Sønderborg (German: Sonderburg, Sønderjysk: Synneborre / Synnebo)
is a town and municipality in Southern Jutland with 27,841
inhabitants (2020) on both sides of Alssund. Most of the town is
located on the island of Als, which is connected to Southern Jutland
by King Christian X's Bridge and the northern Alssund Bridge. It is
Sønderjylland's largest city and grew up around Sønderborg Castle,
which was built a little before the year 1200. Archaeological
excavations in various places in the city show the medieval
Sønderborg on Humletorvet.
Shipping was an important
profession from the 16th century, when ships from Sønderborg sailed
throughout the Baltic Sea area with goods from Als. The Prussian
bombing in 1864 hit Sønderborg very hard, where more than 80 percent
of the town's houses burned down or were damaged. The reconstruction
took place slowly, and only after 1900 did the population grow
noticeably, e.g. due to German immigration.
Southern Jutland
belonged to Germany in the period 1864-1920, and the city lost many
citizens who emigrated to Denmark, which lay north of the Kongeå
border. In return, Sønderborg gained several German military
institutions, and the city's industry and trade developed further.
After the Reunification in 1920, a number of Germans emigrated, and
the population dropped again from 11,500 before World War I to 8,500
in 1921. The port and road network were expanded, and Christian X’s
Bridge replaced the old pontoon bridge. The city grew especially
after World War II, and from 1960 it had overtaken Haderslev in
terms of population and had become South Jutland's largest city.
Half of the city's inhabitants were employed in handicrafts and
industry in 1960, and the metal and machine industry in particular
were significant industries.
In 1970, with the municipal
reform, Sønderborg lost its status as a county seat, and the
population fell until the mid-1980s, after which the trend reversed.
The Sønderborg area today has a dynamic business environment
within high technology, machinery, food and textile industry and has
many educational institutions and colleges. The University of
Southern Denmark in Sønderborg offers i.a. business economics,
business languages and engineering educations, and in addition
there are e.g. Sønderborg Idrætshøjskole og kunstskole. The city is
also home to the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra. Sønderborg
Hospital is the city's largest workplace with 1,500 employees.
Sønderborg is the capital of Sønderborg Municipality, which is
part of the Region of Southern Denmark. On 1 January 2007,
Sønderborg became part of the larger Sønderborg Municipality. The
municipality currently has 74,561 inhabitants (2019). Other cities
in Sønderborg Municipality are: Nordborg, Augustenborg, Guderup,
Fynshav, Høruphav, Vester Sottrup, Broager, Havnbjerg and Gråsten.
The town of Sønderborg was built on the island of Als in the
latter half of the 12th century roughly at the same time as
Sønderborg Castle, favored by good harbor conditions and services to
the castle. The city consists of old and new buildings. Sønderborg
was badly damaged by Prussian artillery bombardment during the siege
of the Dybbøl redoubts in 1864. Large parts of the city center and
the harbor area burned down. The largest part of the city lies on
Als, while a smaller part lies on the Sundeved side of Alssund. From
the mid-19th century until 1930, the two districts were connected by
the pontoon bridge Frederik VII's Bro. If you had to cross, tolls
were paid, except on Sundays, when there was church attendance. The
migration of people every Sunday meant that the Sundeved side was
popularly called "The Christian side".
Sønderborg is known
especially for the castle, the popular spirit routes across the
Flensburg Fjord until 1999 and the annually recurring ring riding,
which in high summer is a town party without equal for several days.
In 1888, Sønderborgs Kredsringriderforening was established and ever
since then the ringrider festival has been held in Sønderborg every
year. Nowadays, the annual ring riding has become a folk festival over
four days in July (2nd weekend) with the participation of approx. 500
riders and 40,000 guests. Sønderborg Ringridning is also known for its
annual men's lunch with around 1,600 participants, making it the world's
largest men's lunch.
The knightly tradition of ring riding from
the Middle Ages has survived in Southern Jutland. In all its simplicity,
ring riding involves catching a ring suspended from a gallows at full
gallop with a lance. The interaction between horse and rider can still
fascinate, just like when the armored knights rode to the ring in front
of Sønderborg Castle.
