Kalundborg is an old market town in Northwest Zealand in the
heart of Kalundborg Fjord, where the peninsulas Røsnæs and Asnæs
meet. The city has 16,295 inhabitants (2020) and is located in
Kalundborg Municipality in Region Zealand. Kalundborg-Jutland is a
local dialect.
The West Zealand city has previously been a
traffic hub in Denmark, as Kalundborg Station is the terminus for
the Northwest Line. The Port of Kalundborg has traditionally been a
ferry port with different lines to Jutland, but today there is only
the SamsøFærgen's connection to Ballen on Samsø. The port is the
fourth most visited cruise port in the country.
Kalundborg is
today a busy trade and catchment area for the westernmost part of
Zealand's northwest coast area. The city is also the educational
center of the area, offering two higher educations (2019) and
several high school educations.
Especially the oldest part of
the city, called Højbyen, is rich in medieval architecture. The
city's largest and most famous landmark is the five-towered Church
of Our Lady, which was built in the 13th century. Kalundborg Museum
has an exhibition about the history of the area and has especially
many finds from the Viking Age.
Until the 1680s, Kalundborg consisted of two
districts:
The high town, which was the western part of the city,
which lay within the city wall.
Nederbyen east of the castle with
Skibbrogade and Kordilgade.
Origin
The city's founder is
Esbern Snare. Around 1167, he built a castle, (Vestborgen), at the
fishing village Cordale and the natural harbor behind Gisseløre -
Hærvig, which was home to part of the management fleet. The remains
of the castle can today be seen in the ruin park west of Our Lady's
Church and the museum.
The Middle Ages
Kalundborg was
built on one of Zealand's most important strategic locations, namely
the natural harbor Hærvig, which was already a gathering place for
the command fleet in the Viking Age. The great man Esbern Snare
(foster brother of Valdemar the Great) built the town and castle
around the year 1167. Esbern, together with his little brother,
Bishop Absalon and King Valdemar, were the front figures in the
Danish crusades in the Baltic Sea in the 12th century. The city was
an important hub for these crusades. After Esbern Snare's death, the
castle passed to his daughter, "Mrs. Ingeborg of Kalundborg", who
was married to the respected drost Peder Strangesøn (died 1241), and
who was later accused of joining King Valdemar's enemies, so
Kalundborg was included in the crown in 1262. In the following years
the castle fell into disrepair so that the Norwegian free trader,
the earl "Mindre-Alf" (actually Alv Erlingsson), in 1285 easily got
it in his power and plundered the whole area. Erik Menved had it
fortified again and gave it to his brother Christoffer on loan.
Later, the Halland lord Knud Porse got it on loan from Christoffer,
when he had become king, as "County Kalundborg" together with Samsø
and more. After his death in 1330, his widow Ingeborg kept the
county. However, when Valdemar Atterdag came to power, he disputed
her possession of the castle and began to besiege it in 1341, but
she was supported by Count Gert's sons, Henrik and Claus, so that
the king had to raise the siege with a loss of 2,000 men. By a
settlement of 1 September 1341, however, Mrs. Ingeborg relinquished
the castle for good, in exchange for keeping Halland for life.
The Holsteins suffered a great defeat at Gamborg, south of
Middelfart, and in the end the Jews sought reconciliation with the
king at a meeting on Zealand. On the way back, the Jutland envoys
were killed at Middelfart, including Niels Bugge from Hald, and the
battle threatened to break out again. But on Pentecost 24 May 1360,
King Valdemar held a Dane court in Kalundborg, where a settlement
was reached with Duke Valdemar of Southern Jutland and the Jutland
nobility. Throughout the period up to 1560, successive kings held
danehof, estate meetings and royal councils in the city. Parts of
the state administration were gathered in the city, and the national
archives were kept in "Folen" at Kalundborg Castle.
