Vejen is a medium-sized station town in South Jutland with 9,853 inhabitants (2020) located between Esbjerg and Kolding in Vejen Parish. Vejen is the capital of Vejen Municipality and belongs to the Region of Southern Denmark. The railway came to Vejen in 1874. Within a few years, the station town grew up along the country road between the station and the old village. The village was located around the church and inn by the old Kolding-Varde country road, the current secondary route 191. Today the city is centrally located both in relation to the E20 Esbjerg motorway and secondary route 191, which until the construction of the motorway before the year 2000 was called A1. The road is located by the Kongeå, border from 1864 to 1920 between Denmark and Prussia, when Southern Jutland was part of Germany until after the First World War. The road was a border town on the Danish side.
In 1879 the town is described as follows: The road
with Church, Præstegaard, School, Railway station, Inn, Letter
collection place, Watermill.
At the turn of the century, the
town was described as follows: Byen Vejen (1280: Wægnæ, c. 1340:
Weghn), by Vardevejen, large market town-like village (1/2 1901: 161
houses and 1108 inhabitants), with church, vicarage, 3 schools ( The
road old and new as well as Bakkely Sk.), Realskole (built in 1900),
Mission house (built in 1895), Exercise house (built in 1882),
Afholds- og Højskolehjem (built in 1900), Lægebolig, Dyrlægebolig,
Sparekasse (built in 1867 ; 31/3 1901 was Savings. Credit DKK
565,791, Interest tax 4 pCt., Reserve tax DKK 23,966, Number of
Accounts 1801), Bank (created 1903, Share capital: DKK 100,000),
several industrial plants, as Elektricitetsværk (built 1903),
Andelsmejeri, Bryggeri, Chikoriefabrik ("Nørrejyll."), Tagpapfabrik,
Maskinfabrik, Jærnstøberi, Damp-Uldspinderi, Dampbageri, Farveri,
Lervarefabr., Margarinefabr. ("Alfa"), Mineralvandsfabr., M. M.,
Vejr- og Vandmølle, Haandværksdrift, Bogtrykkeri, Købmandshdlr.,
Hotel, Kro, Markedsplads (Marked i April, Juni og Sept.), Jærnbane-,
Telegraf- og Telefonst. and Post Office."
Over the past few
years, Vejen has experienced a great development in business and
cultural life. The city has gained a number of new inhabitants, who
are probably newcomers from nearby cities, who will take advantage
of the increasing opportunity for shopping and leisure interests in
the city.
Furthermore, new businesses are increasingly being
built around the E20 motorway, which runs just past the northern end
of the road. As a result, the city sign at the northern end of the
city has been moved several times.
Many houses in the city
center are restored houses from the 19th century or newly built shop
areas. On the outskirts of the city are many apartment blocks and
townhouses from the 1980s.
North-east of the city runs Vejen Å, which flows into Kongeå, which
formed the border between Denmark and Germany 1864-1920. 4 km south of
Vejen is the small settlement Skodborghus, which was an important border
crossing. Here is boundary stone no. 57 with the inscription Kr.Dm. (The
Kingdom of Denmark) on one side and Kr.Pr. (Kingdom of Prussia) on the
other. It is one of the few boundary stones that stands in its original
place.
5 km southwest of Vejen is Skibelund Krat, where there was
an unobstructed view of Kongeådalen and the lost Southern Jutland. From
1865, the area became a national meeting and celebration place, where
constitutional meetings are still held. Gradually, 22 memorials were
erected for Danish personalities.
In Askov 3 km west of Vejen is
the folk high school Askov Højskole. It was Denmark's oldest high school
Rødding Højskole. which in 1865 was moved to the Danish side of the
border. After the reunification, a new college was established in
Rødding.
The Vejen Art Museum was inaugurated in 1924 and mainly presents
Danish art from the 1880s, with the main emphasis on around 1900. In
front of the entrance is the ceramic artist Niels Hansen Jacobsen's
masterpiece A Troll that weathers Christian flesh.
Next to the
Art Museum with the troll fountain is Vejen Trollpark. The troll motif
can be found in several places in the city. There was a troll in the
municipality's coat of arms until 2006. The town's on-call pharmacy in
Kvickly is called Vejen Trolle Apotek.
Grønvangskolen in the western end of the city has 897 students,
divided into grades 0-10. grade.
Østerbyskolen in the eastern end of
the city has 465 pupils, divided into grades 0-9. grade levels, and 64
employees. In addition, there are 89 pupils and 49 employees at
ØsterbyCentret, which is an educational service for children who have
reduced cognitive function and need a lot of adult support.
Vejen
Gymnasium and HF offer STX and HF as well as HF3, where you learn the
same as at 2-year HF, but extended over 3 years with peace, structure
and support. The high school has 49 teachers and 500 students.
Vejen
Business College was founded in 1915 and is an independent institution.
Until 2013 it was called Vejen Handelsskole & Handelsgymnasium and
before that Vejen Erhvervsskole. The school offers the vocational
courses EUD, EUX and EUX Business as well as the Higher Business
Examination (HHX).
Vejen Idrætscenter has a swimming pool, several
sports halls, conference rooms and the possibility of many activities
and accommodation. Vejen Sports Forening is the city's football club.
Care center Kærdalen has 4 general care wards with 2-room apartments as
well as 2 dementia wards, rehabilitation and special wards with 1-room
apartments.
The town has 4 supermarkets, library, 2 pharmacies,
doctor's office, dentists and animal hospital.
Johannes Lauridsen (1847-1920), manufacturer, politician and director
of Danmarks Nationalbank
Ingrid Vang Nyman (1916-1959), illustrator
of the Pippi Longstocking books, granddaughter of Johannes Lauridsen
Johnny Vang-Lauridsen (1934-2020), director, known from the Margarine
War (from 1972), founded the factory Grønvang
Poul Dahl (1944-),
retired lieutenant colonel, author and politician (Venstre)
Bodil
Jørgensen (1961-), actor
Andrea Elisabeth Rudolph (1976-), radio and
TV host, i.a. at Vild med dans
Peter Graulund (1976-), former soccer
player in the Superliga
Sanne Troelsgaard Nielsen (1988-), female
national football team player, twin to Lotte
Lotte Troelsgaard
Nielsen (1988-), female national football team player, twin to Sanne
Thomas Ernst (1989-), actor