The town festival in Sønderborg began in a
small way with Atletklubben Alsia - now Brydeklubben Alsia - as the sole
organizer in 1969. The four-day town festival at Ringriderpladsen always
begins on Ascension Day and lasts until Sunday evening. The town
festival in Sønderborg is best known for "The world's largest women's
lunch", where the limit is set at just under 1,000 participating women.
The ladies' lunch has previously been in the Guinness Book of Records.
Since 2002, the annual Sønderborg Beach Party has been held, where
live bands and DJs perform. On Rådhustorvet and in Store Rådhusgade you
will find the city's many cafes, restaurants as well as discos and other
entertainment.
Alspigen is a sculpture in bronze and granite by Adam Fischer erected
on Rådhustorvet in 1951. The girl "Als" symbolizes the lush island it
stands on, and the students celebrate their matriculation every summer
with a dance around the fountain.
Ewers Pakhus on the harbor now
functions as an integral part of the Multikulturhuset, which houses
Sønderborg's main library, Deutsche Bücherei (the German library) and
Sønderjylland's Art School. On the ground floor there is an adult
library and an art hall with space for events and a café.
The
museum at Sønderborg Castle has interesting historical collections with
permanent exhibitions such as: Southern Jutland under German rule,
referenda and Reunification, Sønderborg town's history 1864-1940, the
dukes of Schleswig and Holstein, the history of the castle, local
costumes and household utensils. In addition, there are changing
exhibitions, e.g. art exhibitions.
The German minority museum on
Rønhaveplads illuminates the history of the minority after approx. 1850.
There are art and cultural history collections to shed light on
identity, the museum, everyday life, war participation 1939-45, the
court settlement, as well as the positive development after 1955.
Kirkegade 8 was built in 1643 and has been owned and inhabited by
tailors and other craftsmen and skippers. The gable house, which is
listed in class B, was renovated in 1985. Today there is a ringrider
museum in the building. The museum is open 2 days a week from June to
August. During the ringrider festival in Sønderborg, the museum is open
Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 11-16. Group visits can be arranged all
year round on tel. +4574427575.
2 km west of the town is the
memorial park with the fortifications and the memorial room at Dybbøl
Mølle with drawings, photos, uniforms and weapons from the wars in 1848
and 1864 and an exhibition about the history of the mill and about the
warrior graves throughout North Schleswig. Near the mill is the History
Center Dybbøl Banke, which depicts the events of the 2nd Schleswig War
at Dybbøl, Sønderborg and Sundeved.
Outdoor art is an important
part of the street scene, and the city's main street, Perlegade, is
marked by Jørgen Haugen Sørensen's sculpture Gate of the Senses (1979).
In the Sønderborg area you can experience revues, folk music, theatre,
orchestras, choirs, etc. at the city's venues such as Alsion,
Sønderborghus, Sønderborg Teater and in Mølleparken.
The town has
a brass band orchestra of 25 musicians. The volunteer fire brigade in
Sønderborg switched to being staffed by professional firefighters in
2015, and was therefore closed down, but the corps' orchestra continued
its musical work under the name Sønderborg friv. Fire protection
orchestra.
In 2021, restaurant Syttende received a star in the
Michelin Guide as the first in the city.
Sankt Marie Church, not far from King Christian the X's Bridge, is so
marked by many reconstructions that it is largely a product of the
Renaissance. Until 1957, when the town was divided into two parishes, it
was named Sankt Jørgens Kirke, as the previous medieval church on the
site was attached to a Sankt Jørgensgård. Its current appearance is
essentially due to a rebuilding in 1595-1600. The gable's profiled bands
and vertical masonry pillars, as well as the flat-braced vaults,
flat-arched windows and portals and the roof rider on the roof of the
nave thus date from the Renaissance.
However, the spire
originates from a rebuild in 1960. The furnishings consist of, among
other things, of a Renaissance altarpiece from 1618, a bronze-cast
baptismal font from 1600, a small late Gothic chancel arch crucifix from
the beginning of the 16th century, a pulpit in the High Renaissance, a
work from 1599 by Hinrich Ringerinck from Flensburg, as well as the
duke's chair in the two east bays of the south aisle , furnished around
1625.
