Hirtshals (formerly Hirshals) is located in Vendsyssel and is a fishing town with 5,733 inhabitants (2020). Hirtshals is especially known for its ports: the fishing port and the ferry port. The city originated around the harbor that was built 1919 - 1931 under the leadership of engineer Jørgen Fibiger. Hirtshals is located in Region North Jutland and belongs to Hjørring Municipality.
By plane
The nearest airport is Aalborg. There are many daily
connections to Copenhagen. There is a taxi shuttle service from Aalborg
Airport to Hirtshals. (approx. 67 km)
By train
Hirtshals
station: Approximately hourly connection to Hjørring during the day. A
few minutes walk over bridges to the ferry port terminals. Another stop
is Lilleheden station near the Oceanarium.
In the street
Hirtshals can be reached most quickly from Germany via the A7 autobahn
in the direction of Hamburg/Flensburg. In Denmark you continue on the
E45 motorway via Kolding, Velje, Århus and Randers. In Aalborg you turn
onto the E39 towards Hjørring. This ends in Hirtshals.
By boat
Daily ferry connections to Norway:
With Colorline to Kristiansand
(3:15 hours drive) and Larvik (3:45 hours drive). There are usually two
daily crossings in each direction on both connections.
With Fjordline
to Stavanger (10 hours) and on to Bergen in the middle of the Fjordland
(+ 7 hours).
Fjordline also travels to Langesund in 4.5 hours and to
Kristiansand in 2.25 hours.
Smyril Line sails to Tórshavn in the
Faroe Islands and on to Iceland several times a week. This connection
existed from the port in Hanstholm until 2010 and was relocated to
Hirtshals due to the better landing possibilities in bad weather.
By bicycle
Vestkysruten, Danish National Route 1 and part of the
international North Sea Coast Cycle Route, passes through Hirtshals. You
can get to the port city from the south-west (Løkken, Esbjerg) as well
as from the east/south-east (Skagen, Frederikshavn).
The town centre, fishing port, train station and Colorline pier are all within walking distance of each other. The lighthouse, bunker museum, campsite and youth hostel are also a relatively short walk away. Oceanarium and the piers of Fjordline and Smyrilline, on the other hand, are a little further away.
Hirtshals Bunker Museum, Bunker Hirtshals, 10th battery (between the
lighthouse and Danland Ferienhotel Fyrklit).
Hirtshals Museum - The
museum is set up in an old fisherman's cottage built in 1880 from
fieldstone. The facility dates back to 1915 and shows how the fishing
families lived at that time.
Tornby, Koebmandsgaard / (the old
merchant's house) Museum. The old merchant's house in Tornby is a 200
year old trading house for the coastal trade, the interior dates back to
1860. In the old courtyard you can get an impression of how the
inhabitants of the coast lived as farmers, sailors or traders.
Hirtshals Fyr - The lighthouse itself is 35 meters high and stands on a
27 meter high knoll. It was built in 1862 and offers a magnificent view
over the sea, the coast and the town, as well as over the busy Hirtshals
Harbour. The beacon is still in operation.
Nordsøen Oceanarium,
Willemoesvej 2, 9850 Hirtshals. Tel.: +45 98 94 44 44, e-mail:
info@nordsoemail.dk. The North Sea Oceanarium is the largest aquarium in
Northern Europe. It has a variety of aquariums and tanks such as the
large octagonal tank, which is 5m deep and holds 120,000 liters of
seawater. It mainly contains larger animals as well as a colorful
cross-section of fish species that can also be found in the other
biotope aquariums. 12 biotope basins with habitats typical of the North
Sea and their inhabitants. Various themed pools can be found scattered
throughout the site. The sealarium with 800,000 liters of seawater in
the large open-air enclosure is home to common harbor seals and gray
seals in Denmark. The oceanarium is specially designed for schooling
fish such as herring and mackerel, which need a lot of space. It holds
4.5 million liters of seawater and is 8m deep.
Klitplantage - nature areas around Hirtshals. There are three quite
different dune trees, namely Lilleheden Klitplantage, Tornby
Klitplantage and Uggerby Klitplantage. All three have marked hiking and
biking trails. The areas are primarily designed to protect against the
sand drifts that plague the north and west coasts of Jutland. The silted
up St. Laurentii's Church (den tilsandede kirke) at Skagen, one of the
most important sights in North Jutland, is an example of this.
swimming in the sea
Hirtshals has little opportunity for an extensive shopping spree. The
range of supermarkets etc. is sufficient.
