Slagelse is a town in Southwest Zealand approx. 90 km from
Copenhagen with 34,015 inhabitants (2020). It is one of Denmark's
oldest cities. The city is Zealand's eighth largest and is located
in Slagelse Municipality, which belongs to Region Zealand.
As
a trading town, it has a large catchment area and is a natural
center with pedestrian streets and shopping centers, not least with
the West Zealand Center as the largest trading place. In the
southeastern part of Slagelse is Antvorskov Barracks, where the
Guard House Regiment is located. The barracks has 200 employees and
can accommodate up to 2000 soldiers. In addition, there are several
educational institutions.
In the middle of the city is one of
the oldest brick churches in Denmark, namely St. Mikkel's Church
built in the 14th century, and at the southern end of the city are
the ruins of Antvorskov Monastery, which was handed over to the
Johannite monks in 1164 by King Valdemar the Great. There is also a
museum and the ring castle Trelleborg is a few kilometers from the
city center.
In the town is a regional museum, Slagelse Museum, which exhibits
various objects from Slagelse and the surrounding area.
Approx. 7
kilometers west of the city is the ring castle of Trellebrog from the
Viking Age. The museum on the site was recently taken over by the
National Museum.
Saint Mikkel's Church was built in the 14th
century and is one of the oldest brick churches in Denmark. There is
also the Church of Our Lady, which is a Catholic church built in
1930-1931.
The town houses one of the municipality's three
cinemas; Panorama., which was founded in 2003.
The name "Slagelse" comes from the Old Danish word slagh, which means "sinking into the ground", and from else, another word for "loose".
Origin
Slagelse (in King Valdemar's Land Register Slauløsæ and
Slaglæsæ, 1374: Slawelsæ, 1575: Slaugelsé) is a very old town.
In ancient times, there was a pagan place of worship, until
Roskilde Bishop Svend Nordmand built a stone church around the year
1000. When Antvorskov Monastery came into being in the middle of the
12th century, sick people traveled far and wide to the monastery to
be healed by the monks: act. Among these monks was Saint Anders, who
has been given a spring, Saint Anders' Source named after him.
The Middle Ages
In the 11th century it is mentioned as a
mint, as there are coins minted here under the kings Knud the Great,
Hardeknud and Knud the Holy, and during the time of the last two
kings, the mint masters Ulf and Fathir in Slagelse are mentioned.
The town must have had its first market town privileges in 1280 by
Erik Glipping, and in 1289 that duty-free treatment was granted
everywhere except at Skanør market. On June 8, 1321, its privileges
were affirmed. From Valdemar Atterdag's time, the intelligence about
the city becomes more comprehensive. This king gave 13 April 1348
confirmation of its privileges and added new ones, among other
things he gave its citizens equal rights with Roskilde citizens.
Well, the city suffered a lot during the Black Death, which is said
to have driven away about a quarter of the population, but that it
was at that time considered a fairly significant city, shows what
Danehof held on May 3, 1376, where Queen Margrethe left her son Oluf
is crowned King. The following rulers also showed the city their
attention. Thus Erik of Pomerania in 1403 confirmed its privileges,
Christoffer of Bavaria added new ones in 1441, in 1460 they were
confirmed again, in 1489 new ones were added, in 1515 they were
confirmed by Christian II, in 1534 Count Christoffer gave new ones.
In the 16th century, the theologian Hans Tausen worked as a monk at
the monastery until he went to Wittenberg in Germany to study at the
university. When he returned home, he was a convinced Lutheran and
in 1525 gave the first Lutheran sermon in the monastery church.
The Renaissance
After the Count's Feud and the Reformation,
Christian III confirmed them in 1552 and Frederik II in 1561. On the
whole, it was probably to the benefit of the town that the latter
king so often stayed at the nearby Antvorskov, whether it also on
the other hand has brought burdens for the citizens when they had to
keep stable space for 500 horses prepared during the court stay
there. Christian IV (1597) and Frederik III (1648) also confirmed
its Privileges.