The Christian church at the city's newest cemetery at
Ringgade in the east of the city dates from 1957 and is not without
reason reminiscent of the Grundtvig church in Copenhagen. It was
designed by Kaare Klint, who completed the father P.V. Jensen Klint's
famous church in the capital. In 1973, the church was expanded with a
transept in the Gothic style.
The town of Sønderborg was laid out on Als in the latter half of the
12th century roughly at the same time as the construction of Sønderborg
Castle.
The city's natural catchment area was Als and most of the
Sundeved peninsula on the other side of the strait. The location was
suitable for shipping and fishing.
The first approach to urban
formation took place at Augustenborg Fjord, in a place that was central
to the rich farming settlements on Als. Here, in the 12th century, a
seasonal market place arose, surrounded by ramparts and graves – which
today is called Brovold in the village of Bro near Augustenborg.
However, the introduction of the large kegs and the increasing trade
between Denmark and the Hanseatic States in Northern Germany required a
deep, protected anchorage as close to the Baltic Sea as possible. It was
found where the Alssund flows into Sønderborg Bay and Flensborg Fjord.
At the same time, the site had the advantage that it could serve
Sundeved with the ferry.
The first reliable evidence of the town
is from 1256, when Duke Valdemar Abelsøn wrote a letter from the castle
to the monks in Løgumkloster. The town of Sønderborg gradually arose
near the castle. The first inhabitants were builders, merchants and
people from the uplands. Rosengade and Slotsgade were the first streets
in Sønderborg. The first modest town grew quickly, and sometime in the
13th-15th centuries, the large urban area was probably laid out, where
Store Rådhusgade and Lille Rådhusgade meet in the long triangular
Rådhustorv and continue into Perlegade.
On that occasion, a brick
town hall was built at the bottom of the square - where the town hall is
still located (the medieval town hall was destroyed by the Prussian
bombardment in 1864; the current one is from 1933). At the same time,
the skipper and fishing district grew along the beach to the north, the
present-day Sønderborg and Havbogade, and up towards the leprosy
hospital on the hill (whose church is St. Marie Church) the district of
St. Jørgensby forward (Jørgensbjerg, Lilliegade and Kirkegade).
Around 1510, King Hans built a shipyard near the castle. Roughly at
the same time, the extensive filling in off Brogade and at the southern
end of Søndergade will be carried out. In 1532-1549, the former king,
Christian II, was imprisoned at Sønderborg Castle, but he was free to
move around the city for large periods. The maintenance of the king and
the guard has undoubtedly had a positive impact on the city's commercial
life. Especially at the end of the 16th century, the city had a heyday,
when trade and shipping flourished, which is primarily due to rising
prices for agricultural products.
In 1590, Sønderborg had its
market town rights renewed when Hans the Younger gave the town a market
system. The tax list from 1607 states that out of 340 taxpayers there
were 100 craftsmen. The artisans thus formed a significant part of the
city's inhabitants.
In the 15th century, a new district emerged
by the water along Søndergade and Havbogade. In the 18th century, the
neighborhood was a rich maritime environment; in 1770, 110 houses were
owned by skippers and 44 by sailors.
But in the 17th century, the
good times ended, and the city struggled with the growing trade at
several illegal ports on the Als. Flækken Nordborg received several
trading privileges and, especially in the early 18th century, became a
significant competitor in the battle for trade with the Als farmers. It
was, on the whole, a difficult period for Sønderborg, but the good
harbor conditions were an important prerequisite for the town to be able
to build up quite a good export of grain and cattle to home and abroad
in the latter half of the 18th century. In addition, extensive
shipbuilding took place, and several industrial factories already
existed at the turn of the 19th century. During the three years' war
1848-1850, the Danish military was strongly represented in Als, which
the town's business community profited from.
The war between Denmark, Prussia and Austria in 1864 had serious
consequences for Sønderborg. The 10-week siege and shelling of the
entrenchments at Dybbøl Banke meant that shells often fell in the town.
Things went particularly wrong on the night between 2 and 3 April, when
the city was heavily bombarded. The violent bombardment resulted in many
destroyed houses. The town hall and the duke's mansion from the 1580s,
Ernst Günther's Palace in Perlegade, were particularly hard hit. When
the city came under German rule after the war, it meant great upheaval
for the citizens. The city government in Sønderborg was German from 16
November 1869, and on 1 January 1870 the Schleswig-Holstein market town
system was introduced. It set new limits on who could take part in the
local elections. In 1875, there were only 374 eligible voters in
Sønderborg, a significant decrease in a town with around 4,000
inhabitants.
