Billund is a town in South Jutland with 6,662 inhabitants (2020),
located in Grene Parish. It is the second largest city in Billund
Municipality and is located in the Region of Southern Denmark. The
city is first and foremost known for its airport, Billund Airport,
which is Denmark's second largest, and not least the amusement park
LEGOLAND, which had 1.7 million. visitors in 2012.
Billund
grew considerably during the 1960s, not least due to the toy group
LEGO's production of plastic building blocks. LEGO also established
an airport during this period and in 1968 built the amusement park
LEGOLAND. Globally, the LEGO Group has around 10,000 employees, of
which there are almost 4,000 employees in Denmark.
In the
center of the city is the city's cultural center, Billund Centret,
inaugurated in 1973 with i.a. Billund Church, Billund Library,
exhibition hall, theater hall and restaurant. The town is also home
to the Billund Trav racecourse, built in 1971.
By plane
Billund International Airport (IATA: BLL)
is Denmark's second busiest airport. There are direct scheduled flights
with Lufthansa from Frankfurt, with Ryanair from Berlin (1-3-5-7), with
KLM from Amsterdam, with Austrian Airlines from Vienna and various
connecting flights from German-speaking countries with SAS via
Copenhagen.
By train
The nearest long-distance train station
is in Vejle on the Aarhus–Vejle line. A continuous Intercity from
Hamburg also stops there twice a day. There is a public bus service from
Vejle train station to Billund. From Hamburg, the fastest connection by
train and bus takes a total of 4½ hours.
By bus
Since the
station was closed in 1957, public transport has consisted of bus
connections.
In the street
Billund is not far from the
European routes 20 and 45.
The church
Billund Church, Hans Jensens Vej 4, 7190 Billund
Skjoldbjerg Church, Vorbasse, Skjoldbjergvej 43, 6623 Vorbasse
Vorbasse Church, Kirkegade 23A, 6623 Vorbasse
Archaeological Site
Runestones
Hünengräber, in Jelling.
The museum
The Jelling
of the Kings. Museum, Vermittlungszentrum Vikingzeit.
Vandel Museum
Museumsgarten Karensminde, Morsbølvej 102, Grindsted.
Cultural
facilities
Billund Centre. Cultural center. Here befindet sich also
the Billund Municipal Art Collection (Kunstsammlung).
Sculpture park.
Established in 1991.
Ökolarium
Tierparks
Givskud Zoo
Skærup Zoo
Enghave Animal and Nature Park
Givskud-Löwenpark
lego land
Legoland Amusement Park (Legoland Billund Resort),
Nordmarksvej 9, 7190 Billund. The Legoland amusement park, which has
grown to 14 hectares since it was founded in 1968, is the main
attraction in the city. The amusement park is divided into eight
different theme worlds: Duplo Land, Imagination Zone, Legoredo Town,
Adventure Land, Miniland, Pirate Land, Knights' Kingdom and Lego City.
More parks
Lalandia Billund wikipediacommons. Water Park.
laying landed. Indoor play park for children.
Baboon City. Indoor
amusement center.
Sports
golf clubs
fishing
To go biking
Ristorante il Bambino, Ellehammers Alle 3, Billund 7190. Tel.: +45
7614 9425.
Restaurant Bobby, Hovedgaden 19, Billund 7190. Tel.: +45
7533 1160.
Restaurant Billund, Butikstorvet 5, Billund 7190. Tel.:
+45 7535 4078.
Billund Kro, Buen 6, 7190 Billund. Tel.: +45 7533 2633, fax: 7535
3191, e-mail: billund-kro@billund-kro.dk.
Zleep Hotel Billund, is
located inside the airport, Passenger Terminalen 4, 7190 Billund. Tel.:
+45 24 610 35, email: billund@zleephotels.com.
Hotel Legoland,
Aastvej 10. Tel.: +45 7533 1244, fax: +45 7535 3810, e-mail:
hotel@legoland.dk.
Hotel Propellen, Nordmarksvej 3, 7190 Billund.
Tel.: +45 75 33 81 33, fax: 75 35 33 62, e-mail: mail@propellen.dk.
Hotel Svanen, Nordmarksvej 8. Tel.: +45 75332833, fax: +45 75353515,
e-mail: info@hotelsvanen.dk.
If you don't speak Danish, you can get on with English and maybe
German.
If you have any further questions, please contact the
Billunds Tourist Office.
VisitBillund - Erhvervsfremme,
Rådhuscentret 16, 7190 Billund. Phone: +45 7972 7299.
Posthuse,
Butikstorvet 15, 7190 Billund. Tel: +45 8020 7030. Open: Monday to
Friday 11am-5pm.
The place is historically connected with Grene Church,
whose original Romanesque building is first mentioned in 1291. As a
place name, Billund is mentioned in its origin as "Byllundt" in the
year 1454 and only later as "Billund" in 1510 in connection with the
erection of a granite cross near Ankelbo . In 1682 the settlement
numbered 2 farms. The total cultivated area was 176.9 acres of land
owed to 11.43 acres of hart grain. The form of cultivation was
pasture farming with roofs.
