Haderslev

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 The city of Haderslev
- 1.1 History
2 External links
3 City Partnerships
4 References

Map of the future municipality

Haderslev (German: Hadersleben) is a municipality (Danish, kommune) in South Jutland County on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. The municipality includes the island of Årø as well as several other smaller in the Little Belt, and covers an area of 272 km². It has a total population of 31,573 (2005). Its mayor is Jens Chr. Gjesing, a member of the Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterne) political party.

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

Neighboring municipalities are Christiansfeld to the north, Vojens to the west, and Rødekro to the south. Neighboring municipality to the east Assens is on the island of Funen, and is separated from the municipality by the waters of the Little Belt, which define Haderslev municipality's east and southeast borders. 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 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.

By January 1, 2007 Haderslev municipality will, due to Kommunalreformen ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007), be merged with existing Gram and Vojens municipalities, as well as Bjerning, Hjerndrup, and Fjelstrup og Bevtoft parishes of Christiansfeld municipality and Bevtoft parish of Nørre Rangstrup municipality.

[edit] The city of Haderslev

[edit] 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. [1]