In 1865-66, the Prussian government built a new and
improved ring of fortifications around the city, both on the Sundeved
side (the current redoubts on Dybbøl Banke) and on the Als side. At the
same time, the later Kongevej was built as a military road around the
city. Of the fortress on the Als side, only the stock houses on Kongevej
and Helgolandsgade and a remnant in a private garden at Alsgade have
been preserved. As the danger of a counter-attack was overrun with the
German victory over France in 1870-71, the plant was closed down in
1884.
In July 1888, a circle of the city's citizens held the
city's first ringrider party, where over 100 festively dressed riders
participated, the party site was a 4-acre field north of the city, which
was made available by Sønderborg Eksportbryggeri.
In 1905, the
German Empire decided that Sønderborg, together with Flensburg, should
be the new headquarters for the rapidly growing German High Seas Fleet.
On the slope north of the city, the new marine station designed by
architect Eugen Fink in the German Ordersburg style was erected in the
years from 1906. At the same time, officers' villas were built both in
Engelshøjgade and as a garden city along Jomfrustien. The naval station
became very important for the town's population, which grew rapidly
after 1907, when the facility was completed. It was the public
authorities in particular who led the way in the many new buildings. In
addition to the marine station, a county hospital, school and gymnasium,
a branch of the Rigsbanken, a courthouse and a post office were built.
Until then, traffic to the city had largely been done by steamships
on Alssund and Flensburg Fjord, but in 1898 the narrow-gauge county
railways were built at Als (the bus station is the old county railway
station), and in 1902 the town got a standard-gauge connection with
Tinglev. In order to make room for the growth, the city adopted a town
plan in 1906, drawn up by architect Magnus Schlichting in Flensburg.
After it, the streets east of Kongevej and the whole "Nystaden" were
built. At the same time, a large number of streets were given German
names such as Kaiser-Wilhelm-Allee (King Road), Bismarckstrasse
(Østergade) and the streets in the "New City" were named after German
poets (only Goethe survived after 1920).
Kongevej became the
city's fine residential street, while metropolitan apartment buildings
in Art Nouveau style rose at Prinz-Adalbert-Strasse (Helgolandsgade),
Løngang and in Dybbølgade on the Sundeved side. The highlight of the
German era was the celebration in 1914 of the 50th anniversary of the
victory at Dybbøl. But in the same days the First World War broke out,
and within a few years there was hunger, poverty and misfortune in the
city. In November 1918, revolution broke out throughout Germany, and a
"Workers' and Soldiers' Council" was also established in Sønderborg
under the leadership of the tailor, the charismatic Bruno Topff. The
council was to ensure supplies and peace and order during the winding
down of imperial rule and quickly handed over authority to the new
social democratic government.
After the vote on 10 February 1920, where 74.2% in the northern part
of Schleswig voted for Denmark, it was clear that Sønderborg would once
again become Danish. As in several of the other southern Jutland market
towns, there was no Danish majority in Sønderborg. Here only 44% voted
for Denmark and 56% for Germany, but when the area voted as a unit the
result was given. Reunification was celebrated with great festivities
throughout Southern Jutland on the days 10 to 13 July 1920. On 11 July,
the largest of the celebrations was held in the remains of the ramparts
on Dybbøl Banke. The royal family, led by King Christian X, attended
speeches, songs and performances.
At the entrance to Sønderborg
Castle Square, there is a stone that was unveiled on Valentine's Day
1920 to commemorate the reunion.
After Reunification, he oversaw
major reconstruction work not only in Sønderborg, but everywhere in
Sønder Jutland. First of all, all public administration had to be made
Danish again, and new city, municipal and parish councils had to be
elected. Economically, the region was also very neglected, so large
public works were immediately initiated by the state, e.g. the
construction of the Nordhavnen and the construction of a railway
connection between the mainland and Als. It was therefore decided to
build a new bridge, King Christian X's Bridge, which was a combined
railway and road bridge. The costs for the construction are shared
between the state, Sønderborg County and Sønderborg Municipality. In
total, it cost DKK 2.85 million (approx. DKK 103.4 million in 2013) to
build the bridge. It was inaugurated with great festivity on 7 October
1930.
