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Vesterbro is one of the 15 administrative, statistical, and city tax districts (''bydele'') comprising the municipality 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 covers an area of , and has a population of 51,466 and a population density of 13,688 per km2. Neighboring city districts are: * to the northeast, the
Indre By Indre By (English language, English: ), also known as Copenhagen Center or K or Downtown Copenhagen, is an districts of Copenhagen, administrative district (''bydel'') in central Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. It covers an area of , has a p ...
, also known as "Copenhagen Center", "Downtown Copenhagen" or "City". * to the north,
Frederiksberg municipality Frederiksberg Kommune is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in Denmark. Part of the Capital Region of Denmark and the city of Copenhagen, it is surrounded by Copenhagen Municipality. The municipality, ...
, which is not a part of Copenhagen municipality but rather an
enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...
surrounded by the municipality. * to the west, Valby. * to the south, Kongens Enghave.


The Vesterbro district

Vesterbro is located just outside Copenhagen’s city center—the Inner City or Indre By—making it a very attractive place to live, as are the other areas immediately outside the center: the Indre Nørrebro ("Inner Nørrebro"), Indre Østerbro ("Inner Østerbro"),
Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...
, and
Christianshavn Christianshavn () is a neighbourhood in Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the Indre By District, it is located on several artificial islands between the islands of Zealand and Amager and separated from the rest of the city centre by the Inner Harbour, ...
. The district is located west of the city center at the location of the old Western Gate ("Vesterport"), access way into the old city. The gate, along with the other three gates into the old city—Østerport ("Eastern Gate") near the current
Østerport station The fortifications of Copenhagen underwent a comprehensive modernization and expansion in the 17th century. The project was commenced and was largely the masterplan of Christian IV in the early 17th century but was continued and completed by his s ...
), Nørreport ("Northern Gate") near the current
Nørreport station The fortifications of Copenhagen underwent a comprehensive modernization and expansion in the 17th century. The project was commenced and was largely the masterplan of Christian IV in the early 17th century but was continued and completed by his s ...
, and Amagerport ("Amager Gate", i.e. functionally the Southern Gate) between Christianshavn and the island of
Amager Amager ( ), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the ...
—were dismantled in 1856. The name "Vesterbro" literally translates into English as "Western Bridge", and refers to the paved ( Danish, ''brolagt'') road leading into the city through the Western Gate. Vesterbro is the area of the bridge into the city of Copenhagen, which was a much smaller city at the time when the name was created. At that time, the city was ringed by a moat which exist today as the small lakes found in Tivoli, Ørsted Park, Copenhagen Botanical Garden, and Østre Anlæg Park. The area has been under renovation to a great extent which ended in 2017. The environment and sustainability is one of the essential reasons for the renovation.


History

Vesterbro was originally the name of the paved country road that led into the city center from the west. Few country roads in those days were paved, but the amount of traffic into the capital necessitated it. Until 1853 after the
cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
epidemic that had hit Copenhagen, there had been a "no build" zone outside Copenhagen’s old part of town, the part now known as the Inner City or Indre By. This demarcation line (''Demarkationslinien'') indicated an area beyond the city’s centuries old defence wall system where Copenhagen’s defence forces could strike the enemy unhindered. Until then there was little development outside the center of the city, except with special permission. Even though much of the area was used as
grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...
land, by the 1780s there were approximately 1,000 inhabitants of the area, as well as a number of commercial enterprises (lumberyards, tobacco farm, several industrial buildings), and the house of the Royal Copenhagen Shooting Society and Danish Brotherhood ("Det kongelige kjøbenhavnske Skydeselskab og danske Broderskab"). The society received permission to build outside the old city limits in the 1750s, and the building had housed the Copenhagen City Museum starting in 1956. It currently houses Musikhuset København, an acoustical music performance venue and culture center. With the abolishment of the demarcation line in 1853, the dismantling of the old fortifications that ringed the center of town in the late 1860s, and the removal of the old entrance gates to the city in 1856, the population quickly spread out to the undeveloped areas outside the center. This movement came first to the inner ring of areas outside the center: the Indre Østerbro ("Inner Østerbro"), the Indre Nørrebro ("Inner Nørrebro"), Vesterbro, and Frederiksberg. At that time the name Vesterbro began being used for the entire area around the street named Vesterbro, and late in the 1800s the name of the street itself was changed to Vesterbrogade ("Vesterbro Street").


Notable people

*
Adam Oehlenschläger Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger (; 14 November 177920 January 1850) was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature. He wrote the lyrics to the song ''Der er et yndigt land'', which is one of the national anthe ...
(1779 in Vesterbro – 1850), poet and playwright


Attractions

* Istedgade (heart and soul of Vesterbro nightlife) * Carlsberg neighbourhood * Copenhagen Puppet Festival * Det Ny Teater *
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek ("ny" means "new" in Danish; "Glyptotek" comes from the Greek root ''glyphein'', to carve, and ''theke'', storing place), commonly known simply as Glyptoteket, is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. The collection ...
*
Tivoli Gardens Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli (), is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Kla ...
* Tycho Brahe Planetarium * Museum of Copenhagen * Copenhagen Meatpacking District * Radisson SAS Royal Hotel, Copenhagen * Sorte Hest


Parks

* Enghaveparken * Skydebanehaven


References


External links


City of Copenhagen’s statistical office
*
Source (history)

Source

Source
{{Authority control Copenhagen city districts