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Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city 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 = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...
and the seat of
Aarhus Municipality Aarhus Municipality ( da, Aarhus Kommune), known as Århus Municipality ( da, Århus Kommune) until 2011, is a municipality in Central Denmark Region, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area ...
. It is located on the eastern shore of
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 ...
in the
Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...
sea and approximately northwest of
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 ...
. The largest city in Jutland, Aarhus anchors the
Central Denmark Region The Central Denmark Region ( da, Region Midtjylland), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish mu ...
and the statistical region ' (''LØ'') (lit.: Province East Jutland). The LØ is the second most populous statistical region in Denmark with an estimated population of 903,974 (). Aarhus Municipality defines the greater Aarhus area as itself and eight adjacent municipalities totalling 952,824 inhabitants () which is roughly analogous to the municipal and commercial collaboration
Business Region Aarhus East Jutland metropolitan area ( da, Byregion Østjylland) is a potential metropolitan area in Jutland and Funen, Denmark. Aarhus is the most populated city in the region. The National Planning Report of 2006, published by the Danish Enviro ...
. The city proper, with an estimated population of 285,273 inhabitants (), ranks as the 2nd-largest city in Denmark. Aarhus dates back to at least the late 8th century and is among the oldest cities in Denmark. It was founded as a harbour settlement at the mouth of 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 Riv ...
and quickly became a trade hub. The first Christian church was built here around the year 900 and later in the Viking Age the town was fortified with defensive ramparts. The Viking Age was turbulent and violent, also for Aros, as the town was called back then, but in spite of the difficulties, the bishopric of Aarhus grew steadily stronger and more prosperous, building several religious institutions in the town during 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 ...
. Trade continued to improve, although it was not until 1441 that Aarhus was granted
market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
privileges, and the population of Aarhus remained relatively stable until the 19th century. The 1600s, in particular, was a difficult time for Aarhus as the town suffered from several wars and the plague, and trade was also dampened by the state in favour of the royal seat of Copenhagen. Nevertheless, Aarhus grew to become the second-biggest town in Denmark during that time, and in the middle of the 1700s, the once prosperous trade growth returned. The
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
became an inflection point in the 19th century, as industry drove a rapid population growth, outpacing regional rivals, and the first railway line in Jutland was built here in 1862. In 1928, the first university in Jutland was founded in Aarhus and today it is a university city and the largest centre for trade, services, industry, and tourism in Jutland. Designated as a "Sufficiency" global city by the
Globalization and World Cities Research Network The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershire ...
, the city's major cultural institutions include
Den Gamle By Den Gamle By, or The Old Town in English, is an open-air town museum located in the Aarhus Botanical Gardens, in central Aarhus, Denmark. In 1914, the museum opened as the world's first open-air museum of its kind, concentrating on town culture ...
,
ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum The ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum is an art museum in Aarhus, Denmark. The museum was established in 1859 and is the oldest public art museum in Denmark outside Copenhagen. On 7 April 2004, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum opened with exhibitions in a brand new ...
, Moesgaard Museum, Gender Museum Denmark, and
Aarhus Theatre The Aarhus Theatre (Danish: ''Aarhus Teater'') in Aarhus, is the largest provincial theatre in Denmark. The present theatre house was constructed in the late 19th century, as a replacement for the old theatre, nicknamed "''Svedekassen''" (The Swe ...
. Known as ' (lit. City of Smiles) it is the Danish city with the youngest and fastest growing demographics and home to
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
's largest university, Aarhus University. Commercially, the city is the principal
container port A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...
in the country and major Danish companies are headquartered here such as
Vestas Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the Un ...
,
Arla Foods , industry = Dairy , predecessor = ArlaMD Foods , founded = , founder = , location_city = Viby , location_country = Denmark , area_served = Worldwide , key_people = Peder Tub ...
,
Salling Group Salling Group A/S (until 1 June 2018 Dansk Supermarked A/S) is Denmark's largest retailer, with a market share of 34.9%. It owns several chains of stores - Netto, Føtex, Bilka and Salling. All of these chains operate exclusively in Denmark exce ...
, and .


Etymology

The name originates from the city's location at the mouth of (
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 Riv ...
). It is a compound of the two words , genitive of ("river", Modern Danish ), and ("mouth", in Modern Icelandic this word, spelt , is still used for "river delta"). In Valdemar's Census Book (1231) the city was called ''Arus'', and in Icelandic it was known as , later written as Aars.


Spelling

The spelling "Aarhus" is first found in 1406 and gradually became the norm in the 17th century. With the Danish spelling reform of 1948, "Aa" was changed to "Å". Some Danish cities resisted the change but Aarhus city council opted to change the name. In 2010, the city council voted to change the name back from to again with effect from 1 January 2011. It is still grammatically correct to write geographical names with the letter Å and local councils are allowed to use the Aa spelling as an alternative and most newspapers and public institutions will accept either. Some official authorities such as the Danish Language Committee, publisher of the Danish Orthographic Dictionary, still retain as the main name, providing as a second option, in brackets and some institutions are still using explicitly in their official name, such as the local newspaper and the schools and . "Aa" was used by some major institutions between 1948 and 2011 as well, such as Aarhus University or the largest local sports club, (AGF), which has never used the "Å"-spelling. Certain geographically affiliated names have been updated to reflect the name of the city, such as the Aarhus River, changed from to .


History


Early history

Founded in the early
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 Germ ...
, Aarhus is one of the oldest cities in Denmark, along with
Ribe Ribe () is a town in south-west Jutland, Denmark, with a population of 8,257 (2022). It is the seat of the Diocese of Ribe covering southwestern Jutland. Until 1 January 2007, Ribe was the seat of both a surrounding municipality and county. It ...
and
Hedeby Hedeby (, Old Norse ''Heiðabýr'', German ''Haithabu'') was an important Danish Viking Age (8th to the 11th centuries) trading settlement near the southern end of the Jutland Peninsula, now in the Schleswig-Flensburg district of Schleswig-Holst ...
. The original Aros settlement was situated on the northern shores of a
fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Förden and East Jutland Fjorde, Germany, ...
by the mouth of 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 Riv ...
, right where the city center is today. It quickly became a hub for sea-going trade due to its position on intersecting trade routes in the
Danish straits The Danish straits are the straits connecting the Baltic Sea to the North Sea through the Kattegat and Skagerrak. Historically, the Danish straits were internal waterways of Denmark; however, following territorial losses, Øresund and Fehmarn B ...
and the fertile countryside. The trade, however, was not nearly as prominent as that in Ribe and Hedeby during the Viking Age, and it was primarily linked to Norway as evidenced by archaeological finds. A shipbuilding yard from the Viking Age was uncovered upriver in 2002 by archaeologists. It was located at a place formerly known as ''Snekkeeng'', or Snekke Meadow in English ('Snekke' is a type of
longship Longships were a type of specialised Scandinavian warships that have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and used by the Nors ...
), east of the
Brabrand Lake Brabrand Lake ( da, Brabrand-søen or Brabrand Sø) is a lake in the district of Brabrand (Gellerup), west of Aarhus city, Denmark. The Aarhus River passes through Brabrand Lake and it is possible to canoe all the way to the inner city from he ...
close to Viby, and it was in use for more than 400 years from the late 700s till around the mid-1200s. Archaeological evidence indicate Aarhus was a town as early as the last quarter of the 8th century. Discoveries after a 2003 archaeological dig, includes half-buried
longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...
s, firepits, glass pearls and a road dated to the late 700s. Several excavations in the inner city since the 1960s, has revealed wells, streets, homes and workshops, and inside the buildings and adjoining archaeological layers, everyday utensils like combs, jewellery and basic multi-purpose tools from approximately the year 900 has been unearthed. The early town was fortified with defensive earthen ramparts in the first part of the 900s, possibly in the year 934 on order from king
Gorm the Old Gorm the Old ( da, Gorm den Gamle; non, Gormr gamli; la, Gormus Senex), also called Gorm the Languid ( da, Gorm Løge, Gorm den Dvaske), was ruler of Denmark, reigning from to his death or a few years later.Lund, N. (2020), p. 147
. The fortifications were later improved and expanded by his son
Harald Bluetooth Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson ( non, Haraldr Blátǫnn Gormsson; da, Harald Blåtand Gormsen, died c. 985/86) was a king of Denmark and Norway. He was the son of King Gorm the Old and of Thyra Dannebod. Harald ruled as king of Denmark from c. ...
, encircling the settlement much like the defence structures found at
Viking ring fortress A Viking ring fortress, or Trelleborg-type fortress, is a type of circular fort of a special design, built in Scandinavia during the Viking Age. Collectively, they may also be known as trelleborgs. These fortresses have a strictly circular shape, ...
es elsewhere. Together with the town's geographical placement, this suggests that Aros became an important military centre in the Viking Age. There are also strong indications of a former royal residence from the same period in Viby, a few kilometres south of the Aarhus city centre. The centre of Aarhus was originally a pagan burial site until Aarhus's first Christian church, Holy Trinity Church, a timber structure, was built upon it during the reign of Frode, King of Jutland, around 900. The bishopric of Aarhus dates back to at least 948 when
Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von Bremen) (before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle ''Gesta ...
reported that the missionary bishop
Reginbrand Reginbrand (d. 988) was a bishop of the Ancient See of Aarhus. He was ordained by bishop Adaldag of Hamburg-Bremen in 948 in the first ordination of bishops in the Scandinavian countries. The ordination had the explicit support of the pope who wishe ...
of Aros attended the
synod of Ingelheim The Universal Synod of Ingelheim began on June 7, 948 in the then church of Saint Remigius in Ingelheim. Being summoned by Pope Agapetus II its primary goal was to resolve a long running Schism concerning the archiepiscopal see of Reims. The synod ...
in Germany, but the late Viking Age during the
Christianization of Scandinavia The Christianization of Scandinavia, as well as other Nordic countries and the Baltic countries, took place between the 8th and the 12th centuries. The realms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden established their own Archdioceses, responsible direc ...
was a turbulent and violent time with several naval attacks on the town, such as Harald Hardrada's assault around 1050, when the Holy Trinity Church was burned to the ground. Despite the conflicts, Aarhus continued to prosper from the trade and the finding of six
runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones d ...
s in and around Aarhus indicates the city had some significance around the year 1000, as only wealthy nobles traditionally used them. The bishopric diocese was obliterated for almost a hundred years after Reginbrand in 988, but in 1060 a new bishop Christian was ordained and he founded a new church in Aarhus, ''Sankt Nicolai Domkirke'' (
St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...
Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
), this time in stone. It was erected outside the town fortifications, and stood finished in 1070 at the site where Church of Our Lady stands today, but only an underground crypt remains.


Middle Ages

The growing influence of the Church during the
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 ...
gradually turned Aarhus, with its bishopric, into a prosperous religious centre. Many public and religious buildings were built in and around the town; notably
Aarhus Cathedral Aarhus Cathedral ( da, Århus Domkirke) is a cathedral in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the longest and tallest church in the country, at in length and in height. The construction of Aarhus Cathedral began in the 12th century and it is the main edific ...
was initiated in the late 12th century by the influential bishop Peder Vognsen, and around 1200, Aros had a total of four churches. The 13th century also marks a thorough reorganisation, erasing most of the town's original layout with new streets, relocations, dismantling and new constructions. The Church clearly had the upper hand in the Aarhus region during medieval times, and the large bishopric of Aarhus prospered and expanded territory, reaching as far as Viborg in extent. In 1441,
Christopher III Christopher of Bavaria (26 February 1416 – 5/6 January 1448) was King of Denmark (1440–48, as Christopher III), Sweden (1441–48) and Norway (1442–48) during the era of the Kalmar Union. Biography Coming to power He was the son of Jo ...
issued the oldest known charter granting market town status, although similar privileges may have existed as far back as the 12th century. The charter is the first official recognition of the town as a regional power and is by some considered Aarhus's birth certificate. The commercial and religious status spurred town growth so in 1477 the defensive earthen ramparts, ringing the town since the Viking Age, were abandoned to accommodate expansion. Parts of the ramparts are still in existence today and can be experienced as steep slopes at the riverside and they have also survived in some place names of the inner city, including the streets of Volden (The Rampart) and Graven (The Moat). Aarhus grew to become one of the largest cities in the country by the early 16th century. In 1657,
octroi Octroi (; fro, octroyer, to grant, authorize; Lat. ''auctor'') is a local tax collected on various articles brought into a district for consumption. Antiquity The word itself is of French origin. Octroi taxes have a respectable antiquity, bein ...
was imposed in larger Danish cities which changed the layout and face of Aarhus over the following decades. Wooden city walls were erected to prevent smuggling, with gates and toll booths on the major thoroughfares,
Mejlgade Mejlgade is a street in Aarhus which runs north to south from ''Østbanetorvet'' to Skolegade and intersects ''Nørrebrogade''. The street is situated in the historic Latin Quarter neighborhood and has the highest number of historic and listed ...
and Studsgade. The city gates funnelled most traffic through a few streets where merchant quarters were built. In the 17th century, Aarhus entered a period of recession as it suffered blockades and bombardments during the Swedish wars and trade was dampened by the preferential treatment of the capital by the state. It was not until the middle of the 18th century growth returned in large part due to trade with the large agricultural
catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...
s around the city; particularly grain proved to be a remunerative export. The first factories were established at this time as the
industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
reached the country and in 1810 the harbour was expanded to accommodate growing trade.