The hospital and the churches must also be a
testimony to the importance of the city in the later Middle Ages. In
addition to the two parish churches and the hospital church, it had
two more, namely St. Clemens Church (mentioned in an undated letter
from no later than 1223), about which, incidentally, nothing is
known, not even where it has been, and Our Lady's Church (mentioned
no earlier than 1382) , which has stood roughly in the place of the
later school, on the corner of Skovsøgade and Store Fruegade. It
seems to have disappeared shortly after the Reformation, for in 1551
a royal letter was issued stating that the "deserted Church, which
is called Our Lady's Church", must be taken down for the use of the
parish church, the rectory, the school and the town hall. At the end
of the 18th century, a small half-timbered church was mentioned,
which stood on Frue Kirkeplads, but it has probably only been a
mortuary chapel. When the Latin school was established is not known;
it dates back at least to the beginning of the 16th century. In
Slagelse there has been a Sankt Knuds Gilde.
In the Middle
Ages and well into recent times, agriculture must be said to have
been the city's most important source of income, but it has also
from ancient times been one of Zealand's significant trading towns
due to its rich catchment area. Even in the middle of the 17th
century, Arent Berntsen could in "Danmarckis oc Norgis Fructbar
Herlighet", say that, although there is no entrance to Slagelse,
"there is still a large trade, since there is around it very good
and well-built land. ". The town also used to have, so to speak, its
own harbor, about 10 miles west of the town by the Great Belt,
namely Skibsholm harbor, which has probably been located at the
mouth of the Tude river, and which may have already been used in the
Middle Ages. The river must also have been much wider and deeper in
the past than now. Frederik II ordered in 1574 that the port should
be closed down as a trading port and could only be used as an
emergency port, but when the citizens of Slagelse complained about
the damage this ban caused them, it was reopened in 1580.
Under the dictatorship
In 1648, Korsør complained about the break, the harbor made it,
and after this town had become a stack town in 1661, Skibsholm
harbor was finally closed down in 1664, and Slagelse then had to
seek Korsør harbor. From that time it was overrun by Korsør: in 1672
Slagelse had 1,832, in 1769 only 1,289 inhabitants. Of course, like
the other cities, it has suffered a lot from ravaging fires. In 1515
the city tax was reduced because the town had suffered great damage
by fire, and similar provisions were taken in 1530, 1540, and 1650;
a violent fire on June 22, 1652 consumed about 100 farms and houses,
so the town was exempt from tax for 3 years, and later this tax
exemption was extended for 5 years; new fires are reported in 1666
and 1669, in which year 36 houses burned, in 1740 44 farms and
houses burned as well as the town hall, in 1772 the whole of
Skovsøgade (22 farms and houses), and in 1801 part of the town
burned again.
The famous poets and writers, B.S. Ingemann,
Jens Baggesen and H.C. Andersen was a student at the city's Latin
school. However, it was not a success for the latter, who went to
school 1822-26. The teacher dr. S. Meisling made time a "torment"
for young Andersen.
The early industrialization
As late as
the middle of the 19th century, it played a role for the town that
it had shipping points with magazines for shipping grain in two
places by the Great Belt, by Mullerup and Bisserup. In addition, the
city reportedly had a large upland trade with the farmers in the
area.
The railway (Copenhagen) -Roskilde-Korsør came to the
city in 1856, but the station was built a little north of the city;
and in 1881 came the city park Slagelse Lystanlæg. Actually, the
station town became Slagelse only in 1892 with the relocation of the
station into the town and the construction of the current station
building, designed by the architect N.P.C. Holsøe. In 1909, a power
plant was built in the city, which in 1995 became Slagelse Musikhus.
In 1855, Slagelse had: 1 book printing plant, 2 beer breweries,
8 spirits distilleries (of which 5 with steam boiler), 4 tanneries
and field breweries, 1 iron foundry, 1 machine factory, 5 flour and
groats mills, 3 potteries, 1 tobacco factory, 1 cotton factory. In
1869 Slagelse had: 2 book printing houses, 2 steam beer breweries, 6
steam distilleries, 4 tanneries and field breweries, 2 iron
foundries with machine factories, 5 flour and groats mills, 3
pottery factories, 1 tobacco factory, 1 soda factory, 1 wool
factory, 1 wool factory needle factory. At the turn of the century,
Slagelse had factories and industrial plants: 1 clog factory in
connection with a sawmill, 1 gilding and sawmill with about 70
workers, 1 small gilding, 1 chicory drying, 1 cooperative pig
slaughterhouse, 1 significant intestinal scraping, which performs
intestines for sausage factories in Hamburg, the owners of the
company lived, 1 large mechanical hemp yarn spinning mill, 1 steam
distillery (established 1775), 1 manure factory, 2 steam beer
breweries, one of which, "Poulsbjærg", became a limited company in
1896; 2 tanneries; 2 iron foundries and machine shops, 1 tobacco
factory, 1 soda factory, 1 needle factory; 3 book printing houses,
several mills, pottery, wool spinning mills and more.