The
town's oldest known privileges (since lost) were given by
Christoffer of Bavaria in 1443. In 1482 the widow queen Dorothea
Kalundborg was widowed, and here she stayed for the most part, just
as she died here on November 10, 1495. Incidentally, one hears most
the castle referred to in the later Middle Ages as a gathering place
for meetings and as a state prison. Among the prisoners are Bishop
Rudolf of Skara and Count Otto of Rupin, who were brought here after
the battle of Falkøping in 1389. In 1520, Christian II had a group
of Swedish noble women, widows executed during Stockholm's massacre,
among others. the widow of the Swedish head of state Sten Sture,
Mrs. Kirstine Gyllenstjerna, lead here as a prisoner of state,
together with her mother, Mrs. Sigrid Baner, and her children. When
Christian II had fled Denmark, the castle's then chief, Claus
Eriksen (Ravensberg), held it for some time for Christian II, until
the kingdom's court master Mogens Gøye opened negotiations with him
and promised him to become King Frederik I's husband, if he would
surrender the castle. Claus Eriksen then ordered his servants to
guard the other side of the castle, while he himself and his chosen
ones would defend the important tower "Folen". 50 of King Frederik's
people were then hoisted up the tower at night, attacked the crew
and took the castle. Claus Eriksen is said not long after being
knighted, but all over the country he was nicknamed "Slippeslot".
Bybrønde in Kalundborg is first mentioned in 1493. It stood on
the triangular square in the middle of Højbyen. The list from
1653/54 mentions four wells: the one on Torvet, one in Kordilgade,
one by Tinget and one in Møllestræde.
During the Count's Feud, the castle was conquered and given by
Count Christoffer on 1 January 1535 in grant to the Oldenburg
nobleman "lange" Hermann, but already in January 1536 he had to hand
it over to Mogens Gøye. In the same year, Knud Pedersen
Gyldenstierne was granted it, and he was thus guarded by his old
enemy, Christian II, when he was taken to Kalundborg in 1549, where
he had quite a lot of freedom during his stay here until his death
in 1559. After the Count's Feud, the castle fell into disrepair.
Finally, it was taken by the Swedes in 1658, who let the citizens of
the city pay 400 lots of silver and 50 rigsdaler in ready money, so
that the enemy would not set it on fire. Still, it was torn down.
Towards the end of the 13th century, the city was fortified to
the east, and during Valdemar Atterdag, the fortifications were
further strengthened when the castle was built and the city wall
strengthened. The fortifications formed about a circle and consisted
of ramparts, walls and towers with tombs about; they also stood in
connection with the town's own walls, and within the inner ring wall
lay the castle itself or the main building, which was in several
storeys, constituted 5 lengths and enclosed a castle courtyard with
a well in the middle; one long must have had at each end a tower,
one of which was used for the chapel, the other for the prison
tower. In the outer ring wall there were 4, presumably free-standing
towers, namely "Farshat"; The "foal," which was the highest, and in
which the dressel (archive) of the kingdom was kept; The malt tower
and the bakery tower.
In the Middle Ages, Kalundborg had only
one monastery, a Gråbrødrekloster, founded in 1239 by the eager
Countess Ingerd of Regenstein, who was so eager for monasticism;
however, its church was not consecrated until 1279. The monastery
was located on the later Kalundborg Ladegård square, immediately
north of the castle square. The permission that Valdemar Atterdag
1361 obtained from the pope to have to move it, because it was too
close to the castle, can thus not be used. In the monastery several
chapters of the order took place, and partly here, partly under a
linden tree in the monastery's cemetery, the kings occasionally held
retreats. In 1517 the stricter rule of order, the observant, was
introduced. The last guardian, Melchior Jensen, himself hastened the
abolition of the monastery; influenced by Luther's teachings, he
allowed the sheriff at Kalundborg Castle by Mogens Gøye's order to
chase the monks away in 1532 and became the first evangelical priest
at Kalundborg Vor Frue Kirke (from 1540 at Raklev Parish). Shortly
afterwards, the monastery was converted into a barn for the castle,
and after this was demolished, the farm was in 1664 donated to the
rich Dutchman Gabriel Marselis.
