Aarhus

Name	AarhusÅrhus
Pushpin map	Denmark
Pushpin label position
Pushpin map caption	Location in Denmark
Coordinates region	DK
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name
Subdivision type1	Region
Subdivision name1	Central Denmark Region
Subdivision type2	Municipality
Subdivision name2	Aarhus Municipality
Leader title1
Established title2
Established title3
Area magnitude
Unit pref	Metric
Area footnotes
Area urban km2	91
Area metro km2	9997
Area blank1 title	Municipal
Area blank1 km2	468
Population as of	2010
Population metro	1238104 (17 municipalities in East Jutland metropolitan area)
Population density metro km2	124
Population urban	249709
Population density urban km2	2669
Population blank1 title	Municipal
Population blank1	311.222
Population density blank1 km2	663
Timezone	Central Europe Time
Utc offset	+1
Utc offset dst	+2
Latns	N
Longew	E
Elevation footnotes

Aarhus or Århus () is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark. Aarhus is the seat of the council of Aarhus municipality with 311.222. inhabitants and 249,709 (1 January 2011)

Aarhus is the main and biggest city in the East Jutland metropolitan area (), a development concept launched by 17 municipalities in East Jutland. With more than 1.2 million people living in the area it represents approximately 23% of the population of Denmark and is the second largest metropolitan area after the Copenhagen metropolitan area, however, this area is not a continuously built-up area of today, but includes many rural regions.

Name

; rebuilt to its current size in 1500, with the longest nave in Denmark]] The city was mentioned for the first time by Adam of Bremen who stated that "Reginbrand, bishop of the church of Aarhus (Harusa)" participated in a church meeting in the city of Ingelheim in Germany.

During the Middle Ages the city was called Arus, and in Icelandic chronicles, it was known as Áróss. It is a compound of the two words ār, genitive of ā ("river", Modern Danish å) and ōss ("mouth", obsolete in Modern Danish; in Modern Icelandic this word is still used for "river delta"). The name originates from the city's location around the mouth of the stream Aarhus Å (English: Aarhus River), Å being the Danish word for a small river.

Through regular sound development, Medieval Danish Arus became Aars or Oes, a form which persisted in the dialects of the surrounding parishes until the 20th century. In 1406, Aarhus became prevalent in the written sources, and gradually became the norm in the 17th century. Aarhus is probably a remodelling after the numerous Low German place names in -husen, possibly as a result of the influence of German merchants.

Aarhus/Århus spelling

After the Danish spelling reform of 1948 Aarhus changed name to Århus.

In 2010, a majority of the city council voted for a name change from Århus back to Aarhus, and the renaming came into effect on January 1, 2011. Mayor Nicolai Wammen argued that the Aa spelling would strengthen the city's international profile, help private enterprise and make it easier to access Aarhus on the internet. The Aarhus spelling has, however, always had some use in non-Scandinavian languages. There is considerable opposition to the Aa spelling and according to a May 2011 poll 59.8 % of the city's inhabitants preferred the Å spelling.

Although many citations of the name on signs and other physical media still read Århus, official informational websites have effectively altered occurrences of Århus to Aarhus. Furthermore, certain geographically affiliated names have been updated to reflect the name of the city. An example is the Aarhus River for which the Danish name has been altered from Århus Å to Aarhus Å. and the Danish Language Committee, publisher of the Danish Orthographic Dictionary, which will keep Århus as the main name and have Aarhus as a new, second option, in brackets.

History

on a reconstruction of an early church at Moesgaard Museum]] The bishopric of Aarhus dates back to at least 951, and archaeological findings date back some 1,300 years to Viking times. The city itself is presumably older than 770 AD, making Aarhus the oldest big city in Scandinavia. The favorable central position of the city within Denmark afforded it trade from Germany, the Baltic countries, the greater peninsula of Jutland and the communities on the many smaller islands in its vicinity, which meant that trade always had a great significance to the town – a significance which is still true today. The city did not expand outwards until the late 19th century, and Aalborg remained the largest city on the peninsula until the 1920s. The relatively fast, albeit late, growth of the city can be ascribed to the general tendencies of a population moving from rural to urban areas during the industrial revolution. Industrialisation meant that proximity to trade routes became more important, giving the harbour city some advantages over other nearby cities as new industries came into existence.

Viking Age and before

(Aarhus) 950 AD]] The oldest archaeological findings in Aarhus are glass pearls, which date to the end of the 7th century. Half buried longhouses, used both as homes and workshops for the Vikings have also been found. In the houses and the adjoining archaeological layers, combs, jewelry and basic multi-purpose tools have been found that indicate the settlement is from approximately year 900. Digs in the spring of 2005 revealed a so-called city-ditch from the year 850 which might have marked the trade centre upon which the city is built.

