Hammel is a town in central

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 ...

with a population of 7,234 (1 January 2025),BY3: Population 1. January by rural and urban areas, area and population density
The Mobile Statbank from

Statistics Denmark Statistics Denmark () is a Danish governmental organization under the Ministry of the Interior and Housing, reporting to the Minister of Economic and Internal Affairs. The organization is responsible for creating statistics on the Danish society ...

and a former

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, ...

at the

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

-Hammel- Thorsø railroad which was closed in 1956. The town is located in

Favrskov municipality Favrskov Municipality (, ) is a Commune (subnational entity), municipality in Central Denmark Region in Denmark north of Aarhus and is a part of the Aarhus area. According to municipal and regional key figures the municipality covers an area of a ...

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

. Until 1 January 2007 it was also the site of the municipal council of the now former Hammel Municipality.

History

Hammel first saw significant settlement in the 13th century. The town was recorded as "Hamel" in 1479 and "Hammell" in 1596. The etymology of the town's name is believed to derive from the

old Danish The Danish language developed during the Middle Ages out of Old East Norse, the common predecessor of Danish and Swedish. It was a late form of common Old Norse. The Danish philologist Johannes Brøndum-Nielsen divided the history of Danish in ...

term "hamal", meaning "hill". Hammel was not significantly larger than the other settlements in the area until the 1860s. In the first half of the 19th century, the village had about 11 farms and 40 houses which belonged to the count of Frijsenborg. Its expansion was the result of several initiatives taken by the count, who sought to transform the village into a market-town. Through his influence, the local court building for the judicial district of Frijsenborg-Favrskov was established in the town in 1837. By 1900, a prison, pharmacy, hotel, post office, technical school, primary school, hospital school and industrial factories had opened in the town. By 1902, the town had a population of over 1,200. That year, Hammel station was designed by architect Heinrich Wenck and opened as the terminus of the Hammel-Aarhus Railway. The rail line was extended in 1914 to Thorsø, though the number of passengers traveling from Thorsø to Hammel was never profitable. Nevertheless, the railway connection in Hammel turned it into a

, and its population expanded. By 1916 Hammel had a population of 1,513, and by 1955 had 2,282. The entire railway line closed in 1956 and parts have since been preserved as a walking path. Wenck's original station building still stands at Torvegade 9. For much of its history, Hammel was a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

within the jurisdiction of Gjern

Herred A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

. Following 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 town beceame the seat of Hammel Municipality. The municipality was dissolved in the municipal reform of 2007, and today Hammel lies with

Favrskov Municipality Favrskov Municipality (, ) is a Commune (subnational entity), municipality in Central Denmark Region in Denmark north of Aarhus and is a part of the Aarhus area. According to municipal and regional key figures the municipality covers an area of a ...

Religion

Hammel Church was originally constructed in the romanesque style c. 1100. Its

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and part of the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

date to the 12th century, while the tower was added in the 17th and altered in the 19th century. In 1558, the king ordered that the nearby Jernit Church be demolished and its possessions be transferred to Hammel, thus expanding the size of Hammel's

. Today, the church is considered a

road church A road church is a roadside church, one of a network of such churches in Denmark (), Germany (, open all year), Estonia (), Finland (, ), Norway (), Russia (Murmansk oblast) and Sweden (). The churches are kept open for tourists during the summ ...

Notable people

* Dr. Timen Stiddem (born 1610 in Hammel), a prominent citizen and doctor in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, arrived in

New Sweden New Sweden () was a colony of the Swedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a g ...

in 1654 and is recorded as the first physician in Delaware *

Johan Bartholdy Conrad Johan Bartholdy (12 March 1853 – 6 December 1904) was a Danish organist, composer, singing teacher, conductor and author of music theory books. He was honored as a Titular Professor for the year 1900. Bartholdy was born in Hammel, t ...

(1853 in Hammel–1904), an organist, composer, singing teacher, conductor and author *

Chris Anker Sørensen Chris Anker Sørensen (; 5 September 1984 – 18 September 2021) was a Danish road bicycle racer who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018 for the , , , and teams. Sørensen then worked as a directeur sportif (and co-owner) for his final ...

(born 1984 in Hammel–2021), a Danish professional road bicycle racer *

Gitte Sunesen Gitte Jensby Sunesen Vilhelmsen (born 11 December 1971) is a former Danish team handball player, Olympic champion and World champion. She received a gold medal with the Danish national team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

(born 1971 in Hammel), a former handball player and gold medallist at 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, ...

References

External links

{{Authority control Municipal seats of the Central Denmark Region Municipal seats of Denmark Towns and settlements in Favrskov Municipality Favrskov Municipality