In addition to Our Lady's
Church, the town had another church in the Middle Ages, St. Olai
Church, which was located on the northwestern outskirts of the city,
where later the cemetery of the same name came to be located. It has
probably been the town's actual parish church, while Our Lady was a
castle church. Raklev Parish belonged to it, but when this got its
own church, Skt. Olai's significance, and as the Upper and Lower
Towns merged, it ceased to be used. However, it stood until the
beginning of the 19th century, but was used only as a beacon and as
a burial chapel. The church's richly gilded altarpiece must have
previously stood in the castle chapel.
To the east, just
outside Kalundborg, on the later Sankt Jørgensbjerg, was a Sankt
Jørgens Hospital for lepers, which is already mentioned in the early
Middle Ages, and to which probably the Chapel of the Holy Cross was
attached, as in a letter of 1495 (the year when it was annexed to
Our Lady's Church) is mentioned as standing between Sankt
Jørgensgård and the castle's brick barn. In 1631, the hospital's
estates and income were transferred to Vartov in Copenhagen, in
exchange for the city of Kalundborg always having 6 beds in it.
All this together with the mention of two guilds, Skt. Knuds and
Skt. Gertruds, testifies that Kalundborg has been a fairly
significant city in the Middle Ages. From a list of the towns' taxes
from 1270, Kalundborg is mentioned as the fourth in a row (after
Roskilde, Copenhagen and Næstved) according to the size of the tax.
The first privileges were granted to the city by King Hans at
Antvorskov Monastery on March 10, 1485 (when it received the same
privileges as Roskilde and Copenhagen), and these privileges were
later confirmed several times, thus by Christian III, Christian IV
and Frederik III. In the Middle Ages, the upper town was the actual
town and as such fortified, as it was surrounded by a rampart or
rather wall, which here and there was reinforced with towers. Even
long after settlements had taken place both to the south down to the
fjord and to the east, Øvrebyen retained its reputation as the most
important part; but severe fires, such as one under King Hans and
one in 1617, as well as wars, ravaged it. The Count's Feud took on
it, but even worse were the Karl Gustav Wars of 1658–60; and when
the castle lay in rubble, the role of Øvrebyen was played out.
Nedrebyen became the actual town, although it too had suffered
greatly from the enemy's fire estimates: in 1645 Kalundborg had
1,139, in 1672 1,058 inhabitants. The trade helped Nedrebyen to its
feet, because it was the city's main business.
Under the dictatorship
In the last half of the 17th century,
money was made by foreign trade, especially in Western and Southern
Europe, and this lasted until the middle of the 18th century, when
it was replaced by a significant trade in Norway (the city had 1732:
1,232, 1769: 1,267 and 1787: 1,375 inhabitants). After the loss of
Norway, the grain trade took the road to England and Holland. Large
trading houses in Copenhagen founded shops in Kalundborg, and the
city gained its heyday, which was short-lived, however, because the
grain trade slowed down when exports to England ceased and
competitors in Slagelse and Holbæk took over.
Møllebakken
From around 1677, you have Resen's map, where seven turbines tower
on Møllebakken. On later maps from 1753 and 1790 only six are seen.
The place name Møllebakken is known back to 1442, although the
place was previously called Rugbanken or Rugbjerget. The first mill
probably came up between 1250 and 1300. In the basic tariff from
1682, the seven mills are specified with owner names. At the time,
everyone was pretty dilapidated. Three belonged to Peder Bagge, a
fourth to Ole Skrædder; it was probably the best as it was valued at
70 rigsdaler. Otherwise, the assessments were 48-65 rdl. The
smallest mill was operated by Niels Sadelmager and belonged to the
school and the poor. At the fire assessment in 1736, manager Niels
Lind at Ladegården (owned by John de Thornton in Hamburg) offered to
let the estate's mill insure for 100 rdl, but the other mill owners
would not contribute to that. Today it is not known where
Ladegården's mill was located; but possibly it was the northern mill
at Nyvangs skel that was deleted from the basic tariff in 1740. In
the fire assessment from 1761, the six turbines are valued at
600-900 rdl. (The one for 900 rdl was newly built.) 1,200 rdl, and
50 years later, with a background in the state bankruptcy of 1813,
increased to 3,600-4,000 rdl. Møller Chresten Hillerup from Lemvig
took citizenship in Kalundborg in 1784 as a brandy burner. In 1786
he bought from mill Jens Pedersen and his wife's estate their mill,
then called "Hillerup's mill". This blew down around 1792 in a
storm, so Hillerup went bankrupt. Merchant Mülertz subsequently took
over Hillerup's property in Kordilgade. The mill was never rebuilt,
and in 1803 the mill land was transferred to other mills. In those
years, the Dutch mill began to gain ground at the expense of the
stump mill, but it is not known when the last one was demolished.
