Høje-Taastrup

Høje-Taastrup is a municipality (Danish, "kommune") in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand ("Sjælland") in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 78 km² (30 mi²), and has a total population of 47,158 (2008). Its mayor is Michael Ziegler, a member of the Conservative People's Party ("Det Konservative Folkeparti") political party.

The main town and the site of its municipal council is the town of Høje Taastrup (without hyphenation). Other towns in the municipality include Taastrup, Hedehusene, Fløng, Sengeløse, Vridsløsemagle and Reerslev.

Neighboring municipalities are Albertslund and Vallensbæk to the east, Ledøje-Smørum and Gundsø to the north, Roskilde to the west, and Greve and Ishøj to the south. The Holbæk Motorway and the West Forest ("Vestskoven") help define the municipality's eastern perimeter.

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Taastrup [right center] is southwest of Copenhagen and north of Greve Strand, on the island of Sjælland.]

__TOC__ The Holbæk Motorway bisects the municipality east-to-west, and is a major roadway connecting Copenhagen through Roskilde to Holbæk; it extends all the way to the tip of "Sjællands Odde", a peninsula sticking out into the Kattegat where a ferry connects to Denmark's mainland (the Jutland peninsula) at the town of Ebeltoft. Additionally Motorring 4 splits off from the Holbæk Motorway at the municipality's eastern border leading to the various motorways servicing the northern parts of Zealand. The municipality's good position in the traffic network has led to the development of Høje-Taastrup Transportation Center, which includes Carlsberg Brewery's huge bottle depot.

The West Forest is located where the three municipalities of Høje-Taastrup, Albertslund, and Ledøje-Smørum border on one another. It is part of a system of green areas surrounding the Copenhagen metropolitan area. It offers an extensive system of hiking and bike trails through grass and marsh areas. It connects to other parts of the greenway system, allowing one to seamlessly make a tour around the metropolitan area.

Another throughway in this municipality is historic Roskilde Way ("Roskildevej"), which runs from Copenhagen to Roskilde. The first major road connecting these two cities was built in 1642 by King Christian IV. It was called The King's Road ("Kongevejen"), and was replaced in the 1700s by the current roadway. At Hedehusene, one of the towns in the municipality, the road changes name to Copenhagen Way ("Københansvej"), i.e. the road leading from Roskilde to Copenhagen. The Holbæk Motorway runs into, and has replaced part of the old Roskilde Way.

Road signs indicating that one is leaving the Copenhagen metropolitan area are mounted within the municipality, where the suburban residential area gives way to the countryside, and the more agricultural side of the municipality.

Høje-Taastrup municipality was not merged with other municipalities on January 1, 2007 as the result of nationwide "Kommunalreformen" ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007).

The three railway station towns

The towns of Høje Taastrup, Taastrup, and Hedehusene are railway station towns in the Greater Copenhagen Authority ("Hovedstadens Udviklingsråd (HUR)"). The station at Høje Taastrup is one of the largest in Denmark and offers excellent local (Copenhagen-area), regional (including Roskilde, Holbæk and Kalundborg), and national and even international train connections (for example, to Hamburg, Germany).

Høje Taastrup

The town of Høje Taastrup is a new development, centered on the train station. Behind the town hall lies the old village of Høje Taastrup, with its typical country church, picturesque thatch-roofed buildings, and a village pond complete with duck houses. It is a reminder of the area's agricultural past. The farmland that used to lie in the vicinity of the old village has been pretty much developed as of 2005.

Located at the south end of the railroad station complex is another area landmark— the 26.3 meter tall sculpture "Thor's Tower" ("Torstårnet"), the tallest sculpture in the Nordic countries. It was made by Bjørn Nørgaard, and was inaugurated on December 4, 1986. There are several unique buildings in the same area, including the train station itself with its distinctive three arches. The three arches have become a symbol of the municipality, and have given rise to the moniker "The City of Arches" (Danish: "Buernes By", which in a play on words sounds remarkably similar to the phrase "Byernes By" or "The City of Cities").The city has a sizeable number of immigrants, mostly from Vietnam and Arab countries.

The town is home to City 2 shopping center, one of Denmark's largest shopping centers.

Taastrup

The neighboring town of Taastrup lies to the east of Høje Taastrup, and has the municipality's prime shopping street on Køge Street ("Køgevej"), now Taastrup hovedgade. The street was extensively renovated in the past few years, and provides a traditional, Danish outdoors shopping environment.The infamous housing project of Tåstrupgård (lit; English. Taastrup Farm) is located in Taastrup. The area has been known through a series of shootings the last couple of years.

Hedehusene

Hedehusene lies to the west of Høje Taastrup, on the stretch of railway connecting Copenhagen-Høje Taastrup-Roskilde. The town got its name with the building of the King's Road leading to Roskilde. King Christian IV wanted a house built for an official who would keep watch over entry gates on the road. This became the first house ( _da. hus) on the heath (Danish: "hede") or Danish prairie. Thus the town became Hedehusene (lit. "The houses on the heath")

Today the town has grown physically into neighboring Kallerup, Fløng, and Baldersbrønde. The most important commercial area is Roskilde Street ("Roskildevej"). Rockwool International, immediately west of the town, is the largest employer.

Hedeland, close by, is a unique nature area created at the site of a former gravel excavation area. It also features a 4,000 seat amphitheatre.

One of Denmark's oldest runestones, The Kallerup Stone ("Kallerupstenen") from ca. 800-825 is erected at Ansgarkirken.

Other attractions

* The Ole Rømer museum in Vridsløsemagle is dedicated to the work of the Danish astronomer, Ole Rømer (1644-1710), who built his observatory here. The observatory operated until about 1716 when the remaining instruments were moved to the "Rundetårn" (lit. the "Round Tower") in Copenhagen. There is a large collection of ancient and more recent astronomical instruments on display at the museum.
*Reerslev Church

Need-to-know

Taastrup has a town twinning with the German city of Oldenburg.

See also

*Treaty of Taastrup

External links

* [http://www.hojetaastrup.dk Municipality's official website]

References

* Municipal statistics: [http://www2.netborger.dk/Kommunefakta/ NetBorger Kommunefakta] , delivered from [http://www.kmd.dk/ KMD aka Kommunedata (Municipal Data)]
* Municipal mergers and neighbors: [http://kommune.eniro.dk/danmarkskort/ Eniro new map with named municipalities]
* Krak searchable and printable municipality
http://kort.krak.dk/borgerdk.kortsoegning/imapDKbig.asp] (outline of municipality does not print out!)