Industrialisation

Following the
Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, Denmark lost Norway and was excluded from international trade for some years which caused a recession for Aarhus's trade-based economy that lasted until the 1830s. The economy turned around as the
industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
reached the city and factories with steam-driven machinery became more productive. In 1838, the electoral laws were reformed leading to elections for the 15 seats on the city council. The rules were initially very strict, allowing only the wealthiest citizens to run. In the 1844 elections, only 174 citizens qualified out of a total population of more than 7,000. The first city council, mainly composed of wealthy merchants and industrialists, quickly looked to improve the harbour, situated along 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 Riv ...
. Larger ships and growing freight volumes made a river harbour increasingly impractical. In 1840, the harbour was moved to the coast, north of the river, where it became the largest industrial harbour outside Copenhagen over the following 15 years. From the outset, the new harbour was controlled by the city council, as it is to this day. During the
First Schleswig War The First Schleswig War (german: Schleswig-Holsteinischer Krieg) was a military conflict in southern Denmark and northern Germany rooted in the Schleswig-Holstein Question, contesting the issue of who should control the Duchies of Schleswi ...
, Aarhus was occupied by German troops from 21 June to 24 July 1849. The city was spared any fighting, but in
Vejlby Vejlby is a north-eastern neighbourhood of Aarhus in Denmark. It is located 5km from the city centre and is administratively part of the district of Risskov. The neighbourhood of Vejlby was administratively merged with Risskov at the end of the ...
north of the city a cavalry skirmish known as Rytterfægtningen took place which stopped the German advance through Jutland. The war and occupation left a notable impact on the city as many streets, particularly on
Frederiksbjerg Frederiksbjerg is a borough in Aarhus, Denmark. Frederiksbjerg is part of the postal district Aarhus C and is located just south of the historical city centre, separated from it by a broad railway yard and connected by three bridges. Despite bein ...
, are named after Danish officers of the time. Fifteen years later, in 1864, the city was occupied again, this time for seven months, during the
Second Schleswig War 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. ...
. In spite of wars and occupation, the city continued to expand and develop. In 1851, the
octroi Octroi (; fro, octroyer, to grant, authorize; Lat. ''auctor'') is a local tax collected on various articles brought into a district for consumption. Antiquity The word itself is of French origin. Octroi taxes have a respectable antiquity, bein ...
was abolished and the city walls were removed to provide easier access for trade. Regular steamship links with Copenhagen had begun with the ''
Jylland 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 ...
'' in 1825-26 and the '' Dania'' (1827–36), and in 1862 Jutland's first railway was established between Aarhus and
Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022). In the second half of the 19th century, industrialisation came into full effect and a number of new industries emerged around production and refinement of agricultural products, especially oil and butter. Many companies from this time would come to leave permanent iconic marks on Aarhus. The
Ceres Brewery The Ceres Brewery was a beer and soft drink producing facility in Århus, Denmark, that operated from 1856 until 2008. Although the brewery was closed by its owner Royal Unibrew the Ceres brand continues, with the product brewed at other faciliti ...
was established in 1856 and served as Aarhus's local brewery for more than 150 years, gradually expanding into an industrial district known as ''Ceres-grunden'' (lit.: the Ceres-ground). In 1896, local farmers and businessmen created Korn- og Foderstof Kompagniet (KFK), focused on grain and feedstuffs. KFK established departments all over the country, while its headquarters remained in Aarhus where its large grain silos still stand today. Otto Mønsted created the Danish Preserved Butter Company in 1874, focusing on butter export to England, China and Africa and later founded the Aarhus Butterine Company in 1883, the first Danish margarine factory. His company became an important local employer, with factory employees increasing from 100 in 1896 to 1,000 in 1931, partaking in the effective transformation of the city from a regional trade hub to an industrial centre. Other new factories of note included the
dockyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance ...
Aarhus Flydedok Aarhus Flydedok ( Colloquially.: Flydedokken) was a company and floating dry dock in Aarhus, Denmark. The company was established in 1945 based on installations left by occupying German forces. From the mid to late 20th century it became one of t ...
, the
oil mill An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
Århus Oliefabrik and the ironworks
Frichs Frichs is a Danish company based in Horsens, founded in 1854 in Aarhus. Frichs today produce ship engines but started out in the 19th century producing a long range of farm and industry equipment, ships, church bells, cranes and later through th ...
. Aarhus became the largest provincial city in the country by the turn of the century and the city marketed itself as the "Capital of Jutland". The population increased from 15,000 in 1870 to 52,000 in 1901 and, in response, the city annexed large land areas to develop new residential quarters such as
Trøjborg Trøjborg is a neighborhood in the city of Aarhus, Denmark in Skt. Johannes parish with about 11,000 residents as of 2015. The neighborhood is part of the district Aarhus N and borders the neighborhoods Nørre Stenbro to the South West, Risskov to ...
,
Frederiksbjerg Frederiksbjerg is a borough in Aarhus, Denmark. Frederiksbjerg is part of the postal district Aarhus C and is located just south of the historical city centre, separated from it by a broad railway yard and connected by three bridges. Despite bein ...
and Marselisborg. Many of its cultural institutions were also established at this time such as
Aarhus Theatre The Aarhus Theatre (Danish: ''Aarhus Teater'') in Aarhus, is the largest provincial theatre in Denmark. The present theatre house was constructed in the late 19th century, as a replacement for the old theatre, nicknamed "''Svedekassen''" (The Swe ...
(1900), the original
State Library A national library is established by the government of a nation to serve as the pre-eminent repository of information for that country. Unlike public libraries, they rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuab ...
(1902), Aarhus University (1928) and several hospitals.


Second World War

On 9 April 1940,
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
invaded Denmark, occupying Aarhus the following day and 5 years hence. The occupation was a destructive period with major disasters, loss of life and economic depression. The
Port of Aarhus The Port of Aarhus (Danish: Aarhus Havn) is a deep-sea port located in the city of Aarhus. It is the largest container port in Denmark, handling more than 50% of country's container traffic. The Port of Aarhus shipped roughly 8.4 million metric ...
became a hub for supplies to the
Baltics The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
and
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
, while the surrounding rail network supplied the Atlantic Wall in west Jutland and cargo headed for Germany. Combined, these factors resulted in a strong German presence, especially in 1944–45. The first years were peaceful in conjunction with the policies of the Danish Protectorate Government, but following the enactment of the Communist Law in August 1941, armed resistance and reprisals escalated. Small resistance groups first appeared in 1941–42 but the first to co-ordinate with the Freedom Council was the Samsing Group, responsible for most operations from early 1943. The Samsing group, along with others in and around Aarhus, was dismantled in June 1944 when Grethe "Thora" Bartram turned her family and acquaintances over to German authorities. In response, requests for assistance were sent to contacts in England and in October 1944 the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
bombed the Gestapo headquarters successfully destroying archives and obstructing the ongoing investigation. In the summer of 1944 the Copenhagen-based resistance group
Holger Danske Holger may refer to: People * Holger (given name), includes name origin, plus people with the name * Hilde Holger, stage name of dancer, choreographer and dance teacher Hilde Boman-Behram (née Hilde Sofer, 1905–2001) Fictional characters * Holg ...
helped establish the 5 Kolonne group and an SOE agent arrived from England to liaison with the L-groups. Subsequently, resistance operations escalated which was countered with
Schalburgtage Schalburgtage was the popular name for the retaliation which Nazi Germany, Germans and their Denmark, Danish Collaborationism, collaborators carried out as revenge for resistance activity in the last part of the occupation of Denmark between 1944 ...
terror operations by the
Peter group The Peter group ( Danish: ''Petergruppen'') was a paramilitary group created in late 1943 during the occupation of Denmark by the German occupying power. The group conducted counter-sabotage, also known as Schalburgtage, in response to the Dani ...
. The increasingly destructive occupation was compounded when an ammunition barge exploded in July 1944, destroying much of the harbour area. On 5 May 1945 German forces in Denmark surrendered but during the transitional period fighting broke out resulting in 22 dead. On 8 May the British
Royal Dragoons The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) was a heavy cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1661 as the Tangier Horse. It served for three centuries and was in action during the First and the Second World Wars. It was amalgam ...
entered the city.


Post-World War II years

In the 1980s the city entered a period of rapid growth and the service sector overtook trade, industry and crafts as the leading sector of employment for the first time. Workers gradually began commuting to the city from most of east and central Jutland as the region became more interconnected. The student population tripled between 1965 and 1977 turning the city into a Danish centre of research and education. The growing and comparably young population initiated a period of creativity and optimism;
Gaffa ''Gaffa'' (stylized as ''GAFFA'') is a free Nordic music magazine with local editions in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''Gaffa'' is Denmark's largest and oldest music magazine. It has been published since 1983 and has 320,000 print readers and ...
and the KaosPilot school were founded in 1983 and 1991 respectively, and Aarhus was at the centre of a renaissance in Danish rock and pop music launching bands and musicians such as TV2, Gnags,
Thomas Helmig Thomas Helmig (born 15 October 1964) is a Danish rock singer and musician, and has been one of the most popular singers in Denmark since the middle of the 1980s. Biography Thomas Helmig was born and grew up in Egå, a suburb of Aarhus, where his ...
,
Bamses Venner Bamses Venner ( en, Teddy (Bear)'s Friends) was a Danish musical group that performed together from 1973 to 2011. Bamses Venner represented Denmark in the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest with the entry "Tænker altid på dig" (ranked 14th in 19 c ...
,
Anne Dorte Michelsen Anne Dorte Michelsen (born 17 July 1958, Århus) is a Danish singer and composer. In Denmark she first became known as a member of the groups Tøsedrengene and Venter på Far. Outside Denmark her second solo record ("Næste Dans") sold well in ...
,
Mek Pek Mek Pek (born 4 January 1964) is a Danish singer and actor from Aarhus. Mek started his career in 1979 in the punk band ''Lost Kids'' in which he played the bass. ''Lost Kids'' eventually dissolved as a band and in 1982 he started his own band c ...
and Shit & Chanel.


The 2000s

Since the turn of the millennium, Aarhus has seen an unprecedented building boom with many new institutions, infrastructure projects, city districts and recreational areas. Several of the construction projects are among the largest in Europe, such as the New University Hospital (DNU) and the harbourfront redevelopment. Both the skyline and land use of the inner city is changing, as former industrial sites are being redeveloped into new city districts and neighbourhoods. Starting in 2008, the former docklands known as ''De Bynære Havnearealer'' (The Peri-urban Harbour-areas), and closest to the city seaside, are being converted to new mixed use districts. It is among the largest harbourfront projects in Europe. The northern part dubbed ''Aarhus Ø'' (
Aarhus Docklands Aarhus Docklands (Danish: Aarhus Ø) is a new neighbourhood and construction site in Aarhus, Denmark. Construction of Aarhus Docklands began in 2008 and most buildings and constructions have been finished as of 2018. The project will convert the ...
) is almost finished as of 2018, while the southern district dubbed ''Sydhavnskvarteret'' (The South-harbour neighbourhood) is only starting to be developed. The adjacent site of Frederiks Plads at the former
DSB DSB may refer to: Science, technology and devices * DsbA, a bacterial member of the Dsb (disulfide bond) family of enzymes * Double strand break, a break in both DNA strands, part of DNA repair * in telecommunications, double-sideband transmission ...
repair facilities have been under construction since 2014 as a new business and residential quarter. The main bus terminal close by is planned to be moved to the central railway station and the site will be redeveloped to a new residential neighbourhood. Elsewhere in the inner city, the site of the former Ceres breweries was redeveloped in 2012-2019 as a new mixed use neighbourhood known as CeresByen. Construction of Aarhus Letbane, the first light rail system in the country, commenced in 2013, and the first increment was finished in December 2017. Since then, the lightrail service has been expanded with two intercity sections to the towns of
Odder Odder is a town in Jutland, Denmark. The town is the seat of Odder municipality, and is the biggest town in the municipality. It is located 20 km south of Aarhus and 16 km south-east of Skanderborg. Odder is part of Business Region Aarhus, and ...
and
Grenå Grenaa (or Grenå) is a Danish town and seaport on the east coast of the Jutlandic peninsula. Tourism, education and commerce are important sectors in the economy of Grenaa. It is the only larger town on Djursland. Grenaa is the municipal seat, a ...
, respectively, and also includes a northward leg to the suburb of
Lisbjerg Lisbjerg is a village and suburb 7 km north of the city center of Aarhus, Denmark. Lisbjerg has a population of 1,063 (1 January 2022). Lisbjerg is situated on the northern slopes of the broad and flat valley of Egådalen, marking the north ...
. The light rail system is planned to tie many other suburbs closer to central Aarhus in the future, with the next phase including local lines to Brabrand in the east and Hinnerup to the north. Accelerating growth since the early 2000s, brought the inner urban area to roughly 260,000 inhabitants by 2014. The rapid growth is expected to continue until at least 2030 when Aarhus municipality has set an ambitious target for 375,000 inhabitants.