The first of the Dutch mills on Møllebakken was "Ulstrup's mill",
built by merchant Niels Jensen and named after miller Ulstrup. It
burned down on March 6, 1891. Of the mills themselves, only Ulstrup
lived on the hill in the miller's dwelling, which still stands
there.
"Gregersen's mill" was the westernmost of
Møllebakken's mills, and was replaced with a Dutch mill in 1851.
Gregersen lived in Skibbrogade 53 and had married the mill, which in
1891 was moved towards Copenhagen and burned down there. In 1838,
Chr. Boisen, living in Kordilgade 37 and later in Pedersminde, owner
of "Boisen's mill", known from J.Th. Lundbye's sketch from
Møllebakken around 1846. On the sketch, the stubble mill has been
replaced by a Dutch mill, which in 1868 was moved to the north side
of Holbækvej, where it burned down in 1902. Horse mills - mills
pulled by horses - were found in Præstegade, Kordilgade, Skibbilade,
Møllestræde. The last one was closed down in 1876 and gave its name
to Hestemøllestræde, which ran from Lindemannsstræde up to Volden.
The early industrialization
In the second half of the 19th
century, Kalundborg experienced a new period of prosperity.
Contributing to this were the improved traffic conditions (the
construction of the railway, the port's significance for the ferry
service to Aarhus and elsewhere) as well as the incipient
industrialization.
The harbor (then classified as a summer
harbor of 4th class) had good conditions, located by the deep and
easily accessible Kalundborg Fjord and protected by the peninsula
Gisseløre, and it was also in ancient times considered Zealand's
best harbor after Copenhagen. However, it was not until the 19th
century that anything serious was done about it. The old shipping
bridge, which was divided into a western arm, which was used by the
ferry crews, and an eastern one, for the use of the merchant ships,
was considerably expanded, thus the ferry bridge in 1836, so that
there could be room for steamship, and the eastern arm in 1846. In
1853 –54 a stone pier and more were built, and later new extensions
were made. Kalundborg got a daily steamship connection with Aarhus
via Samsø. In addition, it had twice a week direct damship
connection with Copenhagen via Sejrø and once a week with Vejle.
The construction of the Northwest Line was (after long
negotiations on various proposals, such as leading the line over
Frederikssund and on a fixed bridge over Roskilde Fjord) according
to law of 26 February 1869 transferred to the Zealand Railway
Company by concession of 2 October 1871. The 79 km . long line from
Roskilde over Holbæk to Kalundborg, which was built by Privatbanken,
is assumed to have cost approximately DKK 9.6 million in total. DKK,
but only the company stood at 71/3 million; it was opened for
operation on 30 December 1874, but for the time being only for a
reduced operation until 1 May 1875. With the purchase of the Zealand
Railways in accordance with the law of 2 July 1880, it was
transferred to the state together with the company's other lines.
Of factories and industrial plants, the town had around the
middle of the 19th century: 7 spirits distilleries, 1 tobacco
factory, 1 beer brewery, 1 pottery, 1 lime distillery, 3 tanneries,
1 ship and boat building. In addition, 4 wind turbines and 1 horse
turbine. Of factories and industries, the town had in 1869: several
distilleries, 1 machine factory, 1 tobacco factory, 2 beer
breweries, 1 clothing factory and wool spinning mill, 1 iron
foundry, 3 lime distilleries, 1 ship and boat building 1 book
printing plant, 4 windmills and 1 horse mill. Of factories and
industrial plants, the town had around the turn of the century: 1
Bavarian and white beer brewery (joint stock company, established 27
May 1881), 2 machine factories, 1 cooperative pig slaughterhouse, 1
clothing factory and wool spinning mill, 1 lime distillery, 1 ship
and boat building, 2 book printing works, 2 book printing works , 2
wind turbines, 1 steam turbine, 1 sawmill and planer.
