Assens is a Funen town (and former market town) with 6,050 inhabitants (2022) located on the Little Belt. In King Valdemar's land register, Assens is listed with the name Asnæs, which means a promontory overgrown with ash trees. The town is located in Assens Municipality and belongs to Region Southern Denmark.
Assens (Asnæs) is mentioned in King Valdemar's Land
Register 1231, where it with its adjoining is employed for 20 marks
of gold. It is not known when it became a market town, but it still
has houses built in 1260. In 1514, Christian II decided that the
citizens of Assens should now pay tithes of their and the town's
lands, which they had hitherto paid to Gangtofte ( Gamtofte) and
Kerndorp (Kærum) churches, to Vor Frue Sognekirke in Assens, and a
few days later he gave the town a protectorate in the usual form and
confirmation of the privileges given to the mayor, council and
congregation in Assens by King Hans and kings before him, as well as
the right to enjoy the freedoms that the citizens of Odense had been
given by the former kings, of which they already had the king's
approval. In 1524 the privileges were confirmed by Frederik I, but
the exact content is not known, as the city's archive was abducted
by the Swedish troops during the occupation in 1657-60. Like several
of the Funen cities, Assens belonged to the "King's Fadebur", ie the
king was the city's direct lord and had the right to direct or
through his bailiff tax and litigation of the city (in King Hans'
time it amounted to 450 marks annually). Its name appears several
times in the Middle Ages, thus in 1305, when Erik Menved issued the
privileges for Svendborg from here, and 1396, when Queen Margrethe I
and Erik of Pomerania met in Assens to negotiate with the Holstein
counts. A large part of the city's significance lay in the fact that
it was the common crossing point from Funen to Jutland, a
circumstance which, however, also had its disadvantages, as it
entailed the transfer of troops, hospitality (duty to house
travelers) and the like. It had only one parish church, Our Lady (in
addition to the high altar, it had altars for St. Birgitte, Holy
Cross, St. Catharine and St. Gertrud), several guilds, including a
St. George's Guild, a Holy Spirit House and a monastery.
The
provost of Tofte had been appointed superintendent of the House of
the Holy Spirit, a foundation for the poor and sick, in which the
care has presumably been carried out by a kind of clerical
brotherhood. The period in which the foundation functioned and its
location are unknown; it is first mentioned in 1472, when Eiler
Hardenberg and Otto Skinkel gave it two farms in Balslev and Viby.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the provost apparently handed
it over to the Carmelite Order, possibly so that the buildings could
instead be used for the Our Lady or Carmelite Monastery, which was
then founded in Assens; in return, the monastery then had to build a
new hospital. Thanks to the first prior, the preacher Morten
Petersen, the monastery was quickly recognized, but after Petersen's
resignation in 1514 it quickly declined, and in 1515 the Carmelites
were obliged to hand over the provost in Tofte all the treasures,
letters and privileges of the Holy Spirit in return for retain its
buildings and chapel and erect the new Holy Spirit Hospital. The
hospital was apparently built in "Sankt Gertruds Kloster", which
Resen says has been located on the square between Strandgade,
Strandgyde, Ramsherredgyde and Ramsherred. Our Lady's Monastery was
closed down relatively quickly, especially as a result of the
efforts of the reformer Peder Laurentsen; he had been a monk here.
In 1530 the buildings were handed over to the mayor and the council
for demolition; where they have been lying is not known.
Just
outside the city there has been a chapel (a field is still called
Kappelmarken) and a health spring.
The Renaissance
After
the Reformation, which quickly gained ground in Assens, carried
forward by the above-mentioned Laurentsen and Chr. Hull, the Count's
Feud brought a hard time for the city. It immediately declared its
support for Christian 2. In March 1535, Johan Rantzau began to
besiege the city, and the day after the battle of Øksnebjerg, on
June 12, 1535, it was stormed and plundered after a large part of
the citizens had left it. The city was heavily taxed and, moreover,
reportedly punished with the demolition of its old fortifications
with ring walls and gate towers, but this is shown only to some
extent true. In 1628, by royal order, the city again received a
fortification consisting of a rampart, which apparently had five
bastions and a tomb in front; in the ramparts there were four brick
gates, which probably originated from the old fortification, and of
the ring walls, both south of Adelgade and out to the beach, which
has previously gone much higher up, foundations have been found in
the 19th century. In addition to the four stone gates, which were
named after the streets they closed: Strandport, Ladegaardsport,
Ramsherredsport and Østerport (demolished in 1859, 1841, 1851 and
1845, respectively), there were, probably in the 18th century, two
fence gates, Kongens Port and Mølleport (in Ny Adelgade and
Damgade).
The city rose quite quickly after the Count's Feud and later in
the 16th century made Nyborg rank controversial as Funen's second
most important city. But prosperity was severely damaged by the
Swedish War of 1657-60. Assens was perhaps the city on Funen that
suffered the most. It was plundered on January 30, 1658 and later
often set on fire and tortured with accommodation. The damage was
estimated by the men of the town in 1660 at over 59,900 rigsdaler.
Under the dictatorship
By 1672 it had 1,084 inhabitants, and
by 1769 the number had risen only to 1,139. In the 19th century, on
the other hand, it grew significantly.
Assens has had a Latin
school, which was closed in 1740.
Assens anno 1778
"Assens" Købstad in Assens County, Fyens Stift, is located 5 miles
from Odense, 4 from Faaborg and 4 from Middelfart. The city's coat
of arms is a lamb with a flag 1591.