1 Rema 1000,
Banegårdspladsen 13 (right by the train station.). Tel.: +45 96 67 22
32. Open: daily 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
2 Super Brugsen, Jørgen
Fibigers Gade 1. Tel.: +45 98 94 17 22. Open: Mon-Sat 8am-8pm, Sun
9am-8pm.
1 Hirtshals Camping, Kystvejen 6, Postbox 56, 9850 Hirtshals (below
the lighthouse). Tel.: +45 98 94 25 35, email: hirtshals@dk-camp.dk. The
campsite offers a magnificent view of the North Sea. It is located right
on the outskirts, and from there you can easily walk to the town with
its diverse shops and restaurants and the Colorline ferry terminal. Good
sanitary facilities, kitchen, laundry. Small lounge. Free WiFi in and
around the service building. 10 simple and 2 comfort huts. Sheltered
pitch for tents, while the pitches for camper vans and caravans are very
exposed to the wind. Season: late March to late October
2 Dan Hostel,
Kystvejen 53, 9850 Hirtshals. Tel.: +45 98 94 12 48, email:
danhostel.hirtshals@mail.dk.
3 Hotel Hirtshals, Havnegade 2 (a few
minutes' walk from the harbour). Tel.: +45 98 94 20 77, fax: +45 98 94
21 07, e-mail: 123@has.dk. last change: Sep. 2018 (information may be
out of date) edit info
Hotel Strandlyst, Strandvejen 20. Tel.: +45
9897 7076, e-mail: info@hotel-strandlyst.dk. Price: Single room: 57
euros - 79 euros; Double room: 68 euros – 105 euros
1 Hirtshals Tourist Office, Dalsagervej 1, 9850 Hirtshals. Phone: +45
98 94 22 20, Fax: +45 98 94 58 20.
2 post office (Postbutik) in Super
Brugsen. Open: Mon-Fri 1pm-5pm.
In the 16th century, the name Hartzhals (deer neck) appeared on Dutch nautical charts because sailors thought they saw a resemblance to a deer's neck in the ridge on which the lighthouse was later built. After the lighthouse was built in 1863, the name Hirtshals replaced the previous name of the fishing village, Lilleheden, which was named after a nearby farm.
The location by the North Sea meant that a lighthouse was built on
the site early on: Hirtshals Lighthouse.
Around the turn of the
century, Hirtshals was described as follows: "Fiskerlejet Hirshals or
Lilleheden, with school, mission house (built 1896), steam brickworks,
factory of tiled stove pipes, inn (Lilleheden Kno), Badepensionat
(„Usigten"), stone pier that forms a boat harbor (at At the end of the
approx. 400 Al.-long pier there is approx. 18 F. water, but on the reef
outside only 14 to 16 F.), lighthouse (white, solid lighthouse with
flares every 2 minutes, shown from a 112 F. high, round tower; height of
the flame o. the sea 182 F., latitude 5 miles; on the tower signal for
ice), fog signal, signal and telegraph station, telephone station,
rescue station (established 1890), danger signal station for fishermen
and customs control point. From On the coast 500 Al. N. of the
lighthouse two telegraph cables went out, one to England and one to
Norway."
Hirtshals had 437 inhabitants in 1906, 498 in 1911 and
516 in 1916.
In 1919, an architectural competition was held for a
completely new harbor town at Hirtshals; it was won by Steen Eiler
Rasmussen and Knud Christiansen. In the interwar period, Hirtshals
developed: the town had 1,039 inhabitants in 1921, 1,219 in 1925, 1,287
in 1930, 1,438 in 1935 and 1,546 inhabitants in 1940.
The town
continued its development after World War II: it had 2,133 inhabitants
in 1945, 2,532 inhabitants in 1950, 3,144 in 1955, 4,177 in 1960 and
4,799 inhabitants in 1965. The port was expanded in 1966 to become one
of the country's largest fishing ports.
In 1999, a live walrus
beached near the town, which was only the second time in recent times
that a live walrus was seen in Danish waters.
In the period from
the municipal reform in 1970 to 2007, Hirtshals was the capital of the
former Hirtshals Municipality.
Fishing plays a big role for the town, as does tourism, including holiday rentals.
From Hirtshals there is, among other things, ferry connections to Kristiansand and Larvik with Color Line, to Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen and Langesund with Fjord Line and to Tórshavn, Seyðisfjörður with Smyril Line, which contributes to Hirtshals Harbor being one of Denmark's largest ferry ports.
In the city is the North Sea Museum with one of Europe's largest
aquariums; it suffered a devastating fire in 2003, but has been rebuilt.
Hirtshals hosts several events every year, for example the Nature
Meeting, as well as Music Under the Stairs, as well as a large fishing
festival that spans several days.