In
Slagelse, 3 newspapers were published: "Sorø Amts Folkeblad"
(printed in Ringsted), "Slagelse-Posten" and "Slagelse Folkeblad".
Slagelse's population was increasing in the late 1800s and early
1900s: 4,011 in 1850, 4,747 in 1855, 4,931 in 1860, 5,468 in 1870,
6,076 in 1880, 6,816 in 1890, 8,958 in 1901, 9,768 in 1906 and
10,463 in 1911.
By industry, the population in 1890 was
divided into the following groups, comprising both dependents and
dependents: 629 lived by intangible activity, 2,936 by craft and
industry, 1,449 by trade and turnover, 2 by shipping, 251 by
agriculture, 63 by horticulture, while 1,029 were distributed by
others occupations, 360 lived by their means, 90 enjoyed alms, and 7
were in prison. According to a 1906 census, the population was
9,768, of which 622 subsisted on intangible activities, 417 on
agriculture, forestry and dairy farming, 5,118 on crafts and
industry, 1,858 on trade and more, 704 on transport, 492 were
retired people, 414 lived on public support and 143 by other or
unspecified company.
Slagelse is located on the E20 motorway and is also an Eastern Danish railway junction, partly between Odense and Copenhagen, partly between the city itself and Tølløse in North-West Zealand. The town is approx. 18 kilometers from Korsør and the Great Belt Bridge. After the Municipal Reform, the municipality is characterized by a number of larger urban centers within an area of now 567 km2, which function as primary service, employment and trade centers for the region.
The city is characterized by a number of educational institutions and
schools:
The Business School Centre, which is part of the
University of Southern Denmark
The University of Applied Sciences
Absalon's campus offers three welfare programmes:
Nurse's box
Social worker
Pedagogue
Business Academy Zealand (EASJ), now
called Zealand Business Academy.
Slagelse Gymnasium & HF
Zealand
Business College (ZBC) has a campus in Slagelse, which offers, among
other things:
EUX
HHX
HTX
Several municipal primary schools
A number of private schools in line with the public school
In the 1990s, Slagelse was widely discussed in the media, especially
in women's handball, not least because of Slagelse DT when the
charismatic coach Anja Andersen was at the head of the team. The club
won several Danish championships and even the European club championship
Champions League three times (2004-2005-2007). After Anja Andersen left
the club in 2008, it has taken its old name again, Slagelse FH, and now
(2010) plays in the second best tier, 1st division. The club has its
home ground in Antvorskovhallen with space for approx. 2300 spectators.
A more recent initiative in the world of football was FC
Vestsjælland, which from 1 July (2008) had taken over Slagelse B&I's
elite team place in the Danish tournament until bankruptcy in December
2015. The main shareholder in the project was Kurt Andersen. FC
Vestsjælland reached two seasons in the Super League as well as
participation in the cup final 2014-15 before relegation the same
season.
Bjørn Andersen - Danish athlete
Ulrik Balling – former soccer
player
Hilmar Baunsgaard – Prime Minister of Denmark from 2 February
1968 to 11 October 1971
Cecilie Frøkjær – journalist and TV host
Troels Christensen – former Liberal politician and mayor
Villum
Christensen – director and politician for the Liberal Alliance
Kim
Christiansen – politician for the Danish People's Party
Martin
Kristjansen – lightweight boxer
Christian S. Nissen – former director
general of DR from 1994 to 2004
Julie Rademacher – former Member of
Parliament for the Social Democrats
Ole Ritter – former professional
cyclist
Brian Sandberg – former prominent member of the Hells Angels
– now a member of the Bandidos
Michael Schøt – stand-up comedian and
copywriter
Kirsten Siggaard – singer and actress
Simone – singer
Jacob Wilson – stand-up comedian
Irene Hesselberg - chairman of the
management association in the Danish Nursing Council
Janni Pedersen -
journalist and TV host
Martin Høgsted - stand-up comedian and actor
Jesper D. Jensen (born 5 July 1967) is a former Danish boxer who won the
European flyweight championship.