It has been suggested that Esbjerg Harbour be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since November 2011.

Esbjerg
Esbjerg Main Square with original town hall (now used as tourist office) and statue of founding King Christian IX
Esbjerg Location in Denmark
Coordinates: 55°29′N 8°27′E / 55.483°N 8.45°E / 55.483; 8.45Coordinates: 55°29′N 8°27′E / 55.483°N 8.45°E / 55.483; 8.45
Country	Denmark
Region	Region of Southern Denmark
Municipality	Esbjerg Municipality
Established	1868
City charter	1899
Current municipality	1 January 2007
Government
• Mayor	Johnny Søtrup
Area
• Total	6 sq mi (15 km2)
Population (2012)
• Total	71,579
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Website	www.esbjerg.dk

Esbjerg (Danish pronunciation: [ˈɛs.bjɛʁʔ], English: /ˈɛsbjərɡ/) is a seaport on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark, the main town of Esbjerg Municipality, the site of its municipal council and with a population of 71,579 (1 January 2012)^[1] the fifth largest city in Denmark, and the largest in west Jutland. Its municipality has a population of 115,112.

Geography[link]

The city is situated on the southwestern coast of Denmark, and is a seaport of the North Sea.

History[link]

The city of Esbjerg was established in 1868 as a replacement for the harbour in Altona, which had previously been Denmark's most important North Sea harbour. In 1874 Esbjerg was connected by rail to Fredericia and Varde.

Water Tower

The city has been voted "City of the Year" twice. The first time was in 1997 where the city was awarded the title because of the corporate work between public and private companies. In 2006 the city was again awarded "City of the Year". The second award was given due to the work and support of young talents. The talents in sport, artwork and music have been given good support and given the best facilities to develop their talent even further. The city holds an annual music festival spanning two weekends (nine days) during mid-August and is focused around the central Torvet Square which hosts the main stage. The festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2006.

The city was once Denmark's biggest fishing harbour, and the harbour is still an economic driving force in the town. Besides the fishing industry Esbjerg is also the main city for Denmark's oil and offshore activities. Companies like Maersk, Ramboll, Stimwell Services, ABB, Schlumberger, COWI and Atkins all have offshore related activities in the city.

Esbjerg is one of the central towns of the University of Southern Denmark, and also houses a branch of Aalborg University and IT Academy West. The main branch of Profession School – University College West (Danish: Professionshøjskolen University College Vest) can be found in Esbjerg.

Halliburton has an office in Esbjerg.^[2]

Landmarks[link]

The monument

The Men at Sea (Danish: Mennesket ved Havet) is a monument of four 9 metre (27 feet) tall white males, located to the west of Esbjerg by Sædding Beach . It is located opposite the Fisheries and Maritime Museum, and is one of the area's major tourist attractions, and it is a famous landmark of Esbjerg.

The sculpture was designed by Svend Wiig Hansen and installed on 28 October 1995.^[3] It was funded by the government of Esbjerg Kommune, the Kunstfond government and private sponsors to inaugurate the 100th anniversary of the municipality in 1994.

The artist's original idea for the location of the sculpture was Grenen, north of Skagen. The monument can be seen by ferry leaving or entering Esbjerg.

Vestjysk Musikkonservatorium, an Academy of Music and Music Communication, is located in Esbjerg.

Transport[link]

Ferry services connect Esbjerg via Ho Bay to Nordby on the island of Fanø via Nordic Ferry Service,^[4] and over the North Sea to Harwich, United Kingdom via DFDS Seaways. Outside the summer period, Smyril Line operate to Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands.

Esbjerg ferry

Esbjerg railway station is operated by Danish State Railways. Esbjerg is the western terminus of InterCity trains from Copenhagen (operating every other hour), with the journey taking about three hours. DSB also operates local trains to Fredericia. Arriva operates Vestbanen local trains south to Ribe and Tønder and north to Struer.

The city of Esbjerg is a large transport hub for both rail and road traffic, and is an important port for Danish North Sea oil offshore activity. It has an airport, and is a center for machine building. The municipality has a number of museums, theatres (staging opera, ballet and drama), and several libraries.

Sport[link]

Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber[link]

Blue Water Arena, Esbjerg. Home of Esbjerg fB since 1955 (formerly known as Esbjerg Idrætspark). New stadium was completed in 2009.

Esbjerg is home to the Danish football club Esbjerg fB, established in 1924 and known as "EfB" for short. The club has won the Danish Championship five times in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965 and 1979. Esbjerg fB plays their home matches at Blue Water Arena. Esbjerg fB also have a ishockey division called EfB Ishockey.

Other[link]

Rugby in Esbjerg is represented by Esbjerg RK who play at Guldager Idrætscenter.

Sister cities[link]

See also[link]

• Esbjerg Airport
• Blue Water Arena
• University of Southern Denmark
• Aalborg University Esbjerg

References[link]

External links[link]

Media related to Esbjerg at Wikimedia Commons

• Website of Esbjerg

v t e 50 most populous urban areas in the Nordic countries  Denmark  Finland  Iceland  Norway  Sweden 1.  Stockholm 1,372,565 2.  Copenhagen 1,199,224 3.  Helsinki 1,061,798 4.  Oslo 907,288 5.  Gothenburg 549,839 6.  Malmö 280,415 7.  Turku 253,332 8.  Aarhus 252,107 9.  Bergen 234,800 10.  Stavanger 221,616 11.  Tampere 215,337 12.  Reykjavik 195,000 13.  Odense 167,615 14.  Trondheim 160,072 15.  Oulu 144,114 16.  Uppsala 140,454 17.  Jyväskylä 132,115 18.  Fredrikstad 126,971 19.  Aalborg 124,921 20.  Västerås 110,877 21.  Örebro 107,038 22.  Linköping 104,232 23.  Lahti 102,383 24.  Drammen 100,023 25.  Kuopio 97,610 26.  Helsingborg 97,122 27.  Jönköping 89,396 28.  Kouvola 87,548 29.  Norrköping 87,247 30.  Skien 86,923 31.  Pori 83,156 32.  Lund 82,800 33.  Umeå 79,594 34.  Joensuu 73,807 35.  Lappeenranta 72,156 36.  Esbjerg 71,576 37.  Gävle 71,033 38.  Kristiansand 67,547 39.  Hämeenlinna 67,293 40.  Tromsø 66,669 41.  Borås 66,273 42.  Eskilstuna 64,679 43.  Södertälje 64,619 44.  Karlstad 61,685 45.  Täby 61,272 46.  Rovaniemi 60,699 47.  Randers 60,656 48.  Vaasa 60,491 49.  Seinäjoki 58,836 50.  Halmstad 58,577