Geography

Aarhus is located at the
Bay of Aarhus The Bay of Aarhus, or Aarhus Bay, is a Danish waterway by Aarhus in eastern Jutland. The Bay of Aarhus is bounded by Kalø Vig in the north, Sletterhage and Helgenæs in the east, Samsø and Tunø to the south and the east Jutland coast to the w ...
facing the
Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...
sea in the east with the peninsulas of
Mols Mols is a small Danish gathering of hilly peninsulas in the southern part of the larger peninsula of Djursland on the east coast of Jutland. The largest peninsulas of Mols comprise Skødshoved to the west, and Helgenæs to the east. Mols' l ...
and
Helgenæs Helgenæs is a peninsula, approximately twenty square kilometres in size, stretching out from Mols in Denmark. Mols is itself part of the large peninsula of Djursland, in the middle of the Kattegat sea between Denmark and Sweden. West of ...
across the bay to the northeast. Mols and Helgenæs are both part of the larger regional peninsula of
Djursland Djursland () is a 44 km × 33 km hilly lowland peninsula in Denmark at the entrance to the Baltic Sea, between Denmark and Sweden in Northern Europe. Djursland protrudes into the Kattegat sea, as part of the larger peninsula of Jutland, ...
. A number of larger cities and towns is within easy reach from Aarhus by road and rail, including
Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Grenå Grenaa (or Grenå) is a Danish town and seaport on the east coast of the Jutlandic peninsula. Tourism, education and commerce are important sectors in the economy of Grenaa. It is the only larger town on Djursland. Grenaa is the municipal seat, a ...
(northeast),
Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...
( south) and
Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).


Topography

At Aarhus's location, the Bay of Aarhus provides a natural harbour with a depth of quite close to the shore. Aarhus was founded at the mouth of a brackish water
fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Förden and East Jutland Fjorde, Germany, ...
, but the original fjord no longer exists, as it has gradually narrowed into what is now 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 Riv ...
and the
Brabrand Lake Brabrand Lake ( da, Brabrand-søen or Brabrand Sø) is a lake in the district of Brabrand (Gellerup), west of Aarhus city, Denmark. The Aarhus River passes through Brabrand Lake and it is possible to canoe all the way to the inner city from he ...
, due to natural
sedimentation Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the ...
. The land around Aarhus was once covered by forests, remains of which exist in parts of Marselisborg Forest to the south and
Riis Skov Riis Skov (''Riis' Forest'' or ''The Forest of Riis'') is a forest and park in Århus, Denmark. It is located south of the district of Risskov, along the Bay of Aarhus. History This small patch of forest, was formally presented to Aarhus in 1395, ...
to the north. Several lakes extend west from the inner city as the landscape merges with the larger region of
Søhøjlandet Søhøjlandet (English: ''The Lake-highland'') is the highest lying region in Denmark and at the same time, it has the highest density of lakes.Himmelbjerget Himmelbjerget ("The Sky Mountain" or "The Mountain of Heaven") is a hill located between Ry and Silkeborg, Denmark in the area known as Søhøjlandet. With a height of 147 m (482 ft), Himmelbjerget is one of the highest natural point ...
between
Skanderborg Skanderborg is a town in Skanderborg municipality, Denmark. It is situated on the north and north eastern brinks of Skanderborg Lake and there are several smaller ponds and bodies of water within the city itself, like Lillesø, Sortesø, Døj S ...
and
Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).Højbjerg Højbjerg is a postal district of Aarhus, Denmark. Højbjerg originated as a coastal suburb to the south of Aarhus, but has now completely merged with the city. Højbjerg is located 5 km from the city centre and had a population of 22,000 ...
. The hilltop is home to a
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 prin ...
barrow shrouded in local myths and legends. The hilly area around Aarhus consists of a morainal plateau from the last ice age, broken by a complex system of
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 l ...
s. The most prominent valleys of this network are the Aarhus Valley in the south, stretching inland east–west with the Aarhus River, Brabrand Lake, Årslev Lake and Tåstrup Lake, and the Egå Valley to the north, with the stream of
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 ...
en,
Egå Engsø Egå Engsø is an artificial lake and wetland site located in the north of the town of Aarhus between Vejlby, Risskov and Lystrup. Engsø means 'meadow lake' and Egå means 'oak stream', referring to the stream that drains the lake into the Aar ...
, the bog of
Geding-Kasted Mose Geding-Kasted Mose is a bog about 7 kilometers north-west of Aarhus, in the western section of the Egå river valley though which the river Egå runs. The bog covers about 30 hectares of which a sizable portion is used as meadows for grazing cat ...
and
Geding Lake Geding Lake (Danish: Geding Sø) is a lake west of the Aarhus suburb of Tilst in Aarhus Municipality, Denmark. The stream Egå and the Egå river valley begins here. The lake is bounded by the Aarhus-Randers Rail Line to the west. Geding Lake i ...
. Most parts of the two valleys have been drained and subsequently farmed, but in the early 2000s some of the drainage was removed and parts of the wetlands were restored for environmental reasons. The valley system also includes the stream of Lyngbygård Å in the west and valleys to the south of the city, following erosion channels from the pre-quaternary. By contrast, the Aarhus River Valley and the Giber River Valley are late
glacial meltwater valley An ''urstromtal'' (plural: ''Urstromtäler'') is a type of broad glacial valley, for example, in northern Central Europe, that appeared during the ice ages, or individual glacial periods of an ice age, at the edge of the Scandinavian ice sheet and ...
s. The coastal cliffs along the Bay of Aarhus consist of shallow
tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
clay from the
Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...
and Oligocene (57 to 24 million years ago).


Climate

Aarhus has a temperate oceanic climate (
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Cfb''), Note:The Köppen World Map is rather course-scaled, and not very useful or precise on scales the size of Denmark. and the weather is constantly influenced by major weather systems from all four ordinal directions, resulting in unstable conditions throughout the year. Temperature varies a great deal across the seasons with a mild spring in April and May, warmer summer months from June to August, frequently rainy and windy autumn months in October and September and cooler winter months, often with frost and occasional snow, from December to March. The city centre experiences the same climatic effects as other larger cities with higher wind speeds, more fog, less precipitation and higher temperatures than the surrounding, open land. Western winds from the Atlantic and
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
are dominant resulting in more precipitation in western Denmark. In addition, Jutland rises sufficiently in the centre to lift air to higher, colder altitudes contributing to increased precipitation in eastern Jutland. Combined, these factors make east and south Jutland comparatively wetter than other parts of the country. Average temperature over the year is with February being the coldest month () and August the warmest (). Temperatures in the sea can reach in June to August, but it is not uncommon for beaches to register locally. The geography in the area affects the local climate of the city with the Aarhus Bay imposing a temperate effect on the low-lying valley floor where central Aarhus is located.
Brabrand Lake Brabrand Lake ( da, Brabrand-søen or Brabrand Sø) is a lake in the district of Brabrand (Gellerup), west of Aarhus city, Denmark. The Aarhus River passes through Brabrand Lake and it is possible to canoe all the way to the inner city from he ...
to the west further contributes to this effect and as a result, the valley has a comparably mild, temperate climate. The sandy ground on the valley floor dries up quickly after winter and warms faster in the summer than the surrounding hills of moist-retaining
boulder clay Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists o ...
. These conditions affect crops and plants that often bloom 1–2 weeks earlier in the valley than on the northern and southern hillsides. Because of the northern latitude, the number of daylight hours varies considerably between summer and winter. On the summer solstice, the sun rises at 04:26 and sets at 21:58, providing 17 hours 32 minutes of daylight. On the winter solstice, it rises at 08:37 and sets at 15:39 with 7 hours and 2 minutes of daylight. The difference in length of days and nights between summer and winter solstices is 10 hours and 30 minutes.


Politics and administration

Aarhus is the seat of Aarhus Municipality, and Aarhus City Council (''Aarhus Byråd'') is also the municipal government with headquarters in
Aarhus City Hall Aarhus City Hall is the city hall of Aarhus, Denmark. The decision to build a new city hall was taken during a city hall meeting in 1937. The new building was inaugurated 2 June 1941, designed by architects Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller. On the ...
. The Mayor of Aarhus since 2010 is
Jacob Bundsgaard Jacob Bundsgaard Johansen (born 28 February 1976) is a Danish politician and is the current Mayor of Aarhus Municipality. He is a member of the Danish Social Democrats. He took over after the former mayor Nicolai Wammen, who resigned as mayor to ...
of the
Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
. Municipal elections are held every fourth year on the third Tuesday of November with the next election in 2021. The city council consists of 31 members elected for four-year terms. When an election has determined the composition of the council, it elects a mayor, two deputy mayors and five
aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members the ...
from their ranks. Anyone who is eligible to vote and who resides within the municipality can run for a seat on the city council provided they can secure endorsements and signatures from 50 inhabitants of the municipality. The first publicly elected mayor of Aarhus was appointed in 1919. In 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 ...
the current Aarhus municipality was created by merging 20 municipalities. Aarhus was the seat of
Aarhus County Aarhus County or Århus County ( da, Århus Amt) is a former county of Denmark ( Danish: ''amt'') on the Jutland peninsula. It was created in 1970 by a merger of three counties: Århus, Randers and Skanderborg. The county was abolished effectiv ...
until the 2007 Danish municipal reform, which substituted the Danish counties with five regions and replaced Aarhus County with
Central Denmark Region The Central Denmark Region ( da, Region Midtjylland), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish mu ...
(''Region Midtjylland''), seated in Viborg.


Subdivisions

Aarhus Municipality has 45
electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ward is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil parishes and borough and dist ...
and
polling station A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English and British English, although polling place is the building
s in four
electoral districts An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
for 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 ...
(national Parliament). The
diocese of Aarhus In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
has four
deaneries A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...
composed of 60 parishes within Aarhus municipality. Aarhus municipality contains 21 postal districts and some parts of another 9. The urban area of Aarhus and the immediate suburbs are divided into the districts
Aarhus C Aarhus C is a postal district in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, consisting of the Inner city, Vesterbro, University of Aarhus, Frederiksbjerg, Langenæs and Aarhus Ø, with postal code 8000. The district is commonly defined as the area enclosed ...
,
Aarhus N Aarhus N is a postal district in the city of Aarhus, consisting of Trøjborg, Risskov, Vejlby, Skejby, Vorrevangen and Christiansbjerg, all with postal code 8200. Aarhus N is an abbreviation for Aarhus Nord (lit. "Aarhus North") and is located nort ...
,
Aarhus V Aarhus Vest (lit.: Aarhus West) or Aarhus V, is a postal district in the city of Aarhus, consisting of Hasle, Herredsvang, Møllevangen and Frydenlund. Quarters and neighborhoods Møllevangen Built primarily in the 1940s, Møllevangen has many ...
,
Viby J Viby J (or just Viby) is a former town and now a district, in the southwestern part of Aarhus in Denmark. The district has almost 30,000 inhabitants. The "J" stands for Jutland, as there is another town called Viby on the island of Zealand, offici ...
,
Højbjerg Højbjerg is a postal district of Aarhus, Denmark. Højbjerg originated as a coastal suburb to the south of Aarhus, but has now completely merged with the city. Højbjerg is located 5 km from the city centre and had a population of 22,000 ...
and Brabrand.


Environmental planning

Aarhus has increasingly been investing in environmental planning and, in accordance with national policy, aims to be -neutral and independent of fossil fuels for heating by 2030. The municipal power plants were adapted for this purpose in the 2010s. In 2015, the municipality took over three private straw-fired heating plants and the year after, a new 77 MW combined heat and power biomass plant at
Lisbjerg Power Station Lisbjerg Power Station ( Danish: Lisbjerg Forbrændingen) also known as Affaldscenter and Biomassefyret Kraftvarmeværk A/S is a combined heat and power plant in Lisbjerg, Denmark. The power plant is composed of two units; a waste-to-power incine ...
was completed while Studstrup Power Station finished a refit to move from coal to wood chips. In conjunction with the development of the Docklands district there are plans for a utility-scale seawater
heat pump A heat pump is a device that can heat a building (or part of a building) by transferring thermal energy from the outside using a refrigeration cycle. Many heat pumps can also operate in the opposite direction, cooling the building by removing ...
which will take advantage of fluctuating electricity prices to supply the
district heating District heating (also known as heat networks or teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating a ...
system. Since 2015, the city has been implementing energy saving LED technology in street lighting; by January 2019, about half of the municipal street lighting had been changed. Apart from reducing the city's CO2 emissions, it saves 30% on the electricity bill, thereby making it a self-financed project over a 20-year period. The municipality aims for a coherent and holistic administration of the
water cycle The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or the hydrological cycle, is a biogeochemical cycle that describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. The mass of water on Earth remains fairly cons ...
to protect against, or clean up, previous pollution and encourage
green growth Green growth is a term to describe a hypothetical path of economic growth that is environmentally sustainable. It is based on the understanding that as long as economic growth remains a predominant goal, a decoupling of economic growth from resou ...
and self-sufficiency. The main issues are excessive nutrients, adapting to increased (and increasing) levels of precipitation brought on by
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
, and securing the water supply. These goals have manifested in a number of large water treatment projects often in collaboration with private partners. In the 2000s, underground rainwater basins were built across the city while the two lakes Årslev Engsø and
Egå Engsø Egå Engsø is an artificial lake and wetland site located in the north of the town of Aarhus between Vejlby, Risskov and Lystrup. Engsø means 'meadow lake' and Egå means 'oak stream', referring to the stream that drains the lake into the Aar ...
were created in 2003 and 2006 respectively. The number of
sewage treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding e ...
plants is planned to be reduced from 17 to 2 by 2025, as the treatment plants in Marselisborg and Egå are scheduled for expansion to take over all waste water treatment. They have already been refitted for
biogas Biogas is a mixture of gases, primarily consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste and food waste. It is a ...
production to become net producers of electricity and heat. To aid the new treatment plants, and avoid floodings, sewage and stormwater throughout the municipality is planned to be separated into two different drainage systems. Construction began in 2017 in several areas, but it is a long process that is scheduled to be finished by 2085. Afforestation projects have been undertaken to prevent
groundwater pollution Groundwater pollution (also called groundwater contamination) occurs when pollutants are released to the ground and make their way into groundwater. This type of water pollution can also occur naturally due to the presence of a minor and unwante ...
, secure drinking water, sequester , increase
biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
, create an attractive countryside, provide easy access to nature and offer outdoor activities to the public. In 2000, the first project, the New Forests of Aarhus, was completed, which aimed to double the forest cover in the municipality and, in 2009, another phase was announced to double forest cover once more before the year 2030. The afforestation plans were realised as a local project in collaboration with private landowners, under a larger national agenda. Other projects to expand natural habitats include a
rewilding Rewilding may refer to: *Rewilding (conservation biology), the return of habitats to a natural state **Rewilding Europe Rewilding Europe is a non-profit organisation based in Nijmegen, Netherlands, working to create rewilded landscapes through ...
effort in
Geding-Kasted Bog Geding-Kasted Mose is a bog about 7 kilometers north-west of Aarhus, in the western section of the Egå river valley though which the river Egå runs. The bog covers about 30 hectares of which a sizable portion is used as meadows for grazing cattl ...
and continuous monitoring of the four Natura 2000 areas in the municipality.