When the staff band was abolished
in 1788, there were eight farms on the site and another,
Vestergaard, was added in 1790. It is assumed that Billundgaard,
which was where Billund Trav is today, dates from the same period.
Almost a hundred years later in 1880, the town's first mill was
built by the road between Vejle and Varde and in 1888 a dairy and
Krog School in 1890. In 1895 the mill burned to the ground and a
mill was built once again on the site in 1897, Billund Mill ,
according to template of Dutch wind turbines.
Billund is
described around the turn of the century as follows: "Billund, by
Landevejen, where it divides into Vejle and Kolding, with Skole,
Mølle, Andelsmejeri, Købmandshdl., Kro and Telefonst."
In
1897, the railway was built from Vejle to Billund's neighboring town
Vandel, and later the line was extended to Grindsted (in 1914). A
telephone exchange was established at the dairy in 1902, an assembly
hall was built in 1904 and in connection with Billund Mill a tenant
house was built in 1910. In 1914, Billund's first mission house was
founded and a station building was built in the town.
In
1916, the later founder of Lego, Ole Kirk Christiansen, bought
Billund Maskinsnedkeri and Tømmerhandel (founded in 1895). Kirk
Christiansen started as a carpenter and had his farmhouse opposite
Billund's then and current farm. He started construction in the
area, i.a. of a newer dairy in the town and one in Randbøl and he
also built Skjoldbjerg Church a few kilometers south of the town.
With the social crisis of the 1930s, however, Kirk Christiansen had
to go other ways. He then started an extensive production of utility
items such as ironing boards, stair ladders and miniature toys. The
toy was initially created from surplus pieces of wood from the rest
of the production, but in 1932 Ole Kirk began an actual toy
production. Initially, he produced the yo-yo whose discs were also
used for wooden toy vehicles. In 1934, the factory was named "Lego".
It was local women at Billundegnen who painted the wooden toys. In
the late 1930s, Billund got its own waterworks, gymnasium and town
hall, while the local electricity plant was closed down and
transferred to Sydjysk Andels Elektricitetsforsyning. During the
occupation, the old Lego factory burned down in 1942, but a new one
was built immediately after. In 1945, Billund Formbrændselsfabrik
was built and railway tracks were laid from Grindstedbanen to the
factory the following year. Another three years later, Lego launched
its first plastic bricks on the market.
The 1950s Billund
was, as elsewhere in Denmark, characterized by poverty and
discouragement, among other things. due to the closure of the
railway between Grindsted and Vejle and thus also of Billund
Station. In return, Billund Boligforening was founded and a number
of homes were built, just as a retirement home was built in the
city. In 1959, Lego donated a 15 td. large park north of the city
with playground, outdoor stage, toboggan run and lake. In 1960,
Legofabrikken's wood product warehouse burned down, and the company
then completely abandoned the production of wood product toys and
based its future exclusively on plastic toys and Lego bricks. In
1962, Billund Airport was inaugurated, first as a private airport
for Lego, but was taken over by the county and a number of
municipalities two years later. With the airport and Legoland's
opening in 1968, Billund entered new times. More than 30 years
later, in 1999, the citizens of Billund decided through a referendum
that they would continue to belong to the then Ribe County instead
of a closer connection to Vejle County. Today, both counties are
closed.
The name "Billund" means the grove with bees.
Billund is located approx. 13 kilometers from Grindsted, 56 kilometers from Esbjerg and 27 kilometers from the regional capital Vejle.
Despite Billund's modest size, the city has a well-developed
transport system. Like most other conditions in Billund, this is due to
LEGO's presence.
Airport
Most conspicuous within the traffic
situation is the international airport, Billund Lufthavn, which is
located 1.9 km northeast of Billund. It is Denmark's second busiest
airport with over two and a half million passengers (as of 2010).
The first airport came into existence in 1964, after three years
earlier having been constructed as a private airfield belonging to LEGO.
In 1966 the first terminal was completed, almost twenty years later in
1984 it became an international airport, and in 2002 a new passenger
terminal was inaugurated as the old one could no longer manage the
number of passengers and was left to only handle cargo.
Road
connections
Previously, the town was bisected by primary route 28,
but in 2002 – the same year as the new airport terminal was inaugurated
– a new bypass road past the airport became part of route 28, removing
some traffic from the town. However, the town is still connected to
Grindsted and Vejle by this road. City ring goes around the city center.
A special feature of Billund's road network is its many roundabouts.
There are a total of 32 roundabouts in the municipality, most of which
are within Billund's city limits. In addition to the many roundabouts,
the road network is distinctive in that many detached house roads are
constructed as turning points: especially in the newer subdivisions, the
center of the turning points is filled with playgrounds.