In
Kalundborg, 2 newspapers were published, namely Kalundborg Avis
(same magazine published on Samsø as Samsø Dagblad) and Kalundborg
Dagblad. In 1907, the publication of Kalundborg Folkeblad began,
which gradually became dominant and today is called Nordvestnyt.
Kalundborg's population was increasing at the end of the 19th
century and the beginning of the 20th century: 2,490 in 1850, 2,420
in 1855, 2,587 in 1860, 2,673 in 1870, 3,167 in 1880, 3,566 in 1890,
4,322 in 1901, 4,628 in 1906 and 4,732 in 1911.
By trade, in
1890 the population was divided into the following groups,
comprising both dependents and dependents: 443 lived by intangible
activity, 1,311 by trade and industry, 815 by trade and turnover, 69
by shipping, 212 by fishing, 178 by agriculture, while 440 were
distributed by other occupations, 73 lived on their means, 17
received alms, 4 were in prison, and 4 were insane. According to the
1906 census, the population was 4,628, of which 298 subsisted on
intangible activities, 198 on agriculture, forestry and dairy
farming, 147 on fishing, 2,077 on trade and industry, 998 on trade
and more, 608 on transport, 152 were retired people, 96 lived of
public support and 54 of other or unspecified business.
Kallundborg Telephonselskab
"Telephonselskabet" was founded in
the summer of 1884 by a circle of citizens who signed a contract
with blacksmith J.M.Chr. Larsen in Aarhus to make a facility for 30
subscribers at a price of DKK 6,000. The board consisted of V. Buch,
dr. Frigast, hardware store Lunning, grocer L.C. Hansen and merchant
Bussenius. On 4 December 1884, it was stated in Kallundborg Avis
that Hotel Postgården's telephone was for the guests' free use.
Other cities, such as Holbæk, received offers from the company Otzen
and Thorstensen in Copenhagen, while Kalundobrg's telephone system
was a local initiative. Holbæk's city council rejected the offer as
being of no practical significance, but had shown interest if one
could have called the capital and other provincial towns. There was
one telephone exchange in Kalundborg, with 38 subscribers.
Maintenance of the 7 km above-ground lines was provided by
"Mekanicus" P. Jensen. The switchboard was operated by two men in
turn. The number of conversations in 1885 was estimated at about
25,000, and the income from that was DKK 2,180. January 1, 1887, the
length of above-ground wires was 18 km; but the number of
subscribers dropped to 33, while the number of calls in 1886 had
dropped to 19,200. It was not until 1 January 1889 that Kalundborg
got a wired connection to Copenhagen via Roskilde, and in the
telephone directory for 1889 the subscribers in Kalundborg who could
be called from Copenhagen or even called there were included for the
first time. It required a special subscription. Later, local
subscribers were given the same opportunity, in exchange for paying
35 øre for a 3-minute call. On 18 February 1896, the Copenhagen
Telephone Company bought the Kalundborg "Telephonselskab" for DKK
14,000.
The town's first telephone exchange was located on the twig in
jeweler Lander's property, Kordilgade 9. In 1897, the telephone line
was completely rebuilt, and wires replaced from steel wire to the
new bronze wire 1.25 mm. A new telephone stand with 220 seats was
set up on Kordilgade 9, from where the wires were branched out to
the subscribers by means of telephone poles and corner irons on the
chimneys. The exchange moved from the attic down to the ground
floor, where the new telephone exchange with standard tables was put
into use on October 7, 1897. In 1905, there were over 200
subscribers. In 1907, the conditions again became too small, so the
center moved to Frantz Ditlevsen's property in Kordilgade 36 with
room for 600 subscribers. It was not until 1924 that a further
expansion of 100 subscriber numbers took place. In 1927, the company
bought Kordilgade 53 and furnished a modern exchange. In 1955, 1,460
subscribers and 44 telephone operators were employed. An automatic
telephone exchange was maintained from 1967 until in Sct.
