Hobro is a market town at the bottom of Mariager Fjord with 12,130 inhabitants (2020), located in Hobro Parish. The city belongs to Mariagerfjord Municipality and is located in the North Jutland Region. Hobro is located in hilly terrain with high hills in both the northern and southern parts of the city. The city is located near the north-south highway E45 and is also a station town between Aalborg and Randers. Approx. 2 kilometers west of the city is the Viking castle Fyrkat, which is a ring castle dating back to the year 980.
There are no reliable sources for the naming
of Hobro. An older spelling of Hobro is certainly Hobroe, which was
still used up until the end of the 19th century. Both past and
present, the more local pronunciation dialect Hobrow is used. Among
the various options for the name "Hobro", the following three can
all be considered probable:
A: North of Mariager Fjord lived
a man named Ho. He built a bridge over the fjord. The bridge was
therefore called "Hos bro", which has since become Hobro.
B:
The inner part of Mariager Fjord, today Hobro Vesterfjord (Onsild Å
flows into the shallow Vesterfjord, which again via a river stretch
flows into Mariager Fjord), was originally called "Ho", which is an
older term for the word "trough". At "Truget" there has been a
bridge, which has led over the shallow and swampy river and fjord
stretch.
C: "Ho" originates from the Anglo-Saxon hoh, ho or
hoo, which is related to a "a headland shaped like a heel or a boot
and often jutting out into the sea". In this case, the "heel" should
be identical to the low isthmus and Hobro means "the bridge at the
heel".
The name - old form: Hofbroe - probably means the bridge over Ho, the old name of Onsild å. Legend has it that a man Ho built a bridge over the narrowest place by the fjord, where so far there had been a ferry, that he himself lived north of the bridge ("Hostrup Huse"), but that he together with 12 other men, who lived in a town Kirkedal (a long, deep valley "Kirkedal" is located about 1 quarter road east of the town), laid out Hobro south of the bridge.
The town's name probably appears for the first time in a deed of freedom for Mariager Kloster, issued by Christian I in 1449, in which "Hobro Fjord" is mentioned. Its oldest market town privileges are not known. On 14 October 1560, Frederik II confirmed them. The bridge belonged to the Crown in the 16th century. In 1533, Niels Blok, bailiff in Hindsted Herred, received a royal letter to keep it during his lifetime, and by grant of 29 April 1574, the town's mayor and council got the bridge, as did later the town bailiff, until the bridge grain disappeared in the 19th century at the new road system.
By a royal court judgment of 1537, 12 owners in Hobro were known to
be entitled to still enjoy and use the Hobro field, as had been the case
"from arild's time". The old town market was later called Østermark.
Vestermark formerly belonged to a farm Tvingstrup, which was given to
the town's mayor and council by royal deed of gift dated 1 December
1542.
At the beginning of modern times, the city was favored by
the Crown in several ways. To collect the king's tithe grains, in 1567
and 1568 a royal command was given to build a granary at Hobro. In order
that the market town of Hobro could be built, improved and held by
force, in 1552 the market that was held in Glenstrup was moved to the
town. In 1558 it was ordered that the market held in Dybdal near Testrup
should be transferred to Hannedal, and on 7 September 1561 (repeated 24
October 1574) Testrup markets were transferred to Hobro. Of course, on
25 August 1578 it was again allowed to hold a market in Dybdal by
Testrup, but in 1635 these "Valley markets" were finally transferred to
Hobro.
The customs office was in earlier times at Hadsund
(established 5 June 1581), later it was moved to Mariager, probably in
1592, when this town became a market town, then to Hobro. By rescript of
13 July 1672 it was assigned to Mariager, then on 4 September 1680 again
to Hadsund, again to Mariager on 17 August 1780, until in 1839 it was
finally divided between the two market towns.
Moreover, Hobro has never been a respectable city, and in recent
times its progress has been hampered by several accidents; it thus
suffered greatly during the Swedish War 1657-60. Most of all, however,
it has probably suffered under devastating fires; it is thus said to
have burned twice in earlier times north of the church steps, on 23 June
1690 half of the town burned, namely "everything that was above the
Church steps".
In 1672 the town had 343 inhabitants, in 1769 492
inhabitants, in 1787 only 465 inhabitants.
The hardships of the
Napoleonic wars had devastated Hobro, and the inhabitants had become
poor and many used thatched roofs, even though it was forbidden. On 19
August 1812, 26 houses burned, on 2 February 1813, 10 farms and houses
burned; it was a quarter of the city, or half of what remained after the
previous fire. The 1813 fire was set, among other things, by an
18-year-old girl, who was executed on 15 March 1814 just outside the
city. The city thought the punishment was too harsh, and a road is named
after her. The city's condition was now so bad that the authorities
considered closing down the city, and it was exempted from paying taxes
for 10 years. From the middle of the 19th century, the town grew again,
particularly as its trade grew due to the improved port conditions.