The finding of six runestones in and around Aarhus indicates the city had some significance around year 1000 as only wealthy nobles traditionally used them. The center of Aarhus was once a pagan burial site until Aarhus' first church, Holy Trinity Church, a timber structure, was built upon it during the reign of Frode, King of Jutland, around 900.

17th–18th centuries

During the wars of the 17th century, it is probable that the city suffered in a significant way. Fortifications still exist south of the city as a reminder of the German imperial campaigns between 1627 and 1629. In 1644, Sweden taxed the city harshly and between 1657 and 1659, it was occupied by Swedish troops on several occasions.

In spite of these and other misfortunes, such as plague and city-wide fires, Aarhus was still quite a significant city in Denmark due to its favourable geographical position which was of significant importance for trading. Trade came mainly from the inland of Jutland but also from Norway, Lübeck, Amsterdam, England, France and Spain. In the middle of the 18th century the trade fleet consisted of approximately 100 ships.

19th century

In the 19th century, the city gained more independence from the dominance of Copenhagen and Hamburg. While it had been the third largest city in Jutland during the early 19th century, its population surpassed Randers in 1840 and in 1850, Ålborg, thus becoming the largest city in Jutland and the second largest in Denmark.

The city's material prosperity continued to increase as the harbour expanded and the railway network grew. Culturally, it marketed itself as the "Capital of Jutland" and expanded many of its cultural institutions like the national library, universities, the Aarhus Theatre and hospitals.

Geography

The city lies roughly at the geographical centre of Denmark on the peninsula of Jutland. Forests reach from the south into the city to within a kilometre (0.6 mi) of the city centre, because the city has grown around the forest, and some forest areas are completely surrounded by the city, such as Riis Skov. The city is built mostly around the harbour, which is predominantly industrial, although a large recreational marina is situated south of it as an extension.

While some of the highest points in Denmark are close to the city, the general landscape is typically hilly, interspersed with forests and meadows; the city itself is very hilly north of the centre (by Danish standards, that is; see Highest hill, Denmark). The coastline consists mainly of sandy beaches, but stony areas are not uncommon. The immediate coastal regions are not heavily populated due to a national policy of keeping residences inland rather than crowding the coast.

The city lies at the junction of railway lines from all parts of the country. To the south west (about , by rail) lies a picturesque region that contains the Gudenå. Several larger lakes extend West from the Skanderborg railway junction and rise to heights exceeding at Himmelbjerget. The railway traverses this district of moorland and woodland to Silkeborg.

Administrative divisions

Aarhus is divided into several districts and suburbs with its own postal code (Postdistrikter).

Districts (boroughs) inside the 2nd city beltway:

Aarhus C

Aarhus N

Aarhus V

Aarhus S

Åbyhøj

Viby

Brabrand

Demographics

More than 300,000 people live within the city limits of Aarhus, while an additional 500,000 live in the surrounding local area of the East Jutland region. Aarhus is also a major part of the larger East Jutland metropolitan area with 1,200,000 inhabitants, which makes East Jutland the second most-populated area in Denmark, after the Copenhagen area.

Of the population of Aarhus, 65,000 are under 18 years of age. Aarhus has been growing at a steady rate of about 1% per year since 1950, when the city had about 150,000 inhabitants. Aarhus University estimates an increase of around 20,000 more students in the next six years, with attendant concerns over a lack of housing. In response, the city council has already initiated a large range of building projects to house some 100,000 new citizens before 2030 so the city population will rise to almost 400,000 inhabitants.

The population of Aarhus is both younger and better-educated than the national average. Much agricultural produce is exported, while coal and iron are among the chief imports. The harbour itself is maintained by Århus Stevedore Kompagni A/S originally based in Aarhus but currently operating several harbours around the world.

The region is a major producer of agricultural products with many large farms in the outlying districts. Cattle, pork and grain are the main products with a sizable related refinement industry present. Computer and technology heavy industries are mainly focused in the urban areas with an abundance of small and medium sized IT and service companies dotting the city centre.

The Ceres Brewery, part of Royal Unibrew, was originally founded in Aarhus. Royal Unibrew announced the closure of Ceres in 2008.

Culture

Aarhus is a centre for education on the peninsula of Jutland. It draws students from a large area, especially from the western and southern parts of the peninsula. The relatively large influx of young people and students creates a natural base for cultural activities. There are many cafes and restaurants as well as discothèques, cinemas, museums, amusement parks, and various other entertainment venues . Each year, the town hosts several festivals and concerts, including Aarhus International Jazz Festival and Aarhus Festuge the biggest festival in Scandinavia. The Vestereng park facility is also a site for large popular-music concerts.

