Tønder (Southern Jutland: Tynne, Frisian: Tuner, German: Tondern)
is a town in southwestern Southern Jutland, approx. 5 km. from the
Danish-German border and has 7,581 inhabitants (2020). The city is
located low on the transition between the heath plain and the marsh
and is bounded by Vidå to the south. The country roads routes 8, 11
and 25 meet in Tønder.
Tønder is a modern school and business
town with i.a. aluminum processing, photo laboratory, foundries and
an active trading life combined with beautiful, old architecture.
Today, the business community is dominated by a few large companies
such as Norsk Hydro Aluminum, Pro Rengøring and Brdr. Hartmann A /
S. In addition, the shoe group ECCO has a course and conference
center near the city.
The nearest neighboring town is
Møgeltønder, which is located 4 kilometers west of the town. Tønder
has a day hospital. Tønder Station has several daily departures to
Esbjerg and there are also daily departures to Niebüll / Germany
with Arriva. Every year in August, the traditional Tønder Festival
takes place, which especially features folk and jazz music. During
the Christmas month, Tønder is especially known for its Christmas
market and Det Gamle Apotek, which houses Scandinavia's largest
Christmas exhibition.
In addition to Tønder Museum (now
Kulturhistorie Tønder) with i.a. exhibition of architect Hans J.
Wegner's furniture in the former water tower and the Art Museum in
Tønder (formerly Sønderjyllands Kunstmuseum) there is a zeppelin and
garrison museum north of the city. Cultural life is diverse with
over 200 associations, of which the German minority also has a part.
The city is already mentioned in the 12th century by an Arab
cartographer Al-Idrisi, but there is uncertainty as to whether the name
Tundira refers to Tønder or Møgeltønder. In 1243, the city was given the
city rights of Lybsk, and is thus the country's oldest market town. The
town was originally a harbor town, which can also be seen in
contemporary street names such as Skibbroen and Skibbrogade, but the
town already lost access to the sea and thus its harbor in the 1550s due
to Hans the Elder's dyke constructions. These buildings were started
after a serious storm surge in 1532, when the water was 1.8 meters high
in Tønder church, corresponding to a height of 5.3 meters above daily
water. Violent storm floods in 1615 and 1825, and in the last century in
1923 and 1976 was a condition that the city has tried to protect itself
against throughout its history. Right up until the middle of the 20th
century, Tønder was surrounded by water on all sides in the winter, but
today the Tønder marsh is protected by the Protruding Dike, which
stretches from Emmerlev Klev down to the Hindenburg dam.
Up until
the 17th century, the city had significant shipping and trade,
especially with Northern Germany and the Netherlands, and the resulting
immigration. The constructed dykes protected the city from flooding, but
cut off direct navigation, so that Rudbøl and later Højer had to be used
as shipping ports. Tønder then developed into a center for the
production and sale of lace. In 1788, the town got a teacher's seminary,
which in 1989 was merged with Haderslev State Seminary.
After the
war in 1864, when Tønder became German, the town experienced increased
growth and industry arose. The town gained access to a larger catchment
area to the south, and in terms of trade, Tønder competed with Husum in
particular. A railway connection was established to Tinglev on the
Jutland long-distance railway in 1867 and to Højer in 1892.
At
the beginning of the 20th century, the city benefited from tourism on
the island of Herring, as tourists traveled via Tønder and Højer.
However, with Reunification in 1920, Tønder became Danish, and tourist
traffic to Sild ceased. Furthermore, after the new border was drawn, the
city lost most of its southern catchment area. In the 1900s, it was
possible to drain the entire Tønder marsh, and Tønder became a traffic
hub and thus a trading town for a fairly large area. Although industrial
development was long limited in the town, the population almost doubled
in the first half of the 20th century, and in 1950 Tønder reached 7,000
inhabitants. In these years, a number of new companies came to the city,
while already existing companies expanded. Even so, in 1960, only 28
percent of the economically active in the city were employed in the
industrial and craft professions.
In the municipal reform in
2007, Tønder was merged with 6 other municipalities, including Skærbæk
and Rømø. This makes Tønder Denmark's fifth largest municipality in
terms of area.
Tønder Gymnasium offers the two youth programs:
STX
HF
Tønder Handelsskole offers the two youth programs:
HHX
EUX
EUC
Syd (technical high school and technical school) has a branch in Tønder
EUC Syd and Tønder Handelsskole offer in collaboration:
HTX
VUC
Syd has a branch in Tønder
Erhvervsakademie Sydvest has a branch in
Tønder
Brdr. Hartmann A/S manufactures egg trays and in 2012 had 380
employees.
Norsk Hydro Aluminum (today renamed Sapa Extrusion
Denmark) extrudes and sells aluminum profiles to the Danish market and
Germany. The aluminum profiles are delivered either in raw condition or
with surface treatment and possibly mechanical processing. The company
has 260 employees who are divided between production in Tønder and sales
offices in Tønder and Risskov.
Previous workplaces in Tønder
Tønder State Seminary trained school teachers in the period 1788-1989.
Tønder Barracks housed soldiers in the years 1936-2002. The Tønder
Barracks were dismantled in 1999-2002, when the Electronic Warfare
Company was also moved to Fredericia.
The town contains the Cultural History of Tønder, formerly called
Tønder Museum, but which is now part of Museum Sønderjylland.
The
art museum in Tønder was founded in 1972 and contains a permanent
collection of works by mainly recent Danish artists.
Tønder
Vandtårn was previously used as a water tower, but today has been
converted into a museum for Hans J. Wegner.
Tønder is known for a
special kind of lace called barrel lace, and a lace festival is also
held in the town. It attracts many visitors from all over the world.
Tønder Festival
Every year, the city is a gathering place for
many music enthusiasts during the Tønder Festival, one of the most
important European festivals within traditional and modern folk music,
roots and blues. The festival takes place every year on the last full
weekend in August. It began in 1974. In 2006, there are approx. 1,900
volunteer employees associated with the festival.