Hvidovre Kommune is a municipality (

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 ...

, '' kommune'') in

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

near Copenhagen on the island of

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 ...

(Sjælland) in eastern

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. The municipality covers an area of 22 km², and has a total population of 53,416 (1 January 2019). Its mayor is Anders Wolf Andresen, a member of the

Green Left The term green left refers primarily to a political affiliation that combines elements of green politics and left-wing politics in countries where the term is used. It is primarily a social justice and human rights oriented ideology, with an expa ...

(''Socialistisk Folkeparti'')

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

. The main town and the site of its municipal council is the town of

Hvidovre Hvidovre is the main town in Hvidovre Municipality, Denmark. The town, a suburb of Copenhagen, is about 10 km southwest of the capital's center. It is the 2nd biggest suburb of Copenhagen, only beaten by Frederiksberg. History Hvidovre has ...

. Other towns in the municipality are Avedøre and

Friheden Friheden (meaning ''The Freedom'' in English) is a suburb in Hvidovre municipality, located 8 km south-east from central Copenhagen. The area is a working-class suburb and most activity takes place around the Friheden S-Train The S-Bahn is ...

. Neighboring municipalities are

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 ...

to the east,

Rødovre Rødovre is a town in eastern Denmark, seat of the Rødovre Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden. The town's population 1 January 2019 was 39,907, and in addition 145 persons had no fixed address, which made up a total of 40,052 in the munic ...

to the north, and Brøndby to the west. Part of its eastern border are the waters of ''Kalveboderne'', and to the south is

Køge Bay Køge Bay ( da, Køge Bugt) is an approximately shallow Danish bay in the southern part of Øresund, between Greater Copenhagen area in the North (or more precisely the southernmost peak of Amager) and Stevns Klint in the South, and as a part ...

(''Køge Bugt''). The southernmost section of the municipality, known as ''Avedøre Holme'', juts out into Køge Bay and forms part of the entryway into ''Kalveboderne'', the waters of which separate the island of Zealand from neighboring

Amager Amager ( or, especially among older speakers, ) in the Øresund is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 212,000 inhabitants (January 2021) a small appendage to Zealand. The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (includi ...

. ''Avedøre Holme'' houses two harbours.

History

The parish of Hvidovre originally covered the villages of Hvidovre,

Valby Valby () is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is in the southwestern corner of Copenhagen Municipality, and has a mixture of different types of housing. This includes apartment blocks, terraced housing, areas with single ...

, and

Vigerslev Vigerslev is a working-class neighborhood and is part of Valby, Copenhagen, Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subd ...

. The civil parish of Hvidovre ('Hvidovre Sognedistrikt' or 'Hvidovre Sognekommune') was formed in 1803. In 1841, it was merged with

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

under the name ''Hvidovre–Frederiksberg Sognekommune'' (''civil parish of Hvidovre–Frederiksberg'') but the two were again split in 1858 and Valby and Vigerslev were transferred to Copenhagen in 1901. Hvidovre Municipality was established with the 1970 Danish Municipal Reform, covering the parishes of Hvidovre, Risbjerg Parish, Strandmark. Avedøre was transferred from

Glostrup Glostrup is a Danish town in Region Hovedstaden, forming one of the western suburbs of Copenhagen. It is the administrative seat of Glostrup Municipality, with an estimated population of 22,357 . During the 20th century Glostrup developed from ...

to Hvidovre in 1974. Hvidovre municipality was not merged with other municipalities on January 1, 2007 as part of nationwide ''Kommunalreformen'' ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007).

Parks and green spaces

Vestvolden Vestvolden () is a rampart complex west of Copenhagen, Denmark. Stretching approximately from Avedøre in the south to Utterslev Mose in the north, it is part of the last generation of land fortifications of the city. Built in the period 1888– ...

follows the western border of Hvidovre Municipality.