Jørgensbjerg 3.
The fire in 1901
Kalundborg sawmill was
located right by the railway area. On 23 September 1901, the
sawmill's logs ignited, and a hurricane-like south-easterly wind
caused the fire to spread to Kordilgade, where the house row 34-42
burned down. The fire was so violent that it was mentioned in an
Italian newspaper: "The island of Zealand in Denmark is on fire as a
result of a violent fire that has occurred in a wooden warehouse in
the Kaljundborg Company. The islanders are fleeing." With the fire,
Kordilgade 36, which was a rococo house, also disappeared. The
current No. 36 was designed by architect Kristoffer Varming. Here is
also a memorial plaque about the fire on the facade:
By the
power of the hat sank into the gravel
the hundred-year-old house.
I wish now the new one we have built here,
must stand at distant
times safely.
Kordilgade 38 is built in beautiful wood, just
like the frieze in the gate, attributed to Niels Termansen, who has
also left a drawing in Kalundborg's local archive. Under Kordilgade
42 was a vaulted cellar (4 ribbed cross vaults around a central
pillar) that was demolished when the current building was erected in
1901. The grounds with back buildings then continued down to the
railway, but the street breakthrough around 1970 has cut them to
make room for parking. The original appearance and functions of the
rear buildings have thus disappeared.
The interwar period
During the interwar period, Kalundborg's population was growing: in
1921 6,833, in 1925 6,549, in 1930 6,926, in 1935 7,620, in 1940
7,751 inhabitants. But at the same time, there was growth in the
suburbs in the rural district of Kalundborg market town and in Årby
Municipality, where a number of people with work settled in
Kalundborg. On 1 April 1933, the rural district of Kalundborg market
town was incorporated into the market town.
At the census in
1930, Kalundborg had 6,926, of which 372 subsisted on intangible
activities, 2,818 on crafts and industry, 1,210 on trade etc., 966
on transport, 268 on agriculture, forestry and fishing, 523 on
housework, 603 were out of business and 166 had not stated source of
income.
World War II
In Kalundborg, the Grand Hotel became
the German headquarters. Upon liberation in May 1945, German city
commander Jost Brökelmann saw himself forced to protect his
headquarters from the locals, who mocked his men with shouts and
fireworks. SMG-armed patrols were sent out to clear the streets, and
people fled from Vestre Havneplads, including the 23-year-old
student and FDF division leader Jørgen Manniche and some of his
comrades who ran up through Skibbrogade. Manniche ran in through the
bicycle dealer's gate in No. 17 and hid by the smokehouse in the
yard, while his comrades ran into the stairwell next door. The
Germans fired some random volleys of gunfire up the street and into
the courtyards before retreating again. Manniche was hit by a brief
ointment and died the next day at the hospital. Several were
injured. When the streets were cleared, the German soldiers hid in
niches and gates in Skibbrogade, where the signs that hung from the
facades of the shops were pierced by shots. Kalundborg's German
consul, manufacturer Christian Valentin, and representatives of the
resistance movement, met with city commander Brökelmann at the Grand
Hotel in the hope of making the surrender take place without further
clashes. Manniche was buried at the family burial site at Sct. Olai
cemetery, where his comrades also had a memorial stone erected. On
the façade of Skibbrogade 17, a memorial plaque commemorating
Manniche's death for German bullets on 4 May 1945 has been hung.