Demographics

Aarhus has a population of 261,570 on for a density of 2,874/km2 (7,444/sq mi). Aarhus municipality has a population of 330,639 on 468 km2 with a density of 706/km2 (1,829/sq mi). Less than a fifth of the municipal population resides beyond city limits and almost all live in an urban area. The population of Aarhus is both younger and better-educated than the national average which can be attributed to the high concentration of educational institutions. More than 40% of the population have an academic degree while only some 14% have no secondary education or trade. The largest age group is 20- to 29-year-olds and the average age is 37.5, making it the youngest city in the country and one of its youngest municipalities. Women have slightly outnumbered men for many years. The city is home to 75 different religious groups and denominations, most of which are Christian or Muslim with a smaller number of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jewish communities. Since the 1990s there has been a marked growth in diverse new spiritual groups although the total number of followers remains small. The majority of the population are members of the Protestant state church,
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, ...
, which is by far the largest religious institution both in the city and the country as a whole. Some 20% of the population are not officially affiliated with any religion, a percentage that has been slowly rising for many years. During the 1990s there was significant immigration from Turkey and in the 2000s, there was a fast growth in the overall immigrant community, from 27,783 people in 1999 to 40,431 in 2008. The majority of immigrants have roots outside Europe and the developed world, comprising some 25,000 people from 130 different nationalities, with the largest groups coming from the Middle East and North Africa. Some 15,000 have come from within Europe, with Poland, Germany, Romania and Norway being the largest contributors. Many immigrants have established themselves in the suburbs of Brabrand, Hasle and Viby, where the percentage of inhabitants with foreign origins has risen by 66% since 2000. This has resulted in a few so-called
ghettos A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
, defined as residential areas with more than half of inhabitants from non-Western countries and with relatively high levels of poverty and/or crime. Gellerup is the most notable neighbourhood in that respect. The ghetto-labelling has been criticized as unnecessarily stigmatising and counterproductive for social and economical development of the related areas.


Economy

The economy of Aarhus is predominantly knowledge- and service-based, strongly influenced by the
University of Aarhus Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...
and the large healthcare industry. The service sector dominates the economy and is growing as the city transitions away from manufacturing. Trade and transportation remain important sectors, benefiting from the large port and central position on the rail network. Manufacturing has been in slow but steady decline since the 1960s while agriculture has long been a marginal sector within the municipality. The municipality is home to 175,000 jobs with some 100,000 in the private sector and the rest split between state, region and municipality. The region is a major agricultural producer, with many large farms in the outlying districts. People commute to Aarhus from as far away as
Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).Skanderborg Skanderborg is a town in Skanderborg municipality, Denmark. It is situated on the north and north eastern brinks of Skanderborg Lake and there are several smaller ponds and bodies of water within the city itself, like Lillesø, Sortesø, Døj S ...
and almost a third of those employed within the Aarhus municipality commute from neighbouring communities. Aarhus is a centre for retail in the Nordic and Baltic countries, with expansive shopping centres, the busiest commercial street in the country and a dense urban core with many speciality shops. The job market is knowledge- and service-based, and the largest employment sectors are healthcare and social services, trade, education, consulting, research, industry and telecommunications. The municipality has more high- and middle-income jobs, and fewer low-income jobs, than the national average. Today, te majority of the largest companies in the municipality are in the sectors of trade, transport and media. The wind power industry has strong roots in Aarhus and the larger region of Central Jutland, and nationally, most of the revenue in the industry is generated by companies in the greater Aarhus area. The wind industry employs about a thousand people within the municipality, making it a central component in the local economy. The biotech industry is well-established in the city, with many small- and medium-sized companies mainly focused on research and development. Several major companies are headquartered in Aarhus, including four of the ten largest in the country. These include
Arla Foods , industry = Dairy , predecessor = ArlaMD Foods , founded = , founder = , location_city = Viby , location_country = Denmark , area_served = Worldwide , key_people = Peder Tub ...
, one of the largest dairy groups in Europe,
Salling Group Salling Group A/S (until 1 June 2018 Dansk Supermarked A/S) is Denmark's largest retailer, with a market share of 34.9%. It owns several chains of stores - Netto, Føtex, Bilka and Salling. All of these chains operate exclusively in Denmark exce ...
, Denmark's largest retailer, Jysk, a worldwide retailer of household goods,
Vestas Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the Un ...
, a global wind turbine manufacturer,
Terma A/S Terma A/S is a Danish weapon and aerospace manufacturer for both civilian and military applications, and is owned by the Danish company Thrige Holding A/S. It is Denmark's largest company within the aerospace and weapon industry, employing appro ...
, a major defence and aerospace manufacturer, Per Aarsleff, a civil engineering company and several large retail companies. Other large employers of note include Krifa, Systematic A/S,), and Bestseller A/S. Since the early 2000s, the city has experienced an influx of larger companies moving from other parts of the Jutland peninsula.


Port of Aarhus

The Port of Aarhus is one of the largest industrial ports in northern Europe with the largest container terminal in Denmark, processing more than 50% of Denmark's container traffic and accommodating the largest container vessels in the world. It is a municipal self-governing port with independent finances. The facilities handle some 9.5 million tonnes of cargo a year (2012). Grain is the principal export, while feedstuffs, stone, cement and coal are among the chief imports. Since 2012 the port has faced increasing competition from the Port of Hamburg and freight volumes have decreased somewhat from the peak in 2008. The ferry terminal presents the only alternative to the Great Belt Link for passenger transport between Jutland and
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 has served different ferry companies since the first steamship route to Copenhagen opened in 1830. Currently,
Mols-Linien (previously called ) is a Danish company that operates ferry services between Jutland (Jylland) and the island of Zealand (Sjælland). In March 2017, the routes in the Kattegat were renamed to Molslinjen, while the Bornholms services would co ...
operates the route and annually transports some two million passengers and a million vehicles. Additional
roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...
cargo ferries serve
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
and Kalundborg on a weekly basis and smaller outlying Danish ports at irregular intervals. Since the early 2000s the port has increasingly become a destination for cruise lines operating in the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
.


Tourism

The ARoS Art Museum, the Old Town Museum and
Tivoli Friheden Tivoli Friheden is an amusement park located in Aarhus, Denmark. The park was visited by more than 365,000 visitors in 2009, and the figure is rising. The park is situated about 2 km to the south of the city centre. It has several themed ...
are among Denmark's top tourist attractions. With a combined total of almost 1.4 million visitors they represent the driving force behind tourism but other venues such as
Moesgård Museum Moesgaard Museum (MOMU) is a Danish regional museum dedicated to archaeology and ethnography. It is located in Beder, a suburb of Aarhus, Denmark. MOMU cooperates with the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, Medieval and Renaissance Archaeology ...
and
Kvindemuseet KØN - Gender Museum Denmark, formerly Kvindemuseet (Women's Museum), is a history museum in Aarhus, Denmark focused on the cultural history of gender and sexuality in Denmark. KØN was originally founded in 1982 as a women's history museum, an ...
are also popular. The city's extensive shopping facilities are also said to be a major attraction for tourists, as are festivals, especially NorthSide and
SPOT Spot or SPOT may refer to: Places * Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States * The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia * South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse People * Spot (prod ...
. Many visitors arrive on cruise ships: in 2012, 18 vessels visited the port with over 38,000 passengers. In the 2010s, there was a significant expansion of tourist facilities, culminating in the opening of the 240-room Comwell Hotel in July 2014, which increased the number of hotel rooms in the city by 25%. Some estimates put the number of visitors spending at least one night as high as 750,000 a year, most of them Danes from other regions, with the remainder coming mainly from Norway, Sweden, northern Germany and the United Kingdom. Overall, they spend roughly DKK 3 billion (€402 million) in the city each year. The primary motivation for tourists choosing Aarhus as a destination is experiencing the city and culture, family and couples vacation or as a part of a round trip in Denmark. The average stay is little more than three days on average. There are more than 30 tourist information spots across the city. Some of them are staffed, while others are online, publicly accessible touchscreens. The official tourist information service in Aarhus is organised under VisitAarhus, a corporate foundation initiated in 1994 by Aarhus Municipality and local commercial interest organisations.


Research parks

The largest research park in Aarhus is INCUBA Science Park, focused on IT and biomedical research, It is based on Denmark's first research park, ''Forskerpark Aarhus'' (Research Park Aarhus), founded in 1986, which in 2007 merged with another research park to form INCUBA Science Park. The organisation is owned partly by Aarhus University and private investors and aims to foster close relationships between public institutions and startup companies. It is physically divided across 4 locations after a new department was inaugurated in Navitas Park in 2015, which it will share with the Aarhus School of Marine and Technical Engineering and AU Engineering. Another major centre for knowledge is Agro Food Park in Skejby, established to facilitate co-operation between companies and public institutions working within food science and agriculture. In January 2017
Arla Foods , industry = Dairy , predecessor = ArlaMD Foods , founded = , founder = , location_city = Viby , location_country = Denmark , area_served = Worldwide , key_people = Peder Tub ...
will open the global innovation centre ''Arla Nativa'' in Agro Food Park and in 2018 Aarhus University is moving the ''Danish Centre for Food and Agriculture'' there as well. In 2016, some 1000 people worked at Agro Food Park, spread across 50 companies and institutions and in August 2016 Agro Food Park management published plans to expand facilities from 92,000 m2 to . In addition, Aarhus is home to the Aarhus School of Architecture, one of two Danish
Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
institutions that provide degree programs in architecture, and some of the largest architecture firms in the Nordic countries such as Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, Arkitema Architects and C. F. Møller Architects. Taken together these organisations form a unique concentration of expertise and knowledge in architecture outside Copenhagen, which the Danish Ministry of Business and Growth refers to as (the architecture cluster). To promote the "cluster", the School of Architecture will be given new school buildings centrally in the new Freight Station Neighborhood, planned for development in the 2020s. In the interim, the city council supports a culture, business and education centre in the area, which may continue in the future neighbourhood in some form. The future occupants of the neighbourhood will be businesses and organisations selected for their ability to be involved in the local community, and it is hoped that the area will evolve into a hotspot for creativity and design.


Cityscape

Aarhus has developed in stages, from the Viking Age to modern times, all visible in the city today. Many architectural styles are represented in different parts of the city such as Romanesque,
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
,
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
, Baroque,
Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
, National Romantic,
Nordic Classicism Nordic Classicism was a style of architecture that briefly blossomed in the Nordic countries ( Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) between 1910 and 1930. Until a resurgence of interest for the period during the 1980s (marked by several scholarl ...
, Neoclassical,
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
and Functionalism. The city has developed around the main transport hubs - the river, the harbour, and later the railway station -, and as a result, the oldest parts are also the most central and busiest today. The streets of Volden (The Rampart) and Graven (The Moat) testify to the defences of the initial Viking town, and ''Allégaderingen'' in Midtbyen roughly follows the boundaries of that settlement. The street network in the
inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...
formed during the Middle Ages with narrow, curved streets and low, dense housing by the river and the coast. ''Vesterport'' (Westward Gate) still bears the name of the medieval city gate and the narrow alleyways ''Posthussmøgen'' and ''Telefonsmøgen'' are remnants of toll stations from that time. The inner city has the oldest preserved buildings, especially 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 bistro ...
, with houses dating back to the early 17th century in
Mejlgade Mejlgade is a street in Aarhus which runs north to south from ''Østbanetorvet'' to Skolegade and intersects ''Nørrebrogade''. The street is situated in the historic Latin Quarter neighborhood and has the highest number of historic and listed ...
and Skolegade. Medieval merchants' mansions with courtyards can be seen in Klostergade, Studsgade and Skolegade. By far, the largest part of the present-day city was built during and after the industrialization of the late 1800s, and the most represented architectural styles today are
historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely ...
and
modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
, especially the subgenre of Danish functionalism of which there are many fine examples. The building boom of the 2000s has imprinted itself on Aarhus with a redeveloped harbourfront, many new neighbourhoods (also in the inner city), and a revitalized public space. It is also beginning to change the skyline with several dominating high-rises.


