Tønder

 

 

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.

 

History

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.

 

Education

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

 

Profession

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.

 

Culture

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.