Kalundborg is crossed by several main roads, primary route 23 and
primary route 22. Route 23 that goes from Kalundborg and to the Holbæk
motorway (primary route 21) is loaded with heavy traffic and is the main
thoroughfare from Kalundborg to Copenhagen. The Norwegian Road
Directorate has developed Skovvejen between Holbæk motorway and
Dramstrup into a motorway. In addition, there are plans to build the
last part of the Kalundborg motorway so that it goes all the way to
Kalundborg. Hovvejen, a bypass road in the eastern part of the city, is
part of primary route 23 and leads traffic east of Kalundborg and out to
Kalundborg Harbour. Primary route 22 starts in Kalundborg and goes west
of Gørlev, around Slagelse, south of Fuglebjerg, around Næstved and past
Vordingborg. The route ends at junction 41 on Europavej 47.
Kalundborg has two stations, Kalundborg Station, which is the terminus
of the Nordvestbanen, where there are departures to Holbæk and Roskilde,
and Kalundborg East Station, which is located in eastern Kalundborg. The
station will make it easier for commuters to the two large companies
Novo Nordisk and Novozymes to get there.
Kalundborg Harbor has
for many years been the starting point for several ferry routes to
Jutland, but in 2012 the last ferry route to Aarhus closed. Today, it is
thus only SamsøFærgen's connection to Ballen on Samsø that still departs
from this port. In addition, the Port of Kalundborg has built Ny
Vesthavn, which is a container port and cruise port. It has a water
depth of 15 meters and lies west of Asnæsværket. The port opened on 22
April 2019.
There are a number of large companies in the city:
DONG Energy
(Asnæsværket)
Gyproc (gypsum board factory)
Kalundborg Harbour
NKT Flexibles (Flexible submarine pipelines for the transport of oil,
gas, water and chemicals)
Novozymes
Novo Nordisk
Pronova
BioPharma (Production of Omega-3 based medicines for the treatment of
heart and vascular diseases)
Statoil Refinery
The largest
companies in the city are part of an environmental collaboration in a
so-called industrial symbiosis.
In the past, the engine factory
Bukh, Carmen, Dansk Sulfursyre- og Superphosphatfabrik and Kalundborg
Shipyard were also significant companies in Kalundborg.
At
Kalundborg Harbor there are several companies dealing with shipping and
cruises. From 1916 to 1921, Kalundborg Shipyard existed, after Valdemar
Henckel had founded it. Several other companies were involved in the
bankruptcy.
Retail trade
The city's retail trade is
particularly concentrated on and around the Lindegade and Kordilgade
pedestrian streets, which are the first part of Nederbyen.
On
Bredgade there are several supermarkets, hardware stores and other large
shops. The Ny2Torv shopping center is also located here.
Media
Kalundborg Radiofonistation has a nationwide radio transmitter at
Gisseløre on 118 m. The radio station was founded in 1927. TV Kalundborg
is a local internet media that covers Kalundborg Municipality.
The daily newspaper Kalundborg Folkeblad was published from 1907 until
2011, when it was merged with Holbæk Amts Venstreblad to be published
under the name Nordvestnyt. Subsequently, it merged with Sjællandske,
which is owned by Sjællandske Medier. Their local office is located in
Skibbrogade.
Tourism
Kalundborg Harbor is visited by several
cruise ships every year, and it is the country's fourth largest cruise
port. Cruise Kalundborg was founded in 2007 to increase cruise tourism
in the city. In 2017, 6 ships will dock in the port, which will bring
around 10,000 tourists and crew members to the city.
Kalundborg is a cultural gathering place for a large catchment area
around the city.
Kalundborg Museum is located in Lindegården,
which is an old six-long noble farm from the 16th century. Here there is
a regional and city history museum with exhibitions on e.g. the square
of the Viking kings at Tissø and the city's history as a Crusader city
in the Middle Ages.
The city's cinema, Kino Den Blå Engel, was
founded in 1958 and shows premiere films. Kalundborg Amateur Theater
(called KAT) is located in the middle of the city, and stages various
performances throughout the year. The association was founded in 1985.
In 2006, the Holberg Theater was established. The theater is based on
Ludvig Holberg's comedies.
A little east of the city is the
Landbomuseet at Birkendegaard, which is housed in an old bull stable at
Birkendegård. Here there is an exhibition about agricultural development
in Denmark, as well as an exhibition with interiors from different
periods.
