Vallensbæk Municipality is a municipality ( Danish: '' kommune'') in the

Capital Region of Denmark The Capital Region of Denmark ( da, Region Hovedstaden, ) is the easternmost administrative region of Denmark. The Capital Region has 29 municipalities and a regional council consisting of 41 elected members. As of 1 August 2021 the chairperso ...

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

. It is part of the Greater Copenhagen area and consist primarily of the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

of Vallensbæk. It is one of the smallest municipalities in Denmark in terms of area. Vallensbæk Municipality borders the municipalities of

Ishøj Ishøj is a Danish town with a population of 20,017 (1 January 2015).Høje-Taastrup,

Albertslund Albertslund is a Copenhagen suburb in Albertslund Municipality, Denmark. It is located west of central Copenhagen, with a population of around 30,000. Albertslund is a planned community or new town mainly built in the 1960s and 1970s. The s ...

and Brøndby. It borders Køge Bay, and the Køge Bay Beach Park (Danish: ''Køge Bugt Strandpark'') along the coast. The suburb of Vallensbæk consists of two sections, not directly connected to each other: Vallensbæk Nordmark in the north and Vallensbæk Strand in the south. The two parts of the town are commonly referred to together as Vallensbæk. The only other settlement in the municipality is the village of Vallensbæk Landsby. The municipality's mayor has been Henrik Rasmussen, a member of the Conservative People's Party, since 2010. The Conservative People's Party has held the position as mayor since the municipality's creation in 1970. Vallensbæk Municipality was not merged with any other municipality in the municipal reform of 2007.

History

Vallensbæk is known from at least 1184 under the name ''Wolensbech'', possibly translating to 'narrow land area' or 'the field with the brook'. In the Middle Ages, when Denmark was divided into

syssel A syssel is a historical type of country subdivision in Denmark and elsewhere in Scandinavia. The mediaeval Danish ''sysler'' may be compared to the '' fylker'' of Norway, the ''landskaps'' of Sweden and Finland, the shires of England and Scotland, ...

s, Vallensbæk was part of Østersyssel. It later became a part of Copenhagen

Fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

, which was changed to

Copenhagen County Københavns Amt () is a former county (Danish, ''amt'') on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. It covered the municipalities in the metropolitan Copenhagen area, with the exception of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. Effective ...

in 1661. Although Copenhagen County changed many times over the years, Vallensbæk always remained within the borders. When the counties were disestablished in 2007, Vallensbæk came under the new

. Since 1842, and until the

1970 Danish Municipal Reform The 1970 Danish Municipal Reform was an extensive administrative reform in Denmark which on 1 April 1970 reduced the number of Danish municipalities from 1,098 to 277 and the number of counties from 25 to 14. The reform also abolished the last le ...

, Vallensbæk was a parish municipality. It became a regular municipality with the 1970 reform, and its borders have remained unchanged since. Vallensbæk wasn't merged with any other municipality in the 2007 municipal reform.

Towns

Below are all settlements in the municipality with populations of at least 200 people (populations as of 2020).

Vallensbæk

Vallensbæk is part of the Greater Copenhagen Area, and is divided into Vallensbæk Nordmark in the north of the municipality and Vallensbæk Strand in the south by the coast. Vallensbæk Nordmark is almost entirely residential buildings, mainly

detached houses A stand-alone house (also called a single-detached dwelling, detached residence or detached house) is a free-standing residential building. It is sometimes referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a multi-family residential dwelli ...

, with a small industrial area and an area with schools and institutions. Vallensbæk Nordmark is connected to

. In the northern part of Vallensæk Strand is an industrial area and many

city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets, not counting any type of thoroughfare within t ...

s. The rest of Vallensbæk Strand are mainly detached houses. Near the center of Vallensbæk Strand is

Vallensbæk station Vallensbæk station is a railway station on the Køge radial of the S-train network in Copenhagen, Denmark. It serves the southern end of Vallensbæk Municipality. See also * List of railway stations in Denmark This article shows a list of rail ...

, as well as a number of amenities, schools and institutions. By the coast, not directly connected to Vallensbæk Strand, is a sizable marina. Next to the marina is Køge Bugt Strandpark, of which a small portion is in Vallensbæk Municipality. Vallensbæk Strand is connected to

Brøndby Strand Brøndby Strand (in English: 'Well Town' Beach) is a suburb in Brøndby Municipality, approximately south-west of central Copenhagen, Denmark Overview Brøndby Strand contains a large housing project, in which 8,000 of the suburb's 11,000 inhabit ...

. The beaches in Vallensbæk Municipality are administered by

Ishøj Municipality Ishøj Municipality ( Danish: ''Ishøj Kommune'') is a municipality ( Danish: '' kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers 26 km², with a total population of 21,6 ...

Vallensbæk Landsby

Vallensbæk Landsby (Danish for ''Vallensbæk Village'') is a village located centrally between Vallensbæk Strand and Vallensbæk Nordmark. In the village are the only two churches in the municipality: the Three Kings Church (Danish: ''Helligtrekongers Kirke''), a modern church built between 2006 and 2012, and Vallensbæk Church from the 1100s.