One major tourist attraction in Aarhus is The Old Town (), which is not actually an old part of the city itself, but a collection of historic Danish buildings gathered from all around the country. The city also hosts the Tivoli Friheden amusement park as well as the deer park situated in the large nearby public forest. Mask Stone found in Aarhus, housed at the Moesgård Museum.]] Architecturally impressive sights include the 13th century cathedral in the centre of the city; Århus Domkirke is the tallest cathedral in Denmark, as well as the second tallest in Northern Europe, being only shorter than its counterpart in Trondheim. The Aarhus City Hall is a uniquely designed building drawn by renowned architect Arne Jacobsen, located in the city centre. The city hall is included in the national educational canon for culture as an example of important architectural work.

There are many museums scattered around the city with ARoS being the newest and largest featuring daily exhibits of contemporary art. Other museums include Aarhus Kunstbygning also featuring mostly contemporary art, Frihedsmuseet focusing on the occupation and resistance movement during World War II and Kvindemuseet mainly showcasing feminist history and culture.

Being a comparatively large Danish city, Aarhus has received a fair share of immigrants from various other cultures and is as such also home to one of the few ghettos in Denmark, Gellerup. The international cultures present in the community are an obvious and visible part of the city's daily life and contribute to many cultural flavours uncommon for the North, such as the Arabic themed Bazar West, a market with shopkeepers predominantly of foreign descent.

The city has an active and visible gay and lesbian community which the city officially attempts to promote and nurture. The Aarhus Festuge festival usually includes several exhibits, concerts or events specifically designed for these communities. There are several clubs, discos and cafes aimed at gays and lesbians: Danish D-lite (sports), G bar(disco) or Gaia Vandreklub (hiking club) are a few examples.

It is common for tourist brochures and local politicians to refer to the town with the tongue-in-cheek slogan "The world's smallest big city" reflecting the fact that the city has everything a city needs despite not being a metropolis like London. Another popular, and perhaps better known, phrase to describe the city is "City of Smiles" – a slogan first coined by the city council in the 1930s as an advertising slogan, and which subsequently is used widely in popular culture today.

Main sights

; begun in the 12th C., restored in Gothic architectural style]]

Århus Domkirke, the tallest and longest cathedral in Denmark.

Vor Frue Kirke (Church of Our Lady), a large church.

Aarhus Rådhus (City Hall of Aarhus), drawn by Arne Jacobsen.

Aarhus Universitet (Aarhus University).

Statsbiblioteket (State library).

Den Gamle By (The Old Town), an open air museum displaying the old original buildings of not only Aarhus, but several other cities in Denmark.

Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium (The Jutlandic music conservatory).

Botanisk Have (Botanical garden).

Tivoli Friheden, amusement park.

ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, the main Aarhus arts museum. .]]

Aarhus Kunstbygning, an arts museum.

Marselisborg Slot (Marselisborg Palace), the summer-retreat of the Danish royal family.

Aarhus Teater (Aarhus Theatre), the largest theatre in the city.

Søsterhøj, a 325 meter tall concrete tower with guyed mast on its top

Skejby Sygehus, the second largest hospital in Denmark

Atletion, a combined sports venue

Kvindemuseet, the Women's Museum

Den Permanente a popular closed beach area, also providing views of Helgenæs and Samsø across Århus Bay.

Moesgård Museum, a museum that features many relics from the region, including Gravballemanden.

Viking Museum

Sports

In the southern-Aarhus Marselisborg Park, the sports center named Atletion is located comprises athletics, the football NRGi Park and the indoor sports NRGi Arena. Several sport clubs have their home ground in Atletion, including Aarhus Gymnastikforening, the Danish superliga football team, and Aarhus GF handball team, the 1960 European Cup runner-up. Although basketball is a minor sport in Denmark, Aarhus is considered the main Danish hub of the sport , with the local team Bakken Bears being the most successful team in Denmark for the past decade.

Aarhus (and especially Atletion) has served or will serve as the host of many sport events in recent years including:

2002 European Women's Handball Championship

2005 European Table Tennis Championships

Denmark Open in badminton

UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup

2006 World Orienteering Championships

2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships

GF World Cup; the world's largest handball tournament for women

DanceSport IDSF World Standard 2006

Education

.]] The town is home to Aarhus University, Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus Technical College, The Danish School of Journalism, the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, VIA University College Aarhus School of Architecture, KaosPilots, and the Engineering College of Aarhus and several other higher education centres. It is possible to receive higher education in many areas, from engineering and dentistry to language and theology.

Aarhus University has approximately 30,000 students at the university with approximately 5,000 new students per year.