The old town, Højbyen, contains the country's largest collection of
stone houses from the Middle Ages. These include Præstegadehuset, which
is Northern Europe's best-preserved medieval house, the Old Latin
School, which has functioned as a church barn, the Bishop's Garden and
Kalundborg Old Town Hall. In Højbyen is also the city's landmark, Our
Lady's Church, which is one of Denmark's most significant medieval
churches - and the only one with five towers. In Adelgade there are a
number of listed half-timbered houses, including Adelgade 19, which
today functions as a priest's office, but was originally built in 1645;
and Schous Hus (Adelgade 17), which dates from 1620.
West of
Højbyen lies Ruinparken, which are the ruins of Vestborgen, which Esbern
Snare had built in 1167. East of Højbyen lie the remains of Kalundborg
Castle.
The municipal administration has, among other things,
home in the former main building of Kaalund Monastery, which has its
origins in the castle's barn and is located in the transition between
Højbyen and Nederbyen. The building was built in 1751-52, possibly by
Johan Christian Conradi on behalf of Count Christian Lerche, whose coat
of arms adorns the facade above the archway. The breeding farm itself
was demolished in 1949. A new large administration building has now been
built, which brings together the vast majority of administrative
functions in the municipality. The building is built on Holbækvej by
Kåstrupvej, and the last functions moved in in the spring of 2016.
In Nederbyen, there are several old half-timbered buildings along
Kordilgade and Lindegade. On the latter is Lindegade 1-3, which was
built in 1681 by councilor Jens Nielsen Bittzholdt. Opposite is the
Pharmacy, which was built in 1753, possibly by Philip Hartmann. Ole
Lunds Gård is located in Kordilgade 1, and was built in 1777. Today it
is run as a hotel.
There was a major housing shortage in
Kalundborg in 1863, when Denmark's smallest house was built at
Strandstræde 15. The house is just over 22 m² and has twelve rows of
roof tiles. Strandstræde, which runs from Behind Slotsgraven and south
towards the harbour, was formerly a back street for the houses in the
southern part of Skibbrogade. To the west of this strait lay the beach,
land and meadow areas that belonged to people in the high town.
Strandstræde was called Svinepinen in the 1540s, probably because
Kalundborg Castle's slaughterhouse was located here. In the 18th
century, the strait was called Grønnegade, probably because of the
gardens between the houses in Skibbrogade and the small strait. Small
houses were built on the west side of the strait in the 17th century,
but it was not until the 1830s that all the plots on the west side were
subdivided and built on. In 1877 the seamen's association Enigheden
bought most of the land on the eastern side of the strait, and in 1885
Strandstræde 8 was erected as a seaman's home. Nos 10, 12, and 14, as
well as Behind Slotsgraven 9, were built in 1901 by the Association
Sailors' Home, also as housing for retired sailors. Strandstræde 4 was
built in 1843 by pilot Jørgen Jørgensen. For a time there was a pub in
the building, but in 1926 the municipality bought it and converted it
into a community hall for the dock workers. In the 1960s there were
sidewalks on both sides of the strait. Café Amerika was located in
Strandstræde 2, which has now been demolished.
Nyvangs Church was
built in 1974 and was designed by Holger Jensen.
South of the
city on Asnæs you will find the manor of Lerchenborg, which is
considered to be a unique piece of Baroque/Rococo architecture in
Denmark.
Kalundborghallerne is a series of sports halls where several sports
clubs are based. Here are i.a. bands for handball, badminton and
basketball.
Kalundborg Gymnastikforening og Boldklub is a
football club that was founded in 1899. Their best men's team plays in
the Danmarkserien, and they have their home ground at KGB Stadium.
Kalundborg has been visited several times during the cycle race Post
Danmark Rundt, i.a. in 2014, when the 6th and last stage started in
Kalundborg to finish in Frederiksberg. In the 2017 edition, the first
stage was run from Frederiksberg to Kalundborg, and it was won by Casper
Pedersen.