Nature

Located in the Great Copenhagen Area, there aren't much nature in Vallensbæk Municipality. There are no protected nature within the municipality's borders. South-west of Vallensbæk Nordmark is a bog named Vallensbæk Bog (Danish: ''Vallensbæk Mose''). It spans 50 acres and is mainly located in Vallensbæk Municipality, but also in the municipalities of Albertslund, Høje Taastrup and Ishøj. The bog includes the two lakes of Tueholm Lake (Danish: ''Tueholmsøen'') and Vallensbæk Lake (Danish: ''Vallensbæk Sø''), which is home to a variety of birds. Both lakes were artificially created in 1972 in order to prevent floodings from the river of ''Store Vejleå''.

Køge Bugt Strandpark

Køge Bugt Strandpark (translating to Køge Bay Beach Park) is a park in Køge Bay. It is artificially made and was opened in 1980. It is located along the coast of the bay, in Greve, Ishøj, Vallensbæk and Brøndby municipalities. The park is home to many species of birds, with

common redshank The common redshank or simply redshank (''Tringa totanus'') is a Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae. Taxonomy The common redshank was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ...

and

northern lapwing The northern lapwing (''Vanellus vanellus''), also known as the peewit or pewit, tuit or tew-it, green plover, or (in Ireland and Britain) pyewipe or just lapwing, is a bird in the lapwing subfamily. It is common through temperate Eurosiberia ...

breeding in the area. Many types of

wader 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

s and shorebirds breed on the meadows. The

European green toad The European green toad (''Bufotes viridis'') is a species of toad found in steppes, mountainous areas, semi-deserts, urban areas and other habitats in mainland Europe, ranging from far eastern France and Denmark to the Balkans and Western Russi ...

, rare in Denmark, can be seen in the park, though mostly in the part of the park located in Greve Municipality.

Politics

Vallensbæk Municipality was not merged with any adjacent municipality under the municipal reform of 2007, as it agreed to enter into a "municipal cooperation agreement" with

Municipal council

Vallensbæk's municipal council consists of 15 members, elected every four years. Below are the municipal council elected since the municipality's creation in 1970.

Mayors

Since the

, the mayors of Vallensbæk Municipality have been:

Economy

The largest industries in Vallensbæk Municipality are retail, education, social institutions and transport. Companies with their headquarter in Vallensbæk Municipality include medico-company Simonsen & Weel. Another company set in the municipality is Frugt.dk, Denmark's largest distributor of fruit for companies. A documentation service company called Ricoh is also set in the municipality.

Demographics

There are 16,633 people living in Vallensbæk Municipality (2020). 50.06% are men and 49.94% are women. Below is the age distribution of the municipality.

Education

There are 3 ground schools, 1 independent school and 1 special school. There is also 1 music school. There is 1 library in the municipality, located at Vallensbæk Strand. Citizens in Vallensbæk Nordmark can pick up reserved books at the nearby public school.

Sights

The small size of the municipality means that there is a limited number of attractions. The nature areas in the municipality, however, are popular tourist destinations. *Little Tilde (Danish: ''Lille Tilde'') is a large wooden sculpture located in Vallensbæk Bog. It portrays a

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human ...

, and was part of a project where six municipalities in the western suburbs of Copenhagen would commission wooden sculptures of giants to be located in nature areas. Little Tilde was made by Thomas Dambo. *Vallensbæk Harbour (Danish: ''Vallensbæk Havn'') is a harbour and marina located by the Køge Bay Beach Park, south of Vallensbæk Strand. The marina has room for approximately 600 boats.

Churches

See List of churches in Vallensbæk Municipality

Parishes

There is 1

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

in Vallensbæk Municipality that encompass the entire municipality. Shown in the table below is the population of the parish, as well as the percentage of that population that are members of the

Church of Denmark The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church, sometimes called the Church of Denmark ( da, Folkekirken, literally: "The People's Church" or unofficially da, Den danske folkekirke, literally: "The Danish People's Church"; kl, ...

. All numbers are from 1 January 2020.

Symbols

Vallensbæk's coat of arms originate from 1952 and was designed by Aage Wulff. Wulff focused on Vallensbæk location around water, with the river of ''Store Vejleå'' crossing the municipality. The coat of arms is blue, with two white swans in flight at the top. A wavy white line, representing ''Store Vejleå'' goes across the coat of arms in the middle. At the bottom is a swimming swan, and behind it two crossed reeds. The coat of arms was changed in 2003, with the swans turned to face right instead of left, and the background color and river changed to a darker green. The changes were reverted in 2013, where the swans were flipped back to face left again. The background color was returned to blue and the white line in the middle returned to white.

Notable residents

* Niels Knudsen (1904–1987), architect * Pia Olsen Dyhr (born 1971), politician, member of the

Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature ( parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

and chairman of the Socialist People's Party *

Nicolai Wael Nicolai Wael (born 10 May 1972) is a Danish football manager. He was most recently the manager of Ringkøbing IF. In April 2013 it was announced that he would replace Thomas Thomasberg as manager of FC Fredericia form the beginning of the 20 ...

(born 1972), football manager * Amalie Wichmann (born 1995), handball player

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vallensbaek Municipalities in the Capital Region of Denmark Municipalities of Denmark Populated places established in 1970 Copenhagen metropolitan area