng
{{Coord, 56, 11, 12, N, 10, 10, 47, E, type:landmark_region:DK, display=title Aarhus N Geography of Aarhus Military installations of Denmark Military installations closed in 1987 Former music venues in Denmark