In 1927, the city issued an architectural competition for a
new city plan. It was won by architect Kaj Gottlob – and according to
his idea, a series of long ring and radial streets were built: Ringgade,
part of Grundtvigs Alle, Ringridervej, Søndre Landevej and Arnkilgade.
At the same time, Sønderborg now grew almost explosively, especially due
to the construction of the large worsted spinning mill, the growth of
the Solo factory, the new county hospital and a number of smaller
companies.
In the years 1920-27, Sønderborg was the seat of
Søndre Landsret.
During the 1930s, a lot of construction was started in the city. In
1933, a completely new town hall could be inaugurated, designed by
architect Holger Mundt, and in 1938 Sønderborg Andelsboligforening was
founded, which had its first building on Sundquistgade completed in
1939.
In 1942, another housing association was founded, and
during the 1940s and 50s, new residential areas with terraced houses,
blocks of flats and terraced houses sprung up around the city.
The years of occupation were felt in Sønderborg as in the rest of the
country. However, a significant event took place on 17-18. April 1944.
On April 17, a German naval vessel opened fire on King Christian the X's
Bridge, killing a pedestrian. The next day, it led to strikes and
clashes between the citizens and the German military, although no one
was injured.
Due to desertion, 11 German marines were executed on
the evening of 5 May 1945 on the German minesweeper M 612 in Alssund, 2
km north of Sønderborg.
In 1947, the city council decided to use
parts of the buildings in Havbogade for warehouses and docks. The
National Museum and the Association for the Preservation of Old
Buildings tried to change the decision. The remains of the quarter can
be seen today partly on the spot, partly in the Old Town in Aarhus.
In 1950, Ingolf Nielsen bought Sønderjyllands Flyveselskab and began
flying photo flights etc. from Ellegården's fields near Sønderborg.
Seven years later he started taxi flying on the Sønderborg-Copenhagen
route. SAS otherwise had a monopoly on all Danish domestic flights, so
there could be no question of scheduled flights. However, he flew with
reasonably fixed departure times. The airport itself on Kær Halvø opened
in 1969.
From the 1960s, there was a constant business and
population development that made Sønderborg develop into the most
important city in the Alssund area. The municipal amalgamation in 1970
made the three municipalities in the area into a new large municipality.
It was within the framework of the new municipality that the city
continued to grow to the north and east. But also on Sundevedsiden and
in Dybbøl, many new residential areas sprung up. The area as a whole was
strengthened when in 1981 the new high bridge over the Alssund, the
Alssund Bridge, could be inaugurated. As a result, a lot of heavy
traffic was diverted around the city.
From the 1980s to 2000,
there was a development of the IT and electronics industry in
particular, at the same time as there was constant development within
the education sector, which meant that in 1998 a branch of the
University of Southern Denmark could be opened in the city. Since the
Second World War, the industrial group Danfoss has also grown into an
international large company, and together with other new industries at
Als, this means that many people began to live in Sønderborg and work at
Nordals.
The Alssund Bridge was inaugurated in 1981. It is 660 m
long and has a usable width of 16 m. The bridge leads over the Alssund
approx. 2 km north of Sønderborg and is designed as a high bridge with a
navigation height of 33 m in the main section.
On 1 January 2007,
the 7 municipalities: Gråsten, Broager, Sundeved, Sønderborg, Sydals,
Augustenborg and Nordborg were combined into a new large municipality,
Sønderborg. At the same time, a new era was marked with the construction
of the combined university, research center and concert hall "Alsion" in
2007. At the same time, work began to develop Nordhavnen as a new city
center area according to a master plan by the American architect Frank
Gehry.
In 2012, Sønderborg fought against Aarhus to obtain the
title of European Capital of Culture in 2017, but on 24 August 2012,
Aarhus won the title. The Sønderborg motorway was inaugurated on 31
March 2012, and the following year the shopping center Borgen Shopping
was inaugurated.