Developments

In recent years, Aarhus has experienced a large demand in housing and offices, spurring a construction boom in some parts of the city. The newly built city district of Aarhus Ø, formerly docklands where shipping houses major housing developments, mostly consisting of privately owned apartments, designed by architects such as, CEBRA, and
JDS Architects Julien De Smedt (born 1975 in Brussels, Belgium) is the founder and director of JDS Architects based in Brussels, Copenhagen, Belo Horizonte and Shanghai. Projects include the VM Housing Complex, the Mountain Dwellings, the Maritime Youth House ...
. In the 2nd quarter of 2012, the population of the area stood at only 5, however that number had risen to 3,940 by October 2019. The main public transportation service is bus line 23, as well as train station Østbanetorvet. In addition to this, the area will be serviced by the light rail line, Aarhus Letbane.


Landmarks

Aarhus Cathedral Aarhus Cathedral ( da, Århus Domkirke) is a cathedral in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the longest and tallest church in the country, at in length and in height. The construction of Aarhus Cathedral began in the 12th century and it is the main edific ...
(''Århus Domkirke'') in the centre of Aarhus, is the longest and tallest church in Denmark at and in length and height respectively. Originally built as a Romanesque basilica in the 13th century, it was rebuilt and enlarged as a
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
cathedral in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Even though the cathedral stood finished around 1300, it took more than a century to build; the associated cathedral school of '' Aarhus Katedralskole'' was already founded in 1195 and ranks as the 44th oldest school in the world. Another important and historic landmark in the inner city, is the Church of Our Lady (''Vor Frue Kirke'') also from the 13th century in Romanesque and Gothic style. It is smaller and less impressive, but it was the first cathedral of Aarhus and founded on an even older church constructed in 1060; the oldest stone church in Scandinavia.
Langelandsgade Kaserne Langelandsgade Kaserne is a former military barracks in Aarhus, Denmark. It was used by the military from 1889 to 1993, when Aarhus University took ownership. After a restoration, it is now the headquarters of the Aarhus University department Schoo ...
in
National Romantic Style The National Romantic style was a Nordic architectural style that was part of the National Romantic movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is often considered to be a form of Art Nouveau. The National Romantic style spread ...
from 1889 is the oldest former military barracks left in the country; home to the university Department of Aesthetics and Communication since 1989.
Marselisborg Palace Marselisborg Palace, ( da, Marselisborg Slot, ) is a royal residence of the Danish Royal Family in Aarhus. It has been the summer residence of Queen Margrethe II since 1967. There is a Palace Park in connection to the palace itself and outside ...
(''Marselisborg Slot''), designed by
Hack Kampmann Hack Kampmann (6 September 1856 – 27 June 1920) was a Danish architect, Royal Inspector of Listed State Buildings in Jutland and professor at the architecture department of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Marselisborg Palace in Aarhus, ...
in Neoclassical and Art Nouveau styles, was donated by the city to Prince Christian and Princess Alexandrine as a wedding present in 1898. The
Aarhus Custom House The Aarhus Custom House (''Toldkammeret'') is located on the harbour front in Aarhus, Denmark. Completed in 1898, it is said to be Hack Kampmann's finest work. Kampmann also designed other buildings in the city including Marselisborg Palace and Aar ...
(''Toldkammeret'') from 1898, is said to be Hack Kampmann's finest work.
Tivoli Friheden Tivoli Friheden is an amusement park located in Aarhus, Denmark. The park was visited by more than 365,000 visitors in 2009, and the figure is rising. The park is situated about 2 km to the south of the city centre. It has several themed ...
(Tivoli Freedom) opened in 1903 and has since been the largest amusement park in the city and a tourist attraction.
Aarhus Theatre The Aarhus Theatre (Danish: ''Aarhus Teater'') in Aarhus, is the largest provincial theatre in Denmark. The present theatre house was constructed in the late 19th century, as a replacement for the old theatre, nicknamed "''Svedekassen''" (The Swe ...
from 1916 in the Art Nouveau style is the largest provincial theatre in Denmark. The early buildings of Aarhus University, especially the main building completed in 1932, designed by
Kay Fisker Kay Otto Fisker, Hon. FAIA (14 February 1893 – 21 June 1965) was a Danish architect, designer and educator. He is mostly known for his many housing projects, mainly in the Copenhagen area, and is considered a leading exponent of Danish Functi ...
,
Povl Stegmann Povl Christian Stegmann (1888–1944) was a Danish architect remembered for designing Aarhus University in collaboration with Kay Fisker and C. F. Møller. His name is included in the Danish Culture Canon. Early life Born in Aarhus, Stegmann ...
and by C.F. Møller have gained an international reputation for their contribution to
functionalist architecture In architecture, functionalism is the principle that buildings should be designed based solely on their purpose and function. This principle is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern archite ...
. The City Hall (''Aarhus Rådhus'') from 1941 with an iconic tower clad in marble, was designed by
Arne Jacobsen Arne Emil Jacobsen, Hon. FAIA () 11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971) was a Danish architect and furniture designer. He is remembered for his contribution to architectural functionalism and for the worldwide success he enjoyed with simple we ...
and Erik Møller in a modern Functionalist style.


Culture

Aarhus is home to many annual cultural events and festivals, museums, theatres, and sports events of both national and international importance, and presents some of the largest cultural attractions in Denmark. There is a long tradition in music of all genres and many Danish bands, have emerged from Aarhus. Libraries, cultural centres and educational institutions present free or easy opportunities for the citizens to participate in, engage in, or be creative with cultural events and productions of all kinds. Since 1938, Aarhus has marketed itself as ''Smilets by'' (City of smiles) which has become both an informal moniker and official slogan. In 2011, the city council opted to change the slogan to "Aarhus. Danish for Progress" but it was unpopular and abandoned after just a few years. Other slogans that have occasionally been used are ''Byen ved havet'' (City by the sea), ''Mellem bugt og bøgeskov'' (Between bay and beechwood) and ''Verdens mindste storby'' (World's smallest big city). Aarhus is featured in popular songs such as ''Hjem til Aarhus'' by På Slaget 12, ''Lav sol over Aarhus'' by Gnags, ''8000 Aarhus C'' by
Flemming Jørgensen Flemming "Bamse" Duun Jørgensen (7 February 19471 January 2011) was a Danish pop singer and actor, best known as lead singer of the band Bamses Venner (''Teddy (Bear)'s Friends''). During the recent years he also released some solo albums, the ...
, ''Pigen ud af Aarhus'' by
Tina Dickow Tina Dico (born Tina Dickow Danielsen on 14 October 1977) is a Danish singer-songwriter. She founded her own record label and releases her music independently, enjoying large success with her albums in her home country as well as critical acclai ...
and ''Slingrer ned ad Vestergade'' by Gnags. In 1919, the number ''Sangen til Aarhus'' (Song to Aarhus) had become a popular hit for a time, but the oldest and perhaps best known "national anthem" for the city is the classical ''Aarhus Tappenstreg'' from 1872 by Carl Christian Møller which is occasionally played at official events or at performances by local marching bands and orchestras.


Museums

Aarhus has a range of museums, including two of the largest in the country, measured by the number of paying guests, ''
Den Gamle By Den Gamle By, or The Old Town in English, is an open-air town museum located in the Aarhus Botanical Gardens, in central Aarhus, Denmark. In 1914, the museum opened as the world's first open-air museum of its kind, concentrating on town culture ...
'' and ''
ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum The ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum is an art museum in Aarhus, Denmark. The museum was established in 1859 and is the oldest public art museum in Denmark outside Copenhagen. On 7 April 2004, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum opened with exhibitions in a brand new ...
''. ''Den Gamle By'' (The Old Town), officially ''Danmarks Købstadmuseum'' (Denmark's Market Town Museum), presents Danish townscapes from the 16th century to the 1970s with individual areas focused on different time periods. 75 historic buildings collected from different parts of the country have been brought here to create a small town in its own right. ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, the city's main art museum, is one of the largest art museums in Scandinavia with a collection covering Danish art from the 18th century to the present day as well as paintings, installations and sculptures representing international
art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defi ...
s and artists from all over the world. The iconic glass structure on the roof, ''Your Rainbow Panorama'', was designed by
Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson ( is, Ólafur Elíasson; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's ...
and features a promenade offering a colourful panorama of the city. The
Moesgård Museum Moesgaard Museum (MOMU) is a Danish regional museum dedicated to archaeology and ethnography. It is located in Beder, a suburb of Aarhus, Denmark. MOMU cooperates with the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, Medieval and Renaissance Archaeology ...
specialises in
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
and ethnography in collaboration with Aarhus University with exhibits on Denmark's
prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...
, including weapon sacrifices from
Illerup Ådal Illerup Ådal (English: ''Illerup River-valley'') is a river valley and archeological site located near Skanderborg in East Jutland, Denmark. Archaeological discoveries According to Forte, Oram, and Pedersen, "The Illerup Ådal site is one of ...
and the
Grauballe Man The Grauballe Man is a bog body that was uncovered in 1952 from a peat bog near the village of Grauballe in Jutland, Denmark. The body is that of a man dating from the late 3rd century BC, during the early Germanic Iron Age. Based on the evide ...
.
Kvindemuseet KØN - Gender Museum Denmark, formerly Kvindemuseet (Women's Museum), is a history museum in Aarhus, Denmark focused on the cultural history of gender and sexuality in Denmark. KØN was originally founded in 1982 as a women's history museum, an ...
, the Women's Museum, from 1984 contains collections of the lives and works of women in Danish cultural history. The Occupation Museum (''Besættelsesmuseum'') presents exhibits illustrating the
German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
of the city 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 opposi ...
; the University Park on the campus of Aarhus University includes the
Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
with 5,000 species of animals, many in their natural surroundings; and the Steno Museum is a museum of the history of science and
medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
with a planetarium. Kunsthal Aarhus (Aarhus Art Hall) hosts exhibitions of contemporary art including painting, sculpture, photography, performance art, film and video. Strictly speaking it is not a museum but an
arts centre An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues fo ...
, and one of the oldest in Europe, built and founded in 1917.


Libraries and community centres

Public libraries in Denmark are also cultural and community centres. They play an active role in cultural life and host many events, exhibitions, discussion groups, workshops, educational courses and facilitate everyday cultural activities for and by the citizens. In June 2015, the large central library and cultural centre of Dokk1 opened at the harbour front. Dokk1 also includes civil administrations and services, commercial office rentals and a large underground robotic car park and aims to be a landmark for the city and a public meeting place. The building of Dokk1 and the associated squares and streetscape is also collectively known as Urban Mediaspace Aarhus and it is the largest construction project Aarhus municipality has yet undertaken. Apart from this large main library, some neighbourhoods in Aarhus have a local library engaged in similar cultural and educational activities, but on a more local scale. The
State Library A national library is established by the government of a nation to serve as the pre-eminent repository of information for that country. Unlike public libraries, they rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuab ...
(''Statsbiblioteket'') at the university campus has status of a
national library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...
. The city is a member of the ICORN organisation (
International Cities of Refuge Network The International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) is an independent organisation of cities and regions which offers shelter to writers, journalists and artists at risk of persecution, with the goal of advancing freedom of expression. History It ...
) in an effort to provide a safe haven to authors and writers persecuted in their countries of origin. There are several cultural and community centres throughout the city. This includes Folkestedet in the central Åparken, facilitating events for and by non-commercial associations, organisations and clubs, and activities for the elderly, the nearby Godsbanen at the railway yard, with workshops, events and exhibitions, and Globus1 in Brabrand facilitating sports and various cultural activities.