Bus,
rail and taxi
In Billund there used to be a railway station which was
a stop on the Vejle-Vandel-Grindsted Railway. However, the only remnant
of this is a local pub called "Stationen", and as far as train
connections are concerned, from Billund you have to go to Give or Vejle
to connect to the rail network. However, there is a prospect that things
will change in the future. In the year 2019, a planned single-track
railway is expected to be completed between Billund and Jelling, the
Billund Railway with stops at both Legoland and Billund Airport.
There are bus connections both to most larger nearby cities (including
Vejle, Kolding and Give), but also with the airport bus to Aarhus. In
addition, there is a school bus that runs the route Billund – Grene –
Løvlund – Kobjerg – Billund.
Because of the city's airport, there
is a lot of taxi driving in Billund. The truck drivers in Billund are
gathered under one ordering office and collectively have the name
Billund Taxi with 34 licenses in total.
As of January 2010, the city has 6,059 inhabitants. At the beginning
of the 1930s, the town was still a small village with around 300
inhabitants. In 1950, the town reached 500 inhabitants for the first
time, which then increased rapidly. After only 20 years, in 1970, this
number had quadrupled to 2,065 inhabitants. Population growth was strong
in conjunction with LEGO's rapid expansion from the mid-1960s. Today,
Billund is characterized as having a large influx and departure in
relation to the number of inhabitants in the city. However, population
growth since the turn of the millennium has been negative, although this
is a limited effect, as there is a surplus of births in the city.
The population composition is characterized by many families with
children, as a full 27.3% of households in the city consist of couples
with children. This is somewhat above average for the region. The
residents of the city generally live in detached houses.
The only religious community in Billund is the Folkekirken, which resides in Billund Church, located in Grene Parish. Previously there was a free church, which is now part of Bethania Church Center (belonging to the Pentecostal movement). The proportion of members of the Folkekirken in Billund is higher than the national average: figures from Grene Parish show that 90.3% of the population were members per October 2010, whereas the figure is 80.9% for the whole country.
Until the municipal reform of 1970, the early village belonged to
Grene Parish (in Slavs Herred), to which the town still belongs. It was
not until 1970 that Billund Municipality came into existence, which
administered the city in the period until the end of 2006, after which
the city came under Billund Municipality.
Economy and business
The city has an active business life for a city of this size and the
city's residents have the largest personal income in Region Southern
Denmark. There are also almost twice as many jobs as can be covered by
the inhabitants, which is why many commute from all over the country to
work in the city.
The business pattern in Billund is
characterized by industry, trade and transport, and therefore also has
an unusually high level of employment within the primary and secondary
occupations.
The city's largest workplaces are LEGO with 3,500
employees, and LEGOLAND, which has both permanent employees and 900
seasonal employees. Billund Airport has a total number of employees of
around 1,600-1,700. Of this, approx. 800 of the airport's own employees
and approx. 800-900 employees in the other companies at the airport.
The town has two schools, Billund School and ISB (International School of Billund). Billund School - formerly Søndermarks School. Both schools accommodate grades 0 to 9 and are two- and three-track respectively. Previously, there was also an offer for 10th grade, but this offer was moved to Grindsted. Likewise, youth and further education typically takes place in Grindsted or Vejle. Especially in the case of further education, there is typically a move away from the city, which is why the city also has a surplus of people whose longest education is at primary school level.
Most cultural activities in Billund are gathered in the Billund
Centre, which is a cultural centre. The center contains a kindergarten
and crèche, Billund Library, Billund Church, Billund Music and Culture
School as well as a theatre, cafe and meeting rooms. The center is also
home to Billund's local history archive. Events of a cultural nature are
also held on the corridors, which are also used as an exhibition hall,
including part of Billund Natten, which is an annual cultural evening.
In addition to the centre, there is a sculpture park in Billund,
whose first sculpture was erected in 1991. The park lies between the
Billund Centre, the nursing home, ISB, the trotting track and the
swimming hall and is built around a piece of wild nature – including the
passage of the Billund stream.
Billund is a favorite destination for tourists - especially for
families with children, and the city is one of the few places besides
Copenhagen that experiences an increasing number of visitors. The city
is home to the amusement park LEGOLAND, which dates from 1968, and since
2009 also Lalandia Billund, a water park and activity center. In 2017,
the experience center LEGO House was inaugurated.
With Billund
Airport, it is easy to get to Billund, and in addition to the offers in
the city itself, a number of other child-friendly attractions within a
radius of 20 km also beckon, including Givskud Løvepark, Kongernes
Jelling and Vandel Museum with an exhibition of an old-fashioned school.
Accommodation options include hotels, hostels and campsites.
The
two major attractions in the city are distinctly family-friendly, which
is what will also be focused on in the future in Billund from the
political side; a center for children. In addition, in collaboration
with the University of Southern Denmark, research is being carried out
in the city in tourism, including destination construction (as Billund
is distinctly a constructed destination and therefore a good starting
point for the research)