On 4 April 2014, the flag was raised for the
last time at Sønderborg Barracks. It marked the end of Sønderborg's
status as a garrison town. The barracks in Sønderborg had housed
soldiers since it was completed in 1912. In 1966, the school was named
the Infanteriets Befalingsmandsskole, where all sergeant training in the
combat troops gathered in Sønderborg. In connection with the Defense
Settlement 2013-2017, it was decided that the Army's Sergeant School
should move from Sønderborg to Varde Barracks.
From September
2014 to the end of September 2017, the barracks was used as an asylum
center for Syrian refugees. In the first two years, almost 700 Syrian
asylum seekers lived at Sønderborg Barracks. The last approximately 350
asylum seekers were distributed to other centres.
In May 2019,
Alsik Hotel opened, which with its 19 floors is among the largest hotels
in Denmark.
There is a connection to Sønderborg and Als from the Sønderjyske
Motorvej E45 from the Aabenraa area via Hovedvej 41 and from Kruså via
Hovedvej 8 which goes to Sønderborg and on to Fynshav. Two bridges carry
traffic from Jutland over to Als, King Christian the X's Bridge (from
1930) in the middle of the town and the newer high bridge, the Alssund
Bridge (from 1981).
The Sønderborg motorway, which connects
Sønderborg at Dybbøl with the East Jutland motorway E45 at Kliplev, was
inaugurated on 31 March 2012. The motorway is the first in Denmark to be
built as a PPP project - public-private partnership - between the Road
Directorate and Kliplev Motorway Group, KMG.
From Sønderborg Bus
Station there is approx. every hour bus departures to Flensburg and
Aabenraa. There are five city buses in Sønderborg. The more than 20
local buses cover the entire area from Flensburg to Nordborg. The two X
buses cover most of Southern Jutland. Line 900X runs Vejle - Kolding -
Haderslev - Aabenraa - Sønderborg and back. Line 915X runs from the
west, departing from Esbjerg via Ribe, Toftlund, Aabenraa and
Sønderborg.
From Sønderborg Airport, 7 km. from the city centre,
there are several daily departures to Copenhagen with the company Alsie
Express. Sønderborg is also the terminus of the railway network - with
intercity connections to e.g. Odense and Copenhagen every two hours.
There is a ferry connection from Fynshav to Bøjden on Funen and Søby on
Ærø.
The industry and business life in the Sønderborg area is
characterized by high-tech companies within IT, telecommunications, the
electronics industry and the machine industry. Larger companies are i.a.
Agramkow Fluid Systems A/S (develops, produces and markets fluid
filling, testing and data acquisition solutions for appliance and
automotive manufacturers) and JF-Stoll A/S. In 1960, half of the city's
inhabitants were employed in crafts and industry, and the metal and
machine industry in particular were significant industries. In 1951,
engineer Jens Freudendahl founded JF-Fabriken, which manufactures
agricultural machinery, and already in 1960 the factory had 1,000
employees, which made it the city's largest employer. After the German
acquisition of Stoll and later the acquisition of the Danish
co-operative giant DLG, production in Sønderborg was shut down and moved
to Poland.
Some companies have been established by engineers
trained in Sønderborg, and some by the push of a button from Danfoss. In
2002, 60 percent of the city's inhabitants were employed in the
administration and service professions.
In Nordborg, the
industrial group Danfoss has its headquarters, which employs around
1,000 employees – worldwide, the group has over 23,000 employees.
Siemens Flow Instruments A/S is also based in Nordborg and has approx.
200 employees. Linak has its headquarters in Guderup, which produces
electric linear actuators - Linak has 900 employees at Als.
Müller Gas Equipment A/S is located in Vollerup, which is an order and
series manufacturing company whose main production is gas fittings for
bottled gas, natural gas and medical and technical gases. The company
currently employs approx. 150 employees.
The slaughterhouse group
Danish Crown's pig slaughterhouse is located in Blans, approx. 14 km.
from the city center and employs 940 employees and slaughters approx.
62,000 pigs per week. The telecommunications group TDC has a call center
on Ellegårdvej in Sønderborg, which employs 370 employees. In August
2014, TDC entered into an agreement with the American service provider
Sitel to outsource approximately 700 full-time positions, equivalent to
approximately 800 employees, from its customer service. The agreement
means that 650 employees in TDC's customer service will be based in
Sønderborg from the end of 2015.