Politics

The city council consists of 31 members elected for 4-year terms. Anybody eligible to vote and residing in Aarhus municipality can run for a seat on the city council. After elections have determined the members of the city council, the council elects a mayor, 2 deputy mayors and 5 councilmen. The current Mayor of Aarhus is Nicolai Wammen of the Social Democrats elected by the city council after the 2009 municipal elections.

The city is divided into 6 minor administrative bodies which together constitute the magistrate led by the mayor and the 5 elected councilmen as political and administrative directors. The 6 magistrate departments of the city are the "Mayor's Magistrate", "Social and Employment Magistrate", "Technology and Environment Magistrate", "Health and Social Magistrate", "Culture and Service Magistrate" and "Children and Youth Magistrate" and handle all the day-to-day operations of the city.

Aarhus is the seat of Aarhus Municipality. Until the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which replaced the Danish counties with five regions, it was also the seat of Aarhus County, which has now been disbanded in favor of the new Region Midtjylland, its seat located in Viborg.

Aarhus has twinning agreements with Gothenburg, Turku, Bergen, Harbin, Saint Petersburg and Julianehåb; and has a connection with Swansea.

Transport

Aarhus Airport, a local airport of Aarhus, is located north-east of Aarhus, in Tirstrup. The number of available destinations leaving from Aarhus Airport is rapidly increasing because of the rising international interest in the City, but residents also use the bigger Billund Airport, situated south-west of Aarhus. There have been plans for constructing a new, bigger airport for a long time, but so far, the plans have not been realized.

Aarhus is served by commuter rail that connects the city itself with neighbouring towns. The main station in Aarhus is Århus Central Station, which is located in the city centre. Most city bus lines go through the inner city and pass through either Park Alle or Banegårdspladsen (lit. English: "Central Station Square") or both. County and Inter-city buses terminate at Aarhus Bus Terminal which is located 900 meters north-west of Banegårdspladsen, in front of the Radisson SAS Scandinavia hotel located at Margrethepladsen 1, 8000 Århus C).

The Danish ferry company Mols-Linien connects Aarhus with Copenhagen (located on the isle of Zealand). The fastest ferries in the world (100 km/h) operate up to 10 times daily from the port of Aarhus to the port cities of Sjællands Odde and Kalundborg on Zealand. The ferries take both vehicles and the Busline 888, which is the fastest link between the two Danish capitals.

Aarhus also has a free bike sharing system, Århus Bycykler. The bicycles are available from 1 April to 30 October at 57 stands throughout the city and can be obtained by placing a DKK 20 coin in the release slot, just like caddies in a supermarket. The coin can be retrieved when the bike is returned.

Notable people

Politics

H. C. Hansen, prime minister

Hans Hedtoft, prime minister

Svend Auken, minister of labour, environment & energy

Science

Ole Barndorff-Nielsen, statistician

Lene Hau, physicist

Ole Rømer, astronomer

Jens Christian Skou, Nobel laureate

Bjarne Stroustrup, computer scientist

Ole Worm, physician, scholar and antiquarian

Sports

Martin Kampmann, mixed martial artist

Camilla Martin, badminton world champion

Flemming Povlsen, footballer

Marc Rieper, footballer

Stig Tøfting, footballer

Music and culture

Steffen Brandt, singer and composer

Ida Corr, singer

Tina Dickow, singer

Hatesphere, metal band

Thomas Helmig, singer

Gitte Hænning, singer and film star

Michael Learns to Rock, soft rock band

Kaare Norge, guitarist

Jørgen Leth, poet, director, author and journalist

Niels Malmros, director, screenwriter

Renee Simonsen, supermodel and author

Kurt Westergaard, cartoonist

Medina (singer), Danish singer

Liam O'Connor or L.O.C., the best-selling rapper in Denmark and founder of the famous and special Aarhus-style in Danish hiphop

Uffe Elbæk, politician and founder of the first KaosPilot school in the world, which was founded in 1991 in Aarhus

Under Byen, a post-rock band

In popular culture

In Denmark, an "Aarhus story" — similar to a Molbo story — is a kind of derogatory ethnic joke. Such stories about the citizens of Aarhus began in the early 20th century and the term continues to be used colloquially. For example, one popular Aarhus story goes as follows. "Have you heard about the Aarhus citizen who was leafing through a phonebook and remarked: 'Jensen, Jensen, Jensen, Jensen, Jensen... How many phones does this guy have?'"

References

External links

Aarhus Kommune, official city portal in English

Visit Aarhus

Aarhus City Info

Virtual Aarhus (newer)

Virtual Aarhus (older)

Category:Municipal seats of Central Denmark Region Category:Municipal seats of Denmark Category:Cities and towns in Central Denmark Region Category:Port cities and towns in Denmark Category:Articles including recorded pronunciations (Danish) Category:Viking Age populated places