The church is
considerable with an octagonal tower and an octagonal spire, on the
east side a smaller octagonal spire, all with lead coated, called
Our Lady's Church and got a number of additions 1500 by Peder
Berrildsen. The pulpit is a beautiful sculptural work, heavily
gilded, the baptismal font is also very beautiful. In the city are
two Danish schools, five poor stalls. The town hall consists of two
storeys of half-timbering. Now there is only one mayor, who is also
town bailiff, and one town and town hall clerk. The exchange is held
on Tuesday.
Of private buildings there are 260, among which a
number of large farms, however all of half-timbering, which in some
years are much improved and insured for 70,300 rigsdaler in the fire
box. There are 13 streets, a square and four foundation-walled posts
(water pumps). The inhabitants consist of 5 clergy, 11 royal
officers, 10 merchants, 103 artisans, a total of 170 citizens and
830 people, in addition to a squadron of dragoons.
The town
has five ships, a yacht and some boats. The harbor is pretty good,
as a reef from the headland shoots far out into the sea and allows
the vessels to be safe. The ferries are two open tastings, a mail
hunt and two large boats. The city lands are 176 barrels 6 bushes
hartkorn. Everyone has their share for themselves. There are two
grain and groats mills and a tamping mill for a field preparation by
a stream just outside the city. The consumption is 2,830 rigsdaler.
Markets are held on June 27, October 7 and October 28.
At
Assens there are three springs, one by the shore called a sacred
spring. The second is located a bit from there by the beach and the
third up in the field, it has excellent water.
The early
industrialization
The construction of the Funen main line, which
reduced the town's catchment area, as well as the cessation of the
regular steamship connection with Southern Jutland after the war in
1864, damaged the town a lot, and the population decreased quite
significantly in the following decades. From the beginning of the
1880s, however, it began to grow again as a result of the
construction of the Assens-Tommerup line in 1884.
Assens'
population as a whole was increasing in the late 1800s, but
stagnated in the early 1900s: 2,963 in 1850, 3,262 in 1855, 3,589 in
1860, 3,461 in 1870, 3,196 in 1880, 4,026 in 1890, 4,665 in 1901 ,
4,645 in 1906 and 4,629 in 1911.
Factories and industrial
plants at the turn of the century included:
Assens Sukkerfabrik
(a large building complex to the southwest outside the city, built
1883-84 according to drawings by Professor Ove Petersen, belonging
to De Danske Sukkerfabrikker; it produced 12 to 15 million pounds of
sugar annually; during the campaign it employed about 250, outside
the 70 workers )
A pig slaughterhouse (near the sugar factory,
built 1883-84 according to drawings by architect Levy, belonging to
the joint stock company "De danske Svineslagterier" established in
1897) in Copenhagen)
Bavarian and white beer brewery "Vestfyn" (a
limited company established in 1885, share capital DKK 117,000; the
annual production was approximately 3,000 td. Bavarian and 2,000 td.
White beer)
An iron foundry and machine factory (22 workers)
A
garment factory (14-15 workers)
A water and steam mill (Kaals
Mølle)
A chocolate factory
A meat factory
Two lime works
A hat factory
The city contains many small and medium-sized companies, including
the chocolate manufacturer Summerbird, the brewery Vestfyen, the soap
manufacturer Plum and Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni. For many years, the
town's shipyard, Assens Shipyard A/S, established in 1850, was one of
the largest employers in the town.
The city has its own
cogeneration plant of 16 MW fired with local biomass, solar cells of 6.2
MW, and a wind turbine of 1.3 MW.
In 2004, Assens inaugurated a large cultural center, Tobaksgården, with a cinema, exhibition hall, theater and concert hall, café, music school and tourist office. The buildings have been used for the manufacture of tobacco products for a period from 1883, but the house has roots back to 1682.
Four of Museum Vestfyn's five departments are located in Assens:
Ernsts Samlinger, Toldbodhus, Willemoesgården and the local archive.
Similar to Varde and Køge Mini-By, you will find a model of the old
Assens, Assens Miniby, with more than 60 houses for the time being.
The town's parish church, Our Lady's Church, dates from the 15th
century and has an octagonal tower.
In the city there are also
Jehovah's Witnesses have a Kingdom Hall on the Quail Wing.
In the
past, there was also the Church of Our Saviour, a Catholic church that
was built in 1926-1927. The church was sold in 2017 and has now been
converted into housing. The Catholic congregation now holds services in
"Assisi" in Damgade.
Assens has various sports facilities in and around the town: Training
fields, stadium and a town hall.
On 17 June 2011, a new sports
centre, Arena Assens, was inaugurated in Assens. The arena is partly
furnished in the former juice station that was part of Assens Sugar
Factory. The arena is next door to Assens' town hall, which is housed in
other of the sugar factory's buildings. The arena has two large halls, a
café (Saftstationen), training center and a number of smaller rooms for
team training.
Peter Willemoes, naval hero. Born in Assens in 1783 and fell during
the Battle of Sjællands Odde in 1808. The 200th anniversary of his death
was celebrated in 2008 with various events around the city.
Dankvart
Dreyer, Golden Age painter. Born in 1816 in Assens.
Jens Adolf
Jerichau, sculptor. Born in 1816 in Assens. Honorary citizen of the
city.
Frederik Ernst, silverware manufacturer in the town. Born in
1898 in Assens. Honorary citizen of the city and founder of Ernst's
collections, an art collection housed in the city.
Jens Toldstrup
born Anton Ingersøn Jensen, resistance fighter. Born 1915 in Assens.
John Eriksen, national football team striker. Born 1957 in Assens.
Helle Ib, political commentator for B.T. Born 1965 in Assens.
Jacob
Gade, Danish composer, violinist and conductor who settled in Assens in
1943
Peter Brandes (born 1944), Danish painter, graphic artist,
sculptor and photographer