Performing arts

The city enjoys strong musical traditions, both classical and alternative, underground and popular, with educational and performance institutions such as the concert halls of
Musikhuset ''Musikhuset Aarhus'' (Aarhus Concert Hall) is a large concert hall complex in Aarhus, Denmark. Located in the city centre, Musikhuset is Aarhus' main venue for music and with seating for more than 3,600 people in total, it is the largest concert ...
, the opera of
Den Jyske Opera Den Jyske Opera, also known as the Danish National Opera, is based in Aarhus, Denmark. Established in 1947, it's Denmark's largest touring opera company, and the second only to the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen. Description Founded in Aarhus ...
, Aarhus Symfoniorkester (Aarhus Symphony Orchestra) and Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium (Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg). Musikhuset is the largest concert hall in Scandinavia, with seating for more than 3,600 people. Other major music venues include VoxHall, rebuilt in 1999, and the associated venue of Atlas, Train nightclub at the harbourfront, and Godsbanen, a former rail freight station. The acting scene in Aarhus is diverse, with many groups and venues engaged in a broad span of genres, from animation theatre and
children's theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
to
classical theatre Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...
and
improvisational theatre Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...
. Aarhus Teater is the oldest and largest venue with mostly professional classical acting performances. Svalegangen, the second largest theatre, is more experimental with its performances and other notable groups and venues includes EntréScenen, Katapult, Gruppe 38, Helsingør Teater, Det Andet Teater and Teater Refleksion as well as dance venues like Bora Bora. The cultural center of Godsbanen includes several scenes and stages and the Concert Halls of ''Musikhuset'' also stage theatrical plays regularly and is home to the children's theatre Filuren and a comedy club. The city hosts a biannual international theatre festival, International Living Theatre (ILT), with the next event being scheduled for 2021. Since 2010 the music production centre of PROMUS (''Produktionscentret for Rytmisk Musik'') has supported the rock scene in the city along with the publicly funded ROSA (''Dansk Rock Samråd''), which promotes Danish rock music in general. Aarhus is known for its musical history. Fuelled by a relatively young population
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
clubs sprang up in the 1950s which became a tour stop for many iconic American Jazz musicians. By the 1960s, the music scene diversified into rock and other genres and in the 1970s and 1980s, Aarhus became a centre for rock music, fostering iconic bands such as
Kliché Kliché was a Danish rock band from Aarhus, formed by Anders Brill, Lars H.U.G., Jens Valo, and Johannes Voss (Johannes Møller). The group's original members met and formed the band in 1977 while studying at the Aarhus Art Academy. Nils Torp, ...
, TV-2 and Gnags and artists such as
Thomas Helmig Thomas Helmig (born 15 October 1964) is a Danish rock singer and musician, and has been one of the most popular singers in Denmark since the middle of the 1980s. Biography Thomas Helmig was born and grew up in Egå, a suburb of Aarhus, where his ...
and
Anne Linnet Anne Linnet (born 30 July 1953 in Århus, Denmark) is a Danish singer, musician composer، and writer. She has released a number of solo albums and has also been a member of several bands, such as Shit & Chanel, Anne Linnet Band, and Marquis d ...
. Acclaimed bands since the 1970s include
Under Byen were a Danish band founded in 1995 mainly by Katrine Stochholm and Henriette Sennenvaldt. (Danish for "Below the City") were known for producing their own unorthodox interpretation of rock. They rarely use guitars. Instead their soundscape i ...
, Michael Learns to Rock, Nephew, Carpark North, Spleen United,
VETO A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...
,
Hatesphere Hatesphere is a Danish thrash metal band from Aarhus, formed in 2000 by guitarist Peter "Pepe" Hansen. As of 2016, the band consists of vocalist Esben "Esse" Elnegaard Kjaer Hansen, guitarists Peter "Pepe" Lyse Hansen, and Kasper Kirkegaard, ba ...
and Illdisposed in addition to individual performers 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 second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
and
Tina Dico Tina Dico (born Tina Dickow Danielsen on 14 October 1977) is a Danish singer-songwriter. She founded her own record label and releases her music independently, enjoying large success with her albums in her home country as well as critical acclai ...
.


Events and festivals

Aarhus hosts many annual or recurring festivals, concerts and events, with the festival of Aarhus Festuge as the most popular and wide-ranging, along with large sports events. Aarhus Festuge is the largest multicultural festival in Scandinavia, always based on a special theme and takes place every year for ten days between late August and early September, transforming the inner city with festive activities and decorations of all kinds. There are numerous music festivals; the eight-day
Aarhus Jazz Festival Aarhus Jazz Festival (formerly Aarhus International Jazz Festival) is an eight-day jazz festival in Aarhus, Denmark. It is held every year in July, August or September. The festival performs at the Aarhus Concert Hall, as well as many different ...
features jazz in many venues across the city. It was founded in 1988 and usually takes place in July every year, occasionally August or September. There are several annually recurring music festivals for contemporary popular music in Aarhus. NorthSide Festival presents well-known bands every year in mid-June on large outdoor scenes. It is a relatively new event, founded in 2010, but grew from a one-day event to a three-day festival in its first three years, now with 35,000 paying guests in 2015.
Spot festival Spot or SPOT may refer to: Places * Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States * The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia * South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse People * Spot (pro ...
is aiming to showcase up-and-coming Danish and Scandinavian talents at selected venues of the inner city. The outdoor
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 ...
music festival takes place every year in many cities across Denmark, including Aarhus. Danmarks grimmeste festival (lit. Denmark's ugliest Festival) is a small summer music festival held in Skjoldhøjkilen, Brabrand. Aarhus also hosts recurring events dedicated to specific art genres. International Living Theatre (ILT) is a bi-annual festival, established in 2009, with performing arts and stage art on a broad scale. The festival has a vision of showing the best plays and stage art experiences of the world, while at the same time attracting thespians and stage art interested people from both Aarhus and Europe at large. LiteratureXchange is a new annual festival from 2018, focused on literature from around the world as well as regional talents. The city actively promotes its gay and lesbian community and celebrates the annual Aarhus Pride gay pride festival while Aarhus Festuge usually includes exhibits, concerts and events designed for the LGBT communities. Notable events of a local scope include the
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
boat-race, held in the University Park since 1991, which has become a local spectator event attracting some 20,000 people. The boat race pits costumed teams from the university departments against each other in inflatable boats in a challenge to win the ''Gyldne Bækken'' (Golden Chamber Pot) trophy. The annual lighting of the Christmas lights on the
Salling Salling is a peninsula located in the north-west of the larger Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The largest city in Salling is Skive, and smaller towns and villages includes Jebjerg, Roslev and Glyngøre. The Sallingsund Bridge connects the penins ...
department store in Søndergade has also become an attraction in recent times, packing the pedestrianised city centre with thousands of revellers. Significant dates such as
Saint Lucy's Day Saint Lucy's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Lucy, is a Christian feast day observed on 13 December. The observance commemorates Lucia of Syracuse, an early-fourth-century virgin martyr under the Diocletianic Persecution, who according to ...
, ''Sankt Hans'' (
Saint John's Eve Saint John's Eve, starting at sunset on 23 June, is the eve of celebration before the Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist. The Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:26–37, 56–57) states that John was born six months before Jesus; therefore, the feast of J ...
) and
Fastelavn ''Fastelavn'' is a Carnival tradition in the Northern European, and historically Lutheran, nations of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Fastelavn is also traditionally celebrated in Greenland. The related word Fastelovend is ...
are traditionally celebrated with numerous events across the city.


Parks, nature, and recreation

The beech forests of
Riis Skov Riis Skov (''Riis' Forest'' or ''The Forest of Riis'') is a forest and park in Århus, Denmark. It is located south of the district of Risskov, along the Bay of Aarhus. History This small patch of forest, was formally presented to Aarhus in 1395, ...
and Marselisborg occupy the hills along the coast to the north and south, and apart from the city centre, sandy beaches form the coastline of the entire municipality. There are two public sea baths, the northern '' Den Permanente'' below Riis Skov and close to the harbour area, and the southern Ballehage Beach in the Marselisborg Forests. As in most of Denmark, there are no private beaches in the municipality, but access to ''Den Permanente'' requires a membership, except in the summer. The relatively mild, temperate marine climate, allows for outdoor recreation year round, including walking, hiking, cycling, and outdoor team sports. Mountain biking is usually restricted to marked routes. Watersports like sailing, kayaking, motor boating, etc. are also popular, and since the bay rarely freezes up in winter, they can also be practised most of the year. Recreational and transportational pathways for pedestrians and cyclists, radiate from the city centre to the countryside, providing safety from motorised vehicles and a more tranquil experience. This includes the 19 kilometre long pathway of ''Brabrandstien'', encircling the
Brabrand Lake Brabrand Lake ( da, Brabrand-søen or Brabrand Sø) is a lake in the district of Brabrand (Gellerup), west of Aarhus city, Denmark. The Aarhus River passes through Brabrand Lake and it is possible to canoe all the way to the inner city from he ...
. The long-range hiking route Aarhus-
Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).Botanical Gardens A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
(''Botanisk Have'') from 1875 are a popular destination, as they include The Old Town open-air museum and host a number of events throughout the year. Originally used to cultivate fruit trees and other useful plants for the local citizens, there are now a significant collection of trees and bushes from different habitats and regions of the world, including a section devoted to native Danish plants. Recently renovated tropical and subtropical greenhouses, exhibit exotic plants from throughout the world. Also in the city centre is the undulating University Park, recognised for its unique landscaped design with large old oak trees. The Memorial Park (''Mindeparken'') at the coast below Marselisborg Palace, offers a panoramic view across the
Bay of Aarhus The Bay of Aarhus, or Aarhus Bay, is a Danish waterway by Aarhus in eastern Jutland. The Bay of Aarhus is bounded by Kalø Vig in the north, Sletterhage and Helgenæs in the east, Samsø and Tunø to the south and the east Jutland coast to the w ...
and is popular with locals for outings, picnics or events. Other notable parks include the small central
City Hall Park City Hall Park is a public park surrounding New York City Hall in the Civic Center of Manhattan. It was the town commons of the nascent city of New York. History 17th century David Provoost was an officer in the Dutch West India Compan ...
(''Rådhusparken'') and
Marienlyst Park Marienlyst Park (Danish language, Danish: Marienlystparken) is a public park in Hasle, Aarhus, Hasle in the Aarhus V district, north-west Aarhus, Denmark. The park is situated west of the ''Herredsvang'' neighborhood along the street ''Fjældevæ ...
(''Marienlystparken''). Marienlyst Park is a relatively new park from 1988, situated in Hasle out of the inner city and is less crowded, but it is the largest park in Aarhus, including woodlands, large open grasslands and soccer fields. Marselisborg Forests and Riis Skov, has a long history of recreational activities of all kinds, including several restaurants, hotels and opportunities for green exercise. There are marked routes here for jogging, running and mountain biking and large events are hosted regularly. This includes running events,
cycle racing Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in so ...
and orienteering, the annual Classic Race Aarhus with historic racing cars, all attracting thousands of people. Marselisborg Deer Park (''Marselisborg Dyrehave'') in Marselisborg Forests, comprises of fenced woodland pastures with free-roaming sika and
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 ...
. Below the
Moesgård Museum Moesgaard Museum (MOMU) is a Danish regional museum dedicated to archaeology and ethnography. It is located in Beder, a suburb of Aarhus, Denmark. MOMU cooperates with the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, Medieval and Renaissance Archaeology ...
in the southern parts of the Marselisborg Forests, is a large historical landscape of pastures and woodlands, presenting different eras of Denmark's prehistory. Sections of the forest comprise trees and vegetation representing specific climatic epochs from the last Ice Age to the present. Dotted across the landscape are reconstructed Stone Age and Bronze Age graves, buildings from the Iron Age, Viking Age and medieval times, with grazing goats, sheep and horses in between.


Food, drink, and nightlife

Aarhus has a large variety of restaurants and eateries offering food from cultures all over the world, especially Mediterranean and Asian, but also international gourmet cuisine, traditional Danish food and New Nordic Cuisine. Among the oldest restaurants are ''Rådhuscafeen'' (lit. The City Hall Café), opened in 1924, serving a menu of traditional Danish meals, and ''Peter Gift'' from 1906, a tavern with a broad beer selection and a menu of smørrebrød and other Danish dishes. In Aarhus, New Nordic can be experienced at ''Kähler Villa Dining'', ''Hærværk'' and ''Domestic'', but local produce can be had at many places, especially at the twice-weekly food markets in Frederiksbjerg. Aarhus and
Central Denmark Region The Central Denmark Region ( da, Region Midtjylland), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish mu ...
was selected as
European Region of Gastronomy The European Region of Gastronomy is a title given every year to one or more cities or regions in Europe. The title is awarded by the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism (IGCAT). Kuopio, a city in eastern Finland, is the ...
in 2017. The city (and municipality) is a member of the
Délice Network Délice is a communal section in the Arcahaie commune in the Arcahaie Arrondissement, in the Ouest Ouest (French for west) may refer to: *Ouest (department), Haiti *Ouest Department (Ivory Coast), defunct administrative subdivision of Ivory Coa ...
, an international non-profit organization nurturing and facilitating knowledge exchange in
gastronomy Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...
. Appraised high-end restaurants serving international gourmet cuisine include Frederikshøj, Substans, Gastromé, Det Glade Vanvid, Nordisk Spisehus, Restaurant Varna, Restaurant ET, Gäst, Brasserie Belli, Møf and Pondus, all considered among the best places to eat in Denmark. Restaurants in Aarhus were the first in provincial Denmark to receive Michelin stars since 2015, when Michelin inspectors ventured outside Copenhagen for the first time. Vendors of street food are numerous throughout the centre, often selling from small trailers on permanent locations formally known as '' Pølsevogne'' (lit. sausage wagons), traditionally serving a Danish variety of
hot dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...
s, sausages and other fast food. There are increasingly more outlets inspired by other cultural flavours such as
sushi is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice," also ...
, kebab and currywurst. The city centre is packed with cafés, especially along the river and 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 bistro ...
. Some of them also include an evening restaurant, such as ''Café Casablanca'', ''Café Carlton'', ''Café Cross'' and ''Gyngen''. Aarhus Street Food and Aarhus Central Food Market are two indoor food courts from 2016 in the city centre, comprising a variety of street food restaurants, cafés and bars. Aarhus has a robust and diverse nightlife. The action tends to concentrate in the inner city, with the pedestrianised riverside, Frederiksgade, the Latin Quarter, and Jægergårdsgade on Frederiksbjerg as the most active centres at night, but things are stirring elsewhere around the city too. The nightlife scene offers everything from small joints with cheap alcohol and a homely atmosphere to fashionable nightclubs serving champagne and cocktails or small and large music venues with bars, dance floors and lounges. A short selection of well-established places where you can have a drink and socialise, include the fashionable lounge and night club of ''Kupé'' at the harbourfront, the relaxed ''Ris Ras Filliongongong'' offering waterpipes and an award-winning beer selection, ''Fatter Eskild'' with a broad selection of Danish bands playing mostly blues and rock, the
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
and book café of ''Løve's'' in Nørregade, ''Sherlock Holmes'', a British-style
pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
with live music and the
brew pub Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...
of ''Sct. Clemens'' with
A Hereford Beefstouw A Hereford Beefstouw is a Danish steakhouse restaurant chain. It was founded in 1971, when the company opened its first restaurant in Herning, Denmark. Since then it has expanded to 12 restaurants in Denmark, along with restaurants in Adelaide, Au ...
restaurant across the cathedral. A few nightlife spots are aimed at gays and lesbians specifically, including ''Gbar'' (
nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...
) and ''Café Sappho''. The ''Århus Set'' (
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
: Århus Sæt) is a set of drinks often ordered together, named for the city and consisting of two beverages, one Ceres Top beer and one shot Arnbitter, both originally from Aarhus. Ordering "a set" suffices in most bars and pubs. Aarhus Bryghus is a local
craft brewery Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...
with a sizeable production. The brewery is located in the southern district of Viby and a large variety of their craft brews are available there, in most larger well-assorted stores in the city, and in some bars and restaurants as well. They also export.


