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Aalborg or Ålborg ( AHL-borg, AWL-; Danish: [ˈʌlˌpɒˀ] ⓘ) is Denmark's fourth largest city (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalborg had a population of 221,082, making it the third most populous in the country after the municipalities of Copenhagen (capital) and Aarhus. Eurostat and OECD have used a definition for the metropolