Birkerød () is a town in
Rudersdal Municipality in the northern outskirts of
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
,
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. It is surrounded by several lakes and small woodlands.
Birkerød station is located on the
Hillerød radial of the
S-train
The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...
suburban network.
History
The parish of Birkerød contained the villages Birkerød, Kajerød, Bistrup,
, Isterød,
Høsterkøb, Sandbjerg and Ubberød.
Birkerød became a
railway town
A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated, or was expanded, as a result of a railway line being constructed there.
North America
During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporary, ...
in 1868, when the
Nordbanen railway opened a station here between Lyngby and
Helsingør
Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...
. This led to new growth and several brickyards opened in the area in the second half of the 19th century.
[ The rail line between Copenhagen and Hillerød was later converted to an ]S-train
The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...
suburban line and construction of new residential neighbourhoods accelerated in the 1940s which, in time, made Birkerød merge with Bistrup to the south, Kajerød to the west and Ravnsnæs to the east.
Geography
Birkerød is bordered by 941-hectare Lake Furesø to the south and Lake Sjælsø to the north. The smaller Birkerød Lake is located just south of the railway station in the town centre. The approximately 86 hectares wetland Vaserne (in Danish) along the northeastern shores of Lake Furesø and the western part of Frederikslund Forest separate Birkerød (Bistrup) from Holte to the southeast. Bistrup Hegn is situated between Bistrup to the south and Birkerød to the north. Rude Forest is located to the east of Birkerød. Eskemose Forest at Lake Sjælsø, north of Kajerød, is the site of several natural springs.
Townscape
Birkerød consists mainly of single family detached home
A single-family detached home, also called a single-detached dwelling, single-family residence (SFR) or separate house is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family residential dwelling.
Definitions ...
s.
Tegnestuen Vandkunsten has designed a number of housing estate
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...
s. Trudeslund (1980-81) is a co-housing community. The concept was later developed further with Jystrup Savværk in Jystrup. The Langkjærgård development is from 1985 and Blikfanget was built in 1988-1989. Søhuse (1995), a development of terraced housing, is located on a gently sloping site on the banks of Birkerød Lake.
Culture and sports
Mantziusgården, the former state school, is now used as a local cultural centre. Activities include art exhibitions, concerts, theatre and stand-up comedy. The premises also comprise four open workshops with facilities for making graphic art, glass art, ceramics and weaving. Other cultural Institutions includes Birkerød Library and the Local Historic Archives.
Birkerød Sports and Leisure Centre was built in 2007 and is located next to the indoor swimming hall and football pitches, both of which was renovated simultaneously. The new centre was designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen and is used for a wide variety of activities, including team handball fitness and yoga as well as concerts and other cultural events.
The local football club of IF Skjold Birkerød was founded in 1917, and currently plays the Danish 2nd Division East. Furesø Golf Club is based at Hestkøbgård in the western part of Birkerød. The club was established in 1974.
Education
Birkerød Gymnasium was founded as a private boys' school in 1868. In 2007 it changed name to Birkerød Gymnasium, HF, IB og Kostskole (Birkerød Gymnasium, HF, IB & Boarding School). The name change is due to the additional education types added since the foundation of the school. The school has over 1000 students, 300 of those being International Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...
(IB) candidates. It is currently the biggest public IB school in Denmark. There is also a boarding school with about 70 students living on campus. Most of these students have been expats earlier in their life and might still have family members living as expats around the world.
Since 2011, a Model UN at has been taking place annually at Birkerød Gymnasium. It is called BIGMUN (Birkerød Gymnasium Model United Nations) and it has attracted several hundreds of high-school students from around the world to debate as in the . At BIGMUN 2019, approximately 370 students from 33 different schools around the world participated. These countries include: United States, Israel, Germany, Spain and more.
Buildings of worship
Birkerød Church is a traditional Danish parish church whose oldest parts date from the late 12th and early 13th century. The tower was built in the late 15th century, the current chancel in about 1500 and the porch in 1525. The Parish of Bistrup was disjoined from that of Birkerød in 1963 and its church was inaugurated in 1967.
The property Nordvanggård housed a congregation of Sisters of the Precious Blood from the late 1950s until 2015. The Sisters belong to the German Province, the provincial house is in Neuenbeken near Paderborn. They also have a convent in Rønne
Rønne () is the largest town on the Denmark, Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It has a population of 13,675 (1 January 2025). It was a municipality in its own right from 1970 until 2002, when Bornholm was a Bornholm County, county (D ...
on the island of Bornholm
Bornholm () is a List of islands of Denmark, Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland.
Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. I ...
. The building is now owned by Rudersdal Municipality and is temporarily used to house refugees.
Transport
Rail
Birkerød is served by Birkerød railway station which is located on the Hillerød radial of Copenhagen's S-train network. The station is served regularly by trains on the A-line which have a journey time to central Copenhagen of around 20 minutes.
Road
Lyngby Kongevej bisects Birkerød on its way from Copenhagen to Hillerød. The Hillerød Motorway passed Birkerød to the west and the Helsingør Motorway passes Birkerød to the east.
Bus
From Birkerød station:
* 196: to Kajerød (Birkerød north)
* 197: to Holte Station
* 198: to Bistrup
* 199: to Birkerød west/industrial zone
* 500S: Ørestad station
Ørestad () is a developing city area in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the island of Amager.
The area was developed using the new town concept, closely linked with the M1 line of the Copenhagen Metro. Economically, income for the plan would be generat ...
- Ballerup station - Birkerød station - Kokkedal station
From Bistrup:
* 334: Stenløse station - Farum station - Bistrup - Holte station
Notable people
Businesspeople
* Povl Badstuber (1685 – 1762 in Birkerød), coppersmith and manufacturer
Culture
* Aage Bertelsen (1873 – 1945 in Birkerød), landscape painter], lived in Birkerød
* Axel Borup-Jørgensen (1924 – 2012 in Birkerød), composer
* Birgitte Hjort Sørensen (born 1982), actress, was. raised in Birkerød
* Hella Joof (born 1962 in Birkerød), actress and director, was born in Birkerød [ IMDb Database]
retrieved 20 April 2020
* Tina Kiberg (born 1958), operatic soprano, grew up in Birkerød
* Rasmus Kofoed (born 1974 in Birkerød), chef and restaurateur, was born in Birkerød
* Carl Edvard Sonne (17941878), printmaker, was born in Birkerød
* Jørgen Sonne (1801 in Birkerød – 1890), born and raised in Birkerød
Politics
* Thorkil Kristensen (1899 – 1989 in Birkerød), politician
* Flemming Kofod-Svendsen (born 1944)., politician, lives in Birkerød
* Erling Brøndum (1930–2017 in Birkerød), politician, lived in Birkerød
* Sophie Løhde (born 1983) a Danish politician and Govt. Minister
Sport
* Kai Jensen (1897 – 1997 in Birkerød) an athlete who competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...
* Bjarne Sørensen (born 1954 in Birkerød) a Danish former cyclist, competed at the 1976
Events January
* January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
and 1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...
* Ditte Jensen (born 1980 in Birkerød) swimmer, competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
* Mathias Tauber (born 1984 in Birkerød) a retired Danish footballer with 325 club caps
* Julie Hjorth-Hansen (born 1984 in Birkerød) swimmer, competed in 2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
* Martin Toft Madsen (born 1985 in Birkerød) a Danish cyclist
* Patrick Russell (born 1993 in Birkerød) a Danish professional ice hockey forward
* Anton Ipsen (born 1994) a Danish swimmer, participated in 2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
* Mathias Kvistgaarden (born 2002) a Danish footballer, who plays for Brøndby IF
Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...
Other
* Martin Ågerup (1966 in Birkerød) an economist, president of think tank CEPOS
Twinnings
References
Sources
* Municipal statistics
NetBorger Kommunefakta
delivered fro
KMD aka Kommunedata (Municipal Data)
* Municipal mergers and neighbors
Eniro new municipalities map
* Bus data
Køreplaner bus
External links
Municipality's official website
Birkerød Gymnasium Model UN website
Satellite map from Google Maps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkerod
Former municipalities of Denmark
Cities and towns in the Capital Region of Denmark
Copenhagen metropolitan area
Rudersdal Municipality