Skanderborg is a market town and station town in East Jutland. It
is located in Skanderup Parish, 25 km southwest of Aarhus city
center. Skanderborg is the capital and administrative center of
Skanderborg Municipality in the Central Jutland Region, and has
19,525 inhabitants (2020): The city is a small railway junction
between the north-south east coast stretch towards Aarhus and
Horsens and the east-west railway towards Silkeborg.
Although
Skanderborg is an independent city, it is closely connected to
Aarhus, about half of all newcomers come from Aarhus, and the other
way, half of all newcomers choose to move to Aarhus. Skanderborg
must be seen in close connection with the East Jutland city, and the
proximity to the many workplaces in Aarhus is reflected in low
unemployment in Skanderborg. The many educational institutions in
Aarhus affect the level of education in Skanderborg. The city and
the municipality are also an important player in the collaboration,
called Business Region Aarhus, which is an inter-municipal
collaboration with a view to strengthening the Aarhus area.
Skanderborg is located in a hilly landscape by Skanderborg Lake a
few kilometers from Ejer Bavnehøj. The second weekend in August
visits up to 40,000 Skanderborg Festival by the beech forest and the
lake. In northern Skanderborg is the part of the Danish Road
Directorate that is responsible for Denmark's road projects.
The origin of the name is the village Skanderup, which is first mentioned in a deed of gift dated 6 July 1176 by Valdemar the Great to Esrom Kloster ("Sklandethorp", in King Valdemar's land book: "Scandthorp").
Origin and Middle Ages
The castle, which was built
in the vicinity of the town, was named Skanthorpburg, Skanderborg,
after it, and the name also passed on to the town, which gradually
grew up under the shelter of the castle. But the names Skanderup and
Skanderborg were used extensively even in the middle of the 17th
century, and the village, which in its time was partly on the lands
of Skanderborg city, and the market town was probably also quite
one, as Skanderborg's inhabitants continued to search Skanderup
Church (already in 1547 Skanderup Church was called Schandelborg
Parish Church), until they were referred to the castle church by
rescript of 14 October 1699.
The Renaissance
Frederik II,
who spent a lot of time at Skanderborg Castle, gave the town its
first privileges by letter of 28 October 1583, in which it is
stated, "that, in order that the subjects who now live or come to
live at Sk. Castle, the better close and save themselves, and the
peasants around them must be able to get what they need for their
household, those who live by the castle, or who would go there and
live and build within the wooden fence that is now set up, are
allowed to use Purchase and Sale and Merchant Trade in Hops, Steel,
Salt, Cloth and whatever other Goods the Peasants might need;
likewise it shall be Blacksmiths, Shoemakers and other Craftsmen who
are skilled in their Craft and would move there, permitted to do so
; those who wished to build should build a market-town building with
good stables, lodgings, and rooms, so that others, as it happens to
come there, might have with them convenient refuge and maintenance;
furthermore, those who now live there or would build there,
Exemption from Tax and all other royal burdens and Difficulty ".
In 1584, Frederik II established the royal inn in Skanderborg,
which closed in 1620.
During the Imperial War, Christian IV
must have had it fortified, and in 1768 traces of a fortification
were still seen north of the city.
The town's privileges were
affirmed in 1600 and 1648, but the town was still long after not
considered a complete market town, just as it remained under the
castle clerks (county administrators). During the war with the
Swedes, it was for a time occupied by the Poles, who badly housed
here and set fire to the city.
A Latin school established by
Frederik III in 1651 was closed down as early as 1658.
In 1720, Skanderborg became the home of an
actual equestrian district, and in 1720-1722 barracks and stables
were built for crew and horses for a regiment.
In a fire in
1746, 17 farms were reduced to ashes.
The town first gained
its own authority when Frederik V appointed a town bailiff on 20
June 1760. It has always been a small town (in 1769 it had 514
inhabitants), as its catchment area is very small.
In May
1849, General Olaf Rye occupied the area.
Skanderborg's population was increasing in the
late 1800s and early 1900s: 1,042 in 1850, 1,271 in 1855, 1,423 in
1860, 1,707 in 1870, 1,792 in 1880, 2,354 in 1890, 2,721 in 1901,
3,146 in 1906 and 3,403 in 1911.
Of factories and industrial
plants, the town had around the year 1900: Skanderborg Ironworks and
Machine Factory (A. Blom & Søn), Skanderborg Wool and Cloth Factory
(a joint stock company), Skanderborg Steam distillery (N.
Christensen & Co.) and a cooperative pig slaughterhouse (established
1890) .
In Skanderborg, 3 newspapers were published:
"Skanderborg Amts Avis", "Skanderborg Amtstidende" and "Skanderborg
Socialdemokrat".
The following markets were held in
Skanderborg: 1st Friday of each month and every Friday during Lent
and from 1 November to Christmas with live cattle, also 1 in
January, 3 in February and 3 in March with horses, and 1 in May, 1
in June, 1 in July, 1 in September and 1 in October with horses and
cattle. Market day was every Friday.
The distribution by
industry was in 1890: 383 lived by intangible business, 108 by
agriculture, 5 by horticulture, 5 by fishing, 3 by shipping, 873 by
craft and industry, 440 by trade and turnover, 413 by various
day-care business, 112 by their means , 10 enjoyed alms, and 2 were
in prison. According to a 1906 census, the population was 3,146, of
which 280 subsisted on intangible activities, 101 on agriculture,
forestry and dairy farming, 13 on fishing, 1,421 on crafts and
industry, 553 on trade and more, 433 on transport, 120 were retired
people, 70 lived by public support and 155 by other or unspecified
business.
Every year at the beginning of August, Skanderborg Festival or Smukfest, as it is also called, is held in Skanderborg Zoo. Smukfest is Denmark's second largest festival with around 40,000 participants annually. In addition, the Sølund Music Festival is held, which is a music festival for the developmentally disabled.
Skanderborg is home to a large number of sports clubs, including FC
Skanderborg, Skanderborg Handball, Dover GF U19, Skanderborg Real
Killerbees and Skanderborg Vandski Klub. The city has both Skanderborg
Stadium and Morten Børup Hallen as sports facilities.
Famous
people from Skanderborg
Morten Børup, approx. 1446–1526 poet, rector
Christian Güldencrone-1837–1902 officer
Emil Gyldenkrone-born
Güldencrone 1838–1902 diplomat
Ove Güldencrone-1840-1880 naval
officer
Carl Güldencrone-1854–1932 diplomat
Johannes Trolle
Hjelmslev born Johannes Trolle Petersen 1873-1950
Albert Dam
1880-1972 author
Ferdinand Michael Krøyer Kielberg 1882-1958
industrial magnate and philanthropist
Christian Frederik Møller,
1898-1988 architect
Holger Blom, 1906-1965 fashion designer
Ole
Lund Kirkegaard, 1940-1979 children's book author
Inge Adriansen 1944
- cultural historian
Kresten Drejergaard 1944-cand.theol., bishop
Kirsten Lehfeldt, 1952- actress
Poul Erik Tøjner, 1959 - museum
director
Dorthe Jørgensen, 1959- philosopher, dr. phil. and dr.
theol.
Camille Jones, 1973- singer
Peter Sommer, 1974 - singer and
musician
Jøden, 1974- born Michael Mühlebach Christiansen rap
musician
Simon Talbot, 1986- stand-up comedian
Kejser A, 1986-
born Andreas Abildlund rap musician