Sønderborg Municipality is the
area's largest workplace with approx. 5,500 employees, who are
geographically spread over the entire municipality. Sønderborg Hospital
had 1,589 employees in 2012. In 2013, the equivalent of approx. 1,400
full-time employees.
The university town of Sønderborg
The University of Southern
Denmark's (SDU) campus at Alsion offers a wide range of engineering
programs and a number of combination programs with language and
economics. It is also possible to follow the business economics HD
courses and subject packages on the master's in IT.
Vocational
education, high schools and vocational academies
Erhvervsakademi
Sydvest offers the short advanced courses computer scientist, production
technologist, design technologist, marketing economist as well as a
bachelor's degree in design and innovation.
In 2011, VUC Syd rebuilt
the old Skt. Jørgen's school in Sønderborg for a completely new,
visionary teaching environment. The course participants are adults of
all ages and from all parts of society.
Sønderborg State School is a
high school that offers STX and HF. The school has approximately 1,000
students.
Alssundgymnasiet Sønderborg is a high school that, among
other things, focuses on natural sciences through the "science
gymnasium" and on internationalization. The school has 437 students.
Business College Syd (formerly Sønderborg Handelsskole) offers HG, HHX,
main course and further education.
EUC Syd offers approx. 75 long and
short vocational courses and more than a thousand different AMU and
continuing education courses. In addition, Higher Technical Examination
and International High School, academy and international educations. EUC
Syd also has branches in Aabenraa, Haderslev and Tønder.
Sønderborg
Produktionshøjskole offers a school course which aims to strengthen the
participants' professional, social and personal development and improve
their opportunities in the education system and on the labor market.
Private schools
The private school Als is not oriented in any
particular ideological direction, but acknowledges a cultural
commonality with the Danish folk church. The school has 362 students.
Deutsche Schule Sonderburg is bilingual and introduces students to
German and Danish culture. The school has approximately 180 students.
Dybbøl Efterskole is aimed at students who have received special
education and who are still interested in book-based education. Dybbøl
Secondary School has room for 85 students.
The Sports College in
Sønderborg is a college that offers coaching/instructor training in
specific sports. The school has a swimming pool with sauna, ball games
hall, two sports and exercise halls, indoor climbing wall and fitness
area. The school has a student population of around 130 students.
Sønderborg International School is an international school that follows
an international Cambridge teaching program. The school also offers
Danish on an equal footing with Danish schools to ensure that students
can continue their studies in Denmark or abroad. The school focuses on
good settings and book-based learning. The school has 124 students,
teaching students up to and including the 9th grade.
Public
schools
The Ahlmann School on Kongevej was inaugurated in 1907. It
functioned until 1925 as a German school. In 1937 it was named Ahlmann
School. The school has 274 students.
With its 806 students, Dybbøl
School is divided between Dybbøl School and Bülow School, the city's
largest public school.
Humlehøj School was built in 1973 and has 326
students from 1st to 9th grade. The school was built together with the
Humlehøj halls and the city's only public swimming pool.
Sønderskov
School was built in 1954-1955 and is located in the eastern part of the
city. The school has 660 students.
Ulkebøl School on the outskirts of
the city is the oldest of the primary schools and has 616 pupils.
Former educational and research institutions
The Sønderjyske
Sygeplejeskole used to exist in Sønderborg, but has been moved to
Aabenraa. The nursing school offered the nursing education. There was
also the option to take the training to become a nurse as an online
training or take the TEK training with a focus on welfare technology.
Until 1998, the Engineering College South was located in Sønderborg,
which today forms the campus of the University of Southern Denmark (SDU)
in Sønderborg.
In the period 2004-15 there was a Center for Border
Region Research at SDU Sønderborg.
SUB Sønderborg has its origins in Sønderborg Boldklub, which was
founded on 26 October 1919. The club is one of the parent clubs of FC
Sønderborg, which plays in the Jyllandsserien. However, SUB Sønderborg
is still an independent youth team.
The club is known for
developing many talents who can succeed in the Super League and even
bigger leagues. The club is, among other things, an incubator club for
SønderjyskE, which plays in the Super League.
Sønderborg was the
destination city for the 3rd stage of the Tour de France 2022, before
the riders and staff flew from Sønderborg Airport to continue the race
in France.
Twin cities
Finland Pori in Finland, since 1952