Haderslev

Haderslev ( _de. Hadersleben) is a town and municipality on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. Also included is the island of Årø as well as several other smaller in the Little Belt. The municipality covers 701.98 km² and has a population of 56,414 (2008). Its mayor is Hans Peter Geil, representing the liberal "Venstre" party. It belongs to Region Syddanmark. On January 1, 2007 Haderslev municipality was, due to "Kommunalreformen" ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007), merged with the former municipalities of Gram and Vojens, as well as Bjerning, Hjerndrup, and Fjelstrup parishes of Christiansfeld municipality and Bevtoft parish of Nørre Rangstrup municipality.

The municipality is also a part of the East Jutland metropolitan area whit 1,2 mio inhabitants where it makes up the most southern part. [ [http://www.blst.dk/NR/rdonlyres/D57AF934-C471-41E6-A8B0-389AF80A94A6/0/Visionsoplaeg20082008.pdf] ] .

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The waters of Haderslev Fjord cut into the municipality from the Little Belt, dividing the city north-to-south, and becoming Haderslev Dam, west of the city center. Årø Strait ("Årøsund") separates the bulk of the municipality from the island of Årø, and the two are connected by ferry service between the town of Årøsund on the mainland and the town of Årø on the island.

The main town and the site of its municipal council is the city of Haderslev.

The city of Haderslev

[
Haderslev [lower left] is southeast of Esbjerg and north of Sønderborg, on Denmark's Jutland peninsula.]

History

Haderslev is situated in a valley, leading from Vojens to Haderslev Fjord and the Baltic Sea. Haderslev was presumably founded by Vikings at least a century before it was granted status as royal borough in 1292. At that time, it had become one of the main trading centres in Southern Jutland. In 1327, Haderslevhus, the royal castle, was mentioned for the first time. It was situated east of the cathedral; an area still called Slotsgrunden. In the following centuries the city prospered, building both the Gothic Cathedral and the second castle of Hansborg (burnt in 1644), which was similar to Kronborg. Due to the plague in Copenhagen, King Christian IV was married there.In the 16th century, the city became one of the first Scandinavian places to embrace the Lutheran Reformation. From 1864 it was part of Prussia, and as such part of the North German Confederation, and from 1871 onwards, part of the German Empire. In the 1920 Schleswig Plebiscite that brought Northern Schleswig to Denmark, 38.6 % of Haderslev's inhabitants voted for remaining part of Germany and 61.4 % voted for the cession to Denmark. [http://www.dhm.de/lemo/forum/kollektives_gedaechtnis/082/nachher.html]

Former municipality (1970-2006)

A "kommune" by the previous name existed 1970-2006. It belonged to South Jutland County and covered an area of 272 km² with a total population of 31,573 (2005). Its last mayor was Hans Peter Geil, a member of the liberal ("Venstre") political party.

Neighboring municipalities were Christiansfeld to the north, Vojens to the west, Rødekro to the south, and Assens (on the island of Funen) to the East.

External links

* [http://www.haderslev.dk Municipality's official website (Danish only)]
* [http://www.haderslev-turist.dk/p13.asp Haderslev tourism information in English]
* [http://www.nyhaderslev.dk/ The new Haderslev municipality's official website (Danish only)]

City Partnerships

* Wittenberg, Germany
* Varberg, Sweden
* Sandefjord, Norway
* Uusikaupunki, Finland
* Braine, France

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 municipalities map]