Avedøre Airfield Avedøre Airfield ( Danish: Avedøre Flyveplads), located in Hvidovre Municipality, west of central Copenhagen, is the oldest operational airfield in Denmark. It is situated at the intersection of Gammel Køge Landevej with the Ring 3 motorway. It ...

from 1917 is Denmark's oldest preserved airfield. Strandengen ("The Beach Meadow") is grazed by cattle and sheep in the summer time. Other green spaces include

Kystagerparken Kystagerparken is a park located in Hvidovre, Denmark, it borders Kalveboderne, the waters between Zealand and Amager. The nearest station is Åmarken. Kystagerparken is just one of several connected parks and green spaces in and around Hvid ...

, Lodsparken, Mågeparken and Rebæk Søpark.

The town of Hvidovre

The town is a

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

to Copenhagen, located ca. 10 km. southwest of central Copenhagen. It got its name from the fact that a white church could be seen in Hvidovre— ''hvid'' means "white" in

. This same naming principle also applies to neighboring

municipality where a red church could be seen— ''rød'' means "red" in Danish. The city is well known for its

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team,

Hvidovre IF Hvidovre Idrætsforening, more commonly known as Hvidovre IF () is a Denmark, Danish professional association football, football club based in Hvidovre. The club competes in the Danish 1st Division, the second tier of Danish football league syste ...

, where famous Danish football players such as

Peter Schmeichel Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

, Kenneth Brylle, and

Michael Manniche Michael Manniche (born 17 July 1959) is a Danish former footballer who played as a centre forward. Even though he played professionally for four clubs in his country, he was best known for his spell with Benfica in Portugal. Football career ...

have played. Stephan Andersen with a past in Charlton, has played for the club too. It is also the birthplace of young

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

defender Daniel Agger and

Thomas Kahlenberg Thomas Zeuthen Kahlenberg (; born 20 March 1983) is a Danish former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He started his career with Brøndby IF, winning two Danish Superliga championship, and played four seasons at French club A ...

. Film production camp

Filmbyen Filmbyen (English: Film City) is a film studio complex located in Hvidovre just outside Copenhagen, Denmark. Filmbyen is a former military base. It houses many film-related companies. Many films and TV-series have been shot there. It was founded b ...

(founded by

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (''né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nominat ...

and

Peter Aalbæk Jensen Peter Aalbæk Jensen (born 8 April 1956 in Osted) is a Danish film producer who in 1992 with director Lars von Trier founded the Danish film company Zentropa and later its huge studio complex Filmbyen. His father was writer Erik Aalbæk Jensen. ...

's company

Zentropa Zentropa, or Zentropa Entertainments, is a Danish film company started in 1992 by director Lars von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen. Zentropa is named after the train company Zentropa in the film ''Europa'' (1991), which started the colla ...

) is located in Hvidovre.

Politics

Municipal council

Hvidovre's municipal council consists of 21 members, elected every four years. Below are the municipal councils elected since the Municipal Reform of 2007.

Trivia

The longest office building in

, Copenhagen Business Park, is located in the municipality at the address Stamholmen 143–161. As one of the largest office buildings in Denmark it consists of 67,000 square meters (slightly over 721,000 sq feet) rented space. It dates from 1982 and was built by Bøje Nielsen.

Twin towns — sister cities

The municipality is twinned with: {, class="wikitable" , - valign="top" , *

Oppegård Oppegård is an area in Nordre Follo, Viken, Norway. Oppegård was a municipality in the former county Akershus. It is part of the traditional region of Follo. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Kolbotn. The mu ...

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 t ...

Rydułtowy Rydułtowy (german: Rydultau) is a town in southern Poland, in the Wodzisław County of the Silesian Voivodeship. Rydułtowy is in the south-western part of the Silesian Highland, on the Rybnik Plateau, in the Oświęcim-Racibórz Valley. A mini ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, , * Sollentuna in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Tuusula Tuusula (; sv, Tusby ) is a municipality of Finland. It belongs to the Helsinki sub-region of the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of () and is by far the third largest municipality in Finland after Nurmijärvi and Kirkkonummi t ...

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 ...

Várkerület The 1st District of Budapest is the Castle District ( hu, Várkerület or ) and is the historical part of the Buda side of Budapest. It consists of the Buda Castle Hill and some other neighborhoods around it, like Tabán, Krisztinaváros and pa ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...