Local dialect

The Aarhus dialect, commonly called ''Aarhusiansk'' (Aarhusian in English), is a
Jutlandic dialect Jutlandic, or Jutish (Danish: ''jysk''; ), is the western variety of Danish, spoken on the peninsula of Jutland in Denmark. Generally, Jutlandic can be divided into two different dialects: general or Northern Jutlandic ( ; further divided into ...
in the Mid-Eastern Jutland dialect area, traditionally spoken in and around Aarhus. Aarhusian, as with most local dialects in Denmark, has diminished in use through the 20th century and most Danes today speak some version of Standard Danish with slight regional features. Aarhusian, however, still has a strong presence in older segments of the population and in areas with high numbers of immigrants, surprisingly. Some examples of common, traditional and unique Aarhusian words are: ''træls'' (tiresome), ''noller'' (silly or dumb) and ''dælme'' ( Excl. damn me). The dialect is notable for single-syllable words ending in "d" being pronounced with stød while the same letter in multiple-syllable words is pronounced as "j", i.e.,
Odder Odder is a town in Jutland, Denmark. The town is the seat of Odder municipality, and is the biggest town in the municipality. It is located 20 km south of Aarhus and 16 km south-east of Skanderborg. Odder is part of Business Region Aarhus, and ...
is pronounced "Ojjer". Like other dialects in East Jutland, it has two
grammatical gender In linguistics, grammatical gender system is a specific form of noun class system, where nouns are assigned with gender categories that are often not related to their real-world qualities. In languages with grammatical gender, most or all noun ...
s, similar to Standard Danish, but different from West Jutlandic dialects, which have only one. In 2009, the University of Aarhus compiled a list of contemporary public figures who best exemplify the dialect, including
Jacob Haugaard Daniel Jacob Haugaard (born 12 May 1952) is a Danish-Faroese comedian, actor, musician, composer, writer, TV host and former representative in the Danish Parliament. Activities Jacob Haugaard has been a well-known performer in Denmark for man ...
,
Thomas Helmig Thomas Helmig (born 15 October 1964) is a Danish rock singer and musician, and has been one of the most popular singers in Denmark since the middle of the 1980s. Biography Thomas Helmig was born and grew up in Egå, a suburb of Aarhus, where his ...
,
Steffen Brandt Steffen Brandt (born 14 June 1953 in Åbyhøj) is a Danish singer-songwriter and composer. Since 1981 he has been lead singer of rock group TV-2, as he also wrote both text and music to all the group's songs. In 2003 he received the Modersmål ...
,
Stig Tøfting Stig Tøfting (born 14 August 1969), commonly known as Tøffe, is a former Danish professional footballer and assistant coach, who most recently was the assistant of Erik Rasmussen at AGF. Tøfting was a hard-hitting combative defensive midfi ...
,
Flemming Jørgensen Flemming "Bamse" Duun Jørgensen (7 February 19471 January 2011) was a Danish pop singer and actor, best known as lead singer of the band Bamses Venner (''Teddy (Bear)'s Friends''). During the recent years he also released some solo albums, the ...
,
Tina Dickow Tina Dico (born Tina Dickow Danielsen on 14 October 1977) is a Danish singer-songwriter. She founded her own record label and releases her music independently, enjoying large success with her albums in her home country as well as critical acclai ...
and
Camilla Martin Camilla Martin Nygaard (née Martin; born 23 March 1974) is a retired badminton player from Denmark. She and Lene Køppen, who played two decades earlier, are the only Danish women to have won both the All England and World Championships singl ...
. In popular culture, the dialect features prominently in Niels Malmros's movie ''Aarhus by Night'' and in 90s comedy sketches by Jacob Haugaard and
Finn Nørbygaard Finn Nørbygaard (born 8 March 1952, Esbjerg) is a Danish actor, entertainer, musician and psychotherapist. Nørbygaard was originally educated as a school teacher but had his breakthrough in a TV role as a bus conductor with Jacob Haugaard wherei ...
.


Sports

Aarhus has three major men's professional sports teams: the Superliga team
Aarhus Gymnastikforening Aarhus Gymnastikforening (; commonly known as AGF ), is a professional sports club based in Aarhus, Jutland, Denmark. Founded in 1880, it is one of the oldest clubs in the country and gymnastics and fencing are featured as its main sports. Howeve ...
(AGF),
Danish Handball League The Danish Men's Handball League, formerly known as Herrehåndboldligaen is the men's top Danish professional handball league. The winners of the Danish Men's Handball League are recognised as the Danish men's handball champions. The current cha ...
's
Aarhus GF Håndbold 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 northwes ...
, and
Danish Basketball League The Basketligaen ( en, The Basketball League) is the highest professional basketball league in Denmark. The original men's first division was founded in 1957 and the current league was founded in 1998. All-time record holder in league titles is B ...
's
Bakken Bears Bakken Bears is a Danish professional basketball club based in Aarhus. The club plays in the Basketligaen, the top tier basketball league in Denmark. Founded in 1953, the club has won the Basketligaen 20 times and holds the record for the most ...
. Notable or historic clubs include
Aarhus 1900 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 ...
, Aarhus Fremad, Idrætsklubben Skovbakken and Aarhus Sejlklub.
Aarhus Idrætspark Aarhus Sports Park ( da, Aarhus Idrætspark) is a sports complex located in Aarhus, Denmark. The complex is named "Ceres Park & Arena" for sponsorship reasons, and contains various sports venues including the Aarhus Stadion and Ceres Arena. The com ...
has hosted matches in the premiere Danish soccer league since it was formed in 1920 and matches for the national men's soccer team in 2006 and 2007. The five sailing clubs routinely win national and international titles in a range of disciplines and the future national watersports stadium will be located on the
Aarhus Docklands Aarhus Docklands (Danish: Aarhus Ø) is a new neighbourhood and construction site in Aarhus, Denmark. Construction of Aarhus Docklands began in 2008 and most buildings and constructions have been finished as of 2018. The project will convert the ...
in the city centre. The Bakken Bears have most recently won the Danish basketball championships in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. The municipality actively supports sports organisations in and around the city, providing public organisations that aim to attract major sporting events and strengthen professional sports. The
National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark The National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Idrætsforbund, ''DIF'') is the National Olympic Committee representing Denmark. List of presidents The following is a list of presidents since its creation in 190 ...
counts some 380 sports organisations within the municipality and about one third of the population are members of one. Soccer is by far the most popular sport followed by
Gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
, Handball and
Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...
. In recent decades, many free and public sports facilities have sprung up across the city, such as street football, basketball,
climbing wall A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used i ...
s, skateboarding and beach volley. Several natural sites also offer green exercise, with exercise equipment installed along the paths and tracks reserved for mountain biking. The newly reconstructed area of Skjoldhøjkilen is a prime example. Aarhus has hosted many sporting events including the
2010 European Women's Handball Championship The 2010 European Women's Handball Championship was held in Denmark and Norway from 7–19 December. It was the first European Championship hosted by two countries. Norway won their overall 5th gold medal, when they defeated first time finalist ...
, the
2014 European Men's Handball Championship The 2014 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the 11th edition of the tournament and held in Denmark from 12–26 January. Hungary/Croatia (jointly) were the other applicants for the championship. Denmark was awarded the championship on ...
, the 2013 Men's European Volleyball Championships, the 2005
European Table Tennis Championships The European Table Tennis Championships is an international table tennis competition for the national teams of the member associations of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU). First held in 1958, the ETTU organised the European Championships ever ...
, the
Denmark Open The Denmark Open, or formerly known as Danish Open, is an annual badminton tournament held in Denmark and organized by Badminton Denmark. The Denmark Open was part of the BWF Super Series Premier from 2011 to 2017. BWF categorised it as one o ...
in
badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...
, the UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup, the 2006
World Orienteering Championships The World Orienteering Championships (or WOC for short) is an annual orienteering event organized by the International Orienteering Federation. The first World Championships was held in Fiskars, Finland in 1966. They were held biennially up to 2 ...
, the
2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 39th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Aarhus, Denmark, from October 13 to October 21, 2006. The International Gymnastics Federation, which celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2006, introduced a new Code of Points at the ...
and the
GF World Cup The GF World Cup is an annual women's friendly handball tournament organised by the Danish Handball Federation and sponsored by insurance company GF Forsikring. Eight invited teams compete at the event, including permanent representatives Swede ...
(women's handball). On average, Aarhus is hosting one or two international sailing competitions every year. In 2008, the city hosted the
ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships The ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships was first held in Sweden in 1971 and it has been held every year since. It is one of the key events of the federation to help promote top-level youth participation. Editions Equipment Gender Guide ...
and in 2018 it was host to the
ISAF Sailing World Championships The Sailing World Championships (formerly ISAF Sailing World Championships) are World championships in sailing for the 10 events contested at the Summer Olympics, organized by World Sailing (formerly ISAF) and held every four years since 2003. In ...
, the world championship for the 12 Olympic sailing disciplines. Aarhus is an important qualifier for the 2020 Olympics.


Education

Aarhus is the principal centre for education in the Jutland region. It draws students from a large area, especially from the western and southern parts of the peninsula. The relatively large influx of young people and students creates a natural base for cultural activities. Aarhus has the greatest concentration of students in Denmark, fully 12% of citizens attending short, medium or long courses of study. In addition to around 25 institutions of higher education, several research forums have evolved to assist in the transfer of expertise from education to business. The city is home to more than 52,000 students. Since 2012, Aarhus University (AU) has been the largest university in Denmark by number of students enrolled. It is
ranked A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...
among the top 100 universities in the world by several of the most influential and respected rankings. The university has approximately 41,500
Bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...
and
Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
students enrolled as well as about 1,500 PhD students. It is possible to engage in higher academic studies in many areas, from the traditional spheres of natural science,
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
and theology to more vocational academic areas like engineering and dentistry.
Aarhus Tech AARHUS TECH (until 2011 Aarhus Technical School) is a technical school in Aarhus, which provides secondary education and vocational education. The college was founded as "Prinds Frederik Ferdinands Tegne- og Søndagsskole" in 1828. Since then, the ...
is one of the largest technical colleges in Denmark, teaching undergraduate study programmes in English, including
vocational education and training Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...
(VET), continuing vocational training (CVT), and
human resource development Training and development involve improving the effectiveness of organizations and the individuals and teams within them. Training may be viewed as related to immediate changes in organizational effectiveness via organized instruction, while deve ...
. Business Academy Aarhus is among the largest business academies in Denmark and offers undergraduate and some academic degrees, in IT, business and technical fields. The academic level technical aspects are covered in a collaboration with Aarhus Tech, Aarhus School of Marine and Technical Engineering and Aarhus Educational Centre for Agriculture. The
Danish School of Media and Journalism Danish School of Media and Journalism ( da, Danmarks Medie- og Journalisthøjskole), or DMJX for short, is a Danish organization for higher education in, and a knowledge centre of, media and journalism. DMJX has two campuses; one in Copenhagen and ...
(DMJX) is the oldest and largest of the colleges, offering journalism courses since 1946, with approximately 1,700 students as of 2014. DMJX has been an independent institution since 1974, conducting research and teaching at undergraduate level, and in 2004, master's courses in journalism was established in a collaboration with Aarhus University. The latter is offered through the Centre for University studies in Journalism, granting degrees through the university. The
Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus The Royal Academy of Music (Danish: ''Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium'') in Aarhus and Aalborg, Denmark, is a conservatoire and state institution under the auspices of the Danish Ministry of Culture, charged with responsibility for the further edu ...
(''Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium'') is a
conservatoire A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...
, established under the auspices of the
Danish Ministry of Culture The Minister for Culture of Denmark ( da, Kulturminister) is the Danish political minister office responsible for culture, head of the Ministry of Culture of Denmark. The political responsibility for culture, as well as church and education, was ...
in 1927. In 2010, it merged administratively with the Royal Academy of Music in Aalborg, which was founded in 1930. Under the patronage of His Royal Highness
Crown Prince Frederik Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, (Frederik André Henrik Christian; born 26 May 1968) is the heir apparent to the Danish throne. He is the elder son of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik. Early life Crown Prince Frede ...
, it offers graduate level studies in areas such as music teaching, and solo and professional musicianship.
VIA University College VIA University College is a university college ( da, professionshøjskole) organisation in Central Denmark Region, Denmark, established in January 2008. It is present in the region with a total of eight campuses. History The university colleges ...
was established in January 2008 and is one of eight new regional organisations offering
bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...
courses of all kinds, throughout the
Central Denmark Region The Central Denmark Region ( da, Region Midtjylland), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish mu ...
. It offers over 50 higher educations, taught in Danish or sometimes in English, with vocational education and it participates in various research and development projects. Aarhus School of Architecture (''Arkitektskolen Aarhus'') was founded in 1965. Along with the
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dan ...
of Copenhagen, it is responsible for the education of architects in Denmark. With an enrolment of approximately 900 students, it teaches in five main departments: architecture and aesthetics, urban and landscape, architectonic heritage, design and architectural design. Also of note is KaosPilots and several other higher education centres.


Transport

Aarhus has two ring roads; Ring 1, roughly encircling the central district of Aarhus C, and the outlying
Ring 2 is a 1999 Japanese supernatural horror film, directed by Hideo Nakata and serves as a sequel to '' Ring''. ''Ring'' was originally a novel written by Koji Suzuki; its sequel, ''Rasen'' (a.k.a. ''Spiral''), was also adapted into a film as the ...
. Six major intercity motorways radiate from the city centre, connecting with nearby cities
Grenå Grenaa (or Grenå) is a Danish town and seaport on the east coast of the Jutlandic peninsula. Tourism, education and commerce are important sectors in the economy of Grenaa. It is the only larger town on Djursland. Grenaa is the municipal seat, a ...
,
Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Viborg,
Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).Skanderborg Skanderborg is a town in Skanderborg municipality, Denmark. It is situated on the north and north eastern brinks of Skanderborg Lake and there are several smaller ponds and bodies of water within the city itself, like Lillesø, Sortesø, Døj S ...
and
Odder Odder is a town in Jutland, Denmark. The town is the seat of Odder municipality, and is the biggest town in the municipality. It is located 20 km south of Aarhus and 16 km south-east of Skanderborg. Odder is part of Business Region Aarhus, and ...
. In the inner city, motorised traffic is highly regulated, larger parts are pedestrianised and in the 2000s, a system of roads prioritised for cyclists have been implemented, connecting to suburban areas. The main railway station in Aarhus is Aarhus Central Station located in the city centre.
DSB DSB may refer to: Science, technology and devices * DsbA, a bacterial member of the Dsb (disulfide bond) family of enzymes * Double strand break, a break in both DNA strands, part of DNA repair * in telecommunications, double-sideband transmission ...
has connections to destinations throughout Denmark and also services to Flensburg and
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
in Germany. Aarhus Letbane is a local electric light rail or
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
system that opened in December 2017, connecting the central station and the inner city with the University Hospital in Skejby and also replaced local railway services to
Grenaa Grenaa (or Grenå) is a Danish town and seaport on the east coast of the Jutlandic peninsula. Tourism, education and commerce are important sectors in the economy of Grenaa. It is the only larger town on Djursland. Grenaa is the municipal seat, a ...
and
Odder Odder is a town in Jutland, Denmark. The town is the seat of Odder municipality, and is the biggest town in the municipality. It is located 20 km south of Aarhus and 16 km south-east of Skanderborg. Odder is part of Business Region Aarhus, and ...
in late 2018. It is the first electric light rail system in Denmark and more routes are planned to open in coming years. Tickets for the light rail are also available in local yellow bus lines. Most city bus lines go through the inner city and pass through either Park Allé or Banegårdspladsen, or both, right at the central station. Regional and Inter-city buses terminate at Aarhus Bus Terminal, just east of the central station. FlixBus provides long-distance buses that travel to other cities in Denmark and Europe. Ferries administered by Danish ferry company
Mols-Linien (previously called ) is a Danish company that operates ferry services between Jutland (Jylland) and the island of Zealand (Sjælland). In March 2017, the routes in the Kattegat were renamed to Molslinjen, while the Bornholms services would co ...
transports passengers and motorvehicles between Aarhus and
Sjællands Odde Sjællands Odde is a peninsula on the northwest coast of Zealand between the Kattegat and Sejerø Bay. From the outermost point of the peninsula, Gniben, a reef juts some out into the Kattegat. Geography In the Stone Age Sjællands Odde was ...
on
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 ...
. The ferries comprises ''
HSC KatExpress 1 ''Express 1'' is a high-speed catamaran operated by Molslinjen between Rønne and Ystad. Along with its sister ship, the ''Express 2'', they are the world's largest diesel-powered catamarans. History ''Express 1'' was built in 2009 at the Inc ...
'' and ''
HSC KatExpress 2 ''Express 2'' is a high speed catamaran operated by Molslinjen between 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 loca ...
'', the world's largest diesel-powered catamarans, and ''
HSC Max Mols HSC ''Max Mols'' is a high speed catamaran launched on 1 December 1997 at the Incat shipyard in Tasmania. She has spent the majority of her career serving the Aarhus- Odden route with Mols Linien. She has frequently been chartered to other operat ...
''.
Aarhus Airport Aarhus Airport is a civilian airport located northeast of Aarhus, Denmark. History The airfield was established in 1943 by German occupying forces in World War II and was later used as a Cold War military base for the Danish and other alli ...
is located on Djursland, north-east of Aarhus near Tirstrup, and provides links to both Copenhagen and international destinations. The larger
Billund Airport Billund Airport ( da, Billund Lufthavn) is an airport in Denmark. Located northeast of Billund, it serves as one of the country's busiest air cargo centres, as well as a charter airline destination. Most major European airports are connected ...
is situated south-west of Aarhus. There has been much discussion about constructing a new airport closer to the city for many years, but so far no plans have been realised. In August 2014, the city council officially initiated a process to assert the viability of a new international airport. A small
seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...
now operates four flights daily between Aarhus harbour and Copenhagen harbour. Aarhus has a free bike sharing system, Aarhus Bycykler (Aarhus City Bikes). The bicycles are available from 1 April to 30 October at 57 stands throughout the city and can be obtained by placing a DKK 20 coin in a release slot, like caddies in a supermarket. The coin can be retrieved when the bike is returned at a random stand. Bicycles can also be hired from many shops.


Healthcare

Aarhus is home to Aarhus University Hospital, one of six Danish "Super Hospitals" officially established in 2007 when the regions reformed the Danish healthcare sector. The university hospital is the result of a series of mergers in the 2000s between the local hospitals of Skejby Sygehus, the
Municipal Hospital A Municipal hospital is a hospital under the control of a local government, as opposed to those run commercially, by some sort of charitable organisation, or by national or state governments. In many countries the different sorts of organisations ...
, the County Hospital,
Marselisborg Hospital Marselisborgcentret, formerly Marselisborg Hospital, is a rehabilitation hospital in Aarhus, situated on ''P. P. Ørums Gade'' in the borough of Marselisborg. The original hospital was established in 1913 and has been repurposed for rehabilitation, ...
and Risskov Psychiatric Hospital. It is today the largest hospital in Denmark with a combined staff of some 10,000 and 1,150 patient beds, and has been ranked the best hospital in Denmark consecutively since 2008. In 2012, construction of a new large hospital building began, known as ''Det Nye Universitetshospital'' (DNU) or The New University Hospital in English, and it is centralising and accommodating all of the former departments, ending in 2019. The new hospital is divided in four clinical centres, a service centre and one administrative unit along with twelve research centres. Private hospitals specialised in different areas from plastic surgery to fertility treatments operate in Aarhus as well. ''Ciconia Aarhus Private Hospital'' founded in 1984 is a leading Danish fertility clinic and the first of its kind in Denmark. Ciconia has provided for the birth of 6,000 children by artificial insemination and continually conducts research into the field of fertility. ''Aagaard Clinic'', established in 2004, is another private fertility and gynaecology clinic which since 2004 has undertaken fertility treatments that has resulted in 1550 births.
Aarhus Municipality Aarhus Municipality ( da, Aarhus Kommune), known as Århus Municipality ( da, Århus Kommune) until 2011, is a municipality in Central Denmark Region, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area ...
also offers a number of specialised services in the areas of nutrition, exercise, sex, smoking and drinking, activities for the elderly, health courses and lifestyle.


Media

The first daily newspaper to appear in Aarhus was ''
Århus Stiftstidende ''Århus Stiftstidende'' (colloquially ''Stiften'') is a Danish newspaper based in Aarhus, Denmark, focusing largely on local topics. History and profile First published by Niels Lund on 3 January 1794, ''Århus Stiftstidende'' is among the ol ...
'', established in 1794 as ''Aarhuus Stifts Adresse-Contoirs Tidender'', with a moderately conservative approach. Once one of Denmark's largest, it was a leading provincial newspaper for a time, but after the Second World War it increasingly faced competition from ''
Demokraten ("The Democrat") is a local newspaper in Fredrikstad, Norway. Second in its city behind , it is published three days a week. The chief editor is Tomm Pentz Pedersen. It was established in 1906 as , being affiliated with the Labour Party. Retri ...
'' (1884–1974) and ''Jyllands-Posten'', both published in Aarhus. In 1998, it merged with ''Randers Amtsavis'' and is now run by Midtjyske Medier, part of
Berlingske Media Berlingske Media (formerly Det Berlingske Officin A/S)Berlingske Media website in English
is a Dan ...
. The daily newspaper of ''
Jyllands-Posten ''Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten'' (; English: ''The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"''), commonly shortened to ''Jyllands-Posten'' or ''JP'', is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Aarhus C, Jutland, and with a weekday circula ...
'' was established in 1871 in Aarhus, and takes a generally right-wing editorial approach. With a reputation as a serious news publication, the paper has always included news from
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 ...
in particular, but somewhat less so since its promotion as a national newspaper in the 1960s. Today it is one of the three bestselling serious newspapers in Denmark, the others being ''
Berlingske ''Berlingske'', previously known as ''Berlingske Tidende'' (, ''Berling's Times''), is a Danish national daily newspaper based in Copenhagen. It is considered a newspaper of record for Denmark. First published on 3 January 1749, ''Berlingske'' ...
'' and ''
Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...
''. Jyllands-Posten publishes ''JP Aarhus'', a section dedicated to news in and around Aarhus, and hosted a free cityguide website from 2010 to 2016. The Copenhagen-based media company of ''Politiken'', also publishes several free local papers once a week in parts of Denmark and Sweden. In Aarhus, they publish a total of five local newspapers; ''Aarhus Midt'', ''Aarhus Nord'', ''Aarhus Vest'', ''Aarhus Syd'' and ''Aarhus Onsdag''. ''Aarhus Onsdag'' (Aarhus Wednesday) is financed completely by advertisements and available in both paperform and online. It was bought from ''Århus Stiftstidende'' in June 2017, but has been published for many years previous.
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 enter ...
has a large department in Aarhus with over 200 employees. It runs the DR Østjylland radio programme, provides local contributions to
DR P4 DR P4 is the regional radio channel of Denmark's national public broadcasting corporation, DR. The 10 regional stations which make up P4 originate their own local programming and also carry jointly produced nationwide content. P4's programming is ...
, and produces local regional television programmes. In 1999, TV 2 moved its Jutland headquarters from
Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Skejby in northern Aarhus. The station broadcasts regional news and current affairs television and radio programmes. Since 2012, it has run its own TV channel, TV 2 Østjylland. Aarhus has its own local TV channel TVAarhus, transmitting since 1984. After an agreement on 1 July 2014, TVAarhus can be watched by 130,000 households in Aarhus, making it the largest cable-transmitted local TV channel in Denmark. With over 1,700 students, the
Danish School of Media and Journalism Danish School of Media and Journalism ( da, Danmarks Medie- og Journalisthøjskole), or DMJX for short, is a Danish organization for higher education in, and a knowledge centre of, media and journalism. DMJX has two campuses; one in Copenhagen and ...
(''Danmarks Medie- og Journalisthøjskole'') is the country's largest and oldest school of journalism. The school works closely with Aarhus University, where the first journalism course was established in 1946. In 2004, the two institutions established the Centre for University Studies in Journalism, which offers master's courses.


International relations

Aarhus is home to 32 consulates: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Aarhus practices twinning on the municipal level. For the twin towns, see twin towns of Aarhus Municipality.


Notable people


Citations


Notes


References

;Publications * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


''Aarhus Kommune''
Official municipal and city portal
''Visit Aarhus''
Official tourist site * {{Authority control Cities and towns in the Central Denmark Region Cities and towns in Aarhus Municipality Municipal seats of the Central Denmark Region Municipal seats of Denmark Port cities and towns in Denmark Viking Age populated places