Previously, the town belonged to Hald County under the Stiftamtman
in Viborg (while the rest of Onsild Herred belonged to Mariager County),
until when Randers County was established in 1794, it was placed under
this. A rescript of 17 August 1824, according to which the town was to
be placed under Aalborg County, was overturned in 1830.
Hobro
Forest must have been quite large in earlier times, but was destroyed
during the Swedish invasion of 1657-60. It is owned, like the fields, by
different landowners; but as the lots were forgotten in the course of
time, it was decided by a town council judgment of 21 March 1707 that
the thicket should be roped off and divided according to the income of
the lot owners. Those of the city's intruders who were not landowners,
however, enjoyed free felling for their own needs. The forest was
replaced since 1816, but the work of destruction was continued by the
foresters until the enclosure of the forest was ordered in 1858.
The Jutland long-distance railway on the section between Randers and
Aalborg opened in 1869, and in the same year the town got its station.
Hobro's population was increasing in the late 1800s and early 1900s:
1,173 in 1850, 1,538 in 1855, 1,909 in 1860, 2,081 in 1870, 2,250 in
1880, 2,543 in 1890, 3,161 in 1901, 3.3 32 in 1906 and 3,563 in 1911.
The distribution of the population by means of livelihood was in
1890: 281 lived from non-material activities, 175 from agriculture, 10
from horticulture, 37 from fishing, 26 from shipping, 945 from crafts
and industry, 548 from trade and turnover, 408 from various day
laborers, 94 from their means, and 19 enjoyed alms. According to a
census in 1906, the population was 3,332, of which 236 supported
themselves by non-material activities, 303 by agriculture, forestry and
dairying, 19 by fishing, 1,660 by crafts and industry, 700 by trade and
more, 163 by transport, 111 were shopkeepers, 74 lived on public support
and 66 on other or unspecified business.
Of the factories and
industrial facilities, the town had around the turn of the century: 1
iron foundry (transferred in 1899 to a limited company, share capital
DKK 70,000, 25 workers), 1 fertilizer factory (Blaakilde Mølles
Fabrikker, manufacture of artificial fertilizers, transferred in 1899 to
a limited company, capital DKK 200,000, 11 workers, annual production
about 3 million pounds), 1 brick factory (Vindø Teglværk, about 30
workers, production about 3 million stones annually), 1 distillery
(Spritfabrikken "Fortuna", about 30 workers, annual production about 4
million pots spirits), 1st beer brewery (Bies Bryggeri, established in
1841 as white beer brewery, 1879 expanded to Bayerskøl brewery, 20
workers, annual production approximately 9,000 barrels), 1 tobacco
factory, 2 dyers and wool spinning mills, 1 tannery, 1 printing house,
etc.
In Hobro, 1 newspaper was published: "Hobro Avis".
In
Hobro, 12 markets were held annually: 1 in January with horses and
cattle, 1 in February with cattle, 1 in March with horses and cattle, 1
in April and 1 in May with cattle, 1 in June and 1 in July with horses
and cattle, 1 in August with cattle and sheep, 1 in September with
horses, cattle and sheep, 1 in October and 1 in November with cattle and
sheep and 1 in December with cattle, sheep and horses. Torvedag was
every Friday.
The interwar period
Throughout the interwar
period, Hobro's population was increasing: in 1916 3,907, in 1921 3,871,
in 1925 6,100, in 1930 6,425, in 1935 6,745, in 1940 6,992 inhabitants.
At the same time, two suburbs emerged, Banegårdskvarteret and
Hostruphuse in Øls-Hørby-Døstrup Municipality. They were incorporated
into the market town per April 1, 1921.
Hobro contains several elementary schools such as Bymarkskolen,
Søndre Skole, Friskolen, Rosendalskolen and Hobro 10. Klassecenter. In
addition, there are the post-secondary schools Østerskov Efterskole,
Thorsgaard Efterskole and Hobro Efterskole.
Mariagerfjord
Gymnasium offers STX, HTX and HF. In addition, there is the trade school
Tradium Handelsskole (HHX, EUD & EUX) and the higher education
institution, Erhvervsakademi Dania.
At Hobro Museum there is an exhibition about the Fyrkat finds as well
as an exhibition of finds and the history of the town and the
surrounding area. It is set up in the city's oldest house.
The
pleasure craft museum Hobro has an exhibition about various pleasure
craft that have sailed on Mariager Fjord. The GAS Museum at Hobro Harbor
contains exhibitions about gas energy in the past, present and future.
There are exhibitions about how it was before people started using
fossil fuels, there are exhibitions about gas energy and daily life,
green gases and the green transition. In ScienceUNIVERSET there is play
and learning as well as teaching in science.
Immediately
south-west of the city is the Viking castle Fyrkat, where the museum
Vikingecenter Fyrkat is established. The museum tells about the history
of the fortress and the Viking Age.
The town contains two
theatres; Hobro Theater on Teatertorvet and the regional theater
Himmerlands Teater, located by the harbour.
Sport
Hobro is
probably best known as the town where racing driver Tom Kristensen was
born and raised. In addition, the city's football club, Hobro IK, has
been in the Super League for two seasons, 2014-15 and 2015-16.