Vallensbæk Municipality
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Vallensbæk Municipality 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 ance ...
: '' kommune'') in the
Capital Region of Denmark The Capital Region of Denmark ( da, Region Hovedstaden, ) is the easternmost administrative region of Denmark. The Capital Region has 29 municipalities and a regional council consisting of 41 elected members. As of 1 August 2021 the chairperson ...
on Zealand. It is part of the Greater Copenhagen area and consist primarily of the
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
of Vallensbæk. It is one of the smallest municipalities in Denmark in terms of area. Vallensbæk Municipality borders the municipalities of Ishøj, Høje-Taastrup, Albertslund and Brøndby. It borders Køge Bay, and the Køge Bay Beach Park (Danish: ''Køge Bugt Strandpark'') along the coast. The suburb of Vallensbæk consists of two sections, not directly connected to each other: Vallensbæk Nordmark in the north and Vallensbæk Strand in the south. The two parts of the town are commonly referred to together as Vallensbæk. The only other settlement in the municipality is the village of Vallensbæk Landsby. The municipality's mayor has been Henrik Rasmussen, a member of the Conservative People's Party, since 2010. The Conservative People's Party has held the position as mayor since the municipality's creation in 1970. Vallensbæk Municipality was not merged with any other municipality in the municipal reform of 2007.


History

Vallensbæk is known from at least 1184 under the name ''Wolensbech'', possibly translating to 'narrow land area' or 'the field with the brook'. In the Middle Ages, when Denmark was divided into
syssel A syssel is a historical type of country subdivision in Denmark and elsewhere in Scandinavia. The mediaeval Danish ''sysler'' may be compared to the '' fylker'' of Norway, the '' landskaps'' of Sweden and Finland, the shires of England and Scotlan ...
s, Vallensbæk was part of Østersyssel. It later became a part of Copenhagen Fief, which was changed to Copenhagen County in 1661. Although Copenhagen County changed many times over the years, Vallensbæk always remained within the borders. When the counties were disestablished in 2007, Vallensbæk came under the new
Capital Region of Denmark The Capital Region of Denmark ( da, Region Hovedstaden, ) is the easternmost administrative region of Denmark. The Capital Region has 29 municipalities and a regional council consisting of 41 elected members. As of 1 August 2021 the chairperson ...
. Since 1842, and until the
1970 Danish Municipal Reform The 1970 Danish Municipal Reform was an extensive administrative reform in Denmark which on 1 April 1970 reduced the number of Danish municipalities from 1,098 to 277 and the number of counties from 25 to 14. The reform also abolished the last le ...
, Vallensbæk was a parish municipality. It became a regular municipality with the 1970 reform, and its borders have remained unchanged since. Vallensbæk wasn't merged with any other municipality in the 2007 municipal reform.


Towns

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


Vallensbæk

Vallensbæk is part of the Greater Copenhagen Area, and is divided into Vallensbæk Nordmark in the north of the municipality and Vallensbæk Strand in the south by the coast. Vallensbæk Nordmark is almost entirely residential buildings, mainly detached houses, with a small industrial area and an area with schools and institutions. Vallensbæk Nordmark is connected to Albertslund. In the northern part of Vallensæk Strand is an industrial area and many
city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets, not counting any type of thoroughfare within t ...
s. The rest of Vallensbæk Strand are mainly detached houses. Near the center of Vallensbæk Strand is Vallensbæk station, as well as a number of amenities, schools and institutions. By the coast, not directly connected to Vallensbæk Strand, is a sizable marina. Next to the marina is
Køge Bugt Strandpark Køge Bugt Strandpark is a seaside public park in the western suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark, reaching from Avedøre Holme in the northeast to Greve Strand in the southwest. It is about 7 km long and has an area of about 5 km2. Four marinas and ...
, of which a small portion is in Vallensbæk Municipality. Vallensbæk Strand is connected to Brøndby Strand. The beaches in Vallensbæk Municipality are administered by Ishøj Municipality.


Vallensbæk Landsby

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


Nature

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


Køge Bugt Strandpark

Køge Bugt Strandpark (translating to Køge Bay Beach Park) is a park in Køge Bay. It is artificially made and was opened in 1980. It is located along the coast of the bay, in Greve, Ishøj, Vallensbæk and Brøndby municipalities. The park is home to many species of birds, with common redshank and
northern lapwing The northern lapwing (''Vanellus vanellus''), also known as the peewit or pewit, tuit or tew-it, green plover, or (in Ireland and Britain) pyewipe or just lapwing, is a bird in the lapwing subfamily. It is common through temperate Eurosiberia. ...
breeding in the area. Many types of waders and shorebirds breed on the meadows. The European green toad, rare in Denmark, can be seen in the park, though mostly in the part of the park located in Greve Municipality.


Politics

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


Municipal council

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


Mayors

Since the
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 mayors of Vallensbæk Municipality have been:


Economy

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


Demographics

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


Education

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


Sights

The small size of the municipality means that there is a limited number of attractions. The nature areas in the municipality, however, are popular tourist destinations. *Little Tilde (Danish: ''Lille Tilde'') is a large wooden sculpture located in Vallensbæk Bog. It portrays a troll, and was part of a project where six municipalities in the western suburbs of Copenhagen would commission wooden sculptures of giants to be located in nature areas. Little Tilde was made by Thomas Dambo. *Vallensbæk Harbour (Danish: ''Vallensbæk Havn'') is a harbour and marina located by the Køge Bay Beach Park, south of Vallensbæk Strand. The marina has room for approximately 600 boats.


Churches

See List of churches in Vallensbæk Municipality


Parishes

There is 1 parish in Vallensbæk Municipality that encompass the entire municipality. Shown in the table below is the population of the parish, as well as the percentage of that population that are members of the Church of Denmark. All numbers are from 1 January 2020.


Symbols

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


Notable residents

*
Niels Knudsen Niels Knudsen (15 October 1904 – 12 August 1987) was a Danish architect. His work was part of the architecture event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), offic ...
(1904–1987), architect *
Pia Olsen Dyhr Pia Olsen Dyhr (born 30 November 1971 in Vallensbæk, Copenhagen) is a Danish politician who has been a member of the Folketing for the Socialist People's Party since the 2007 general elections. Dyhr has served as Minister for Trade and Investm ...
(born 1971), politician, member of the Folketing and chairman of the Socialist People's Party * Nicolai Wael (born 1972), football manager * Amalie Wichmann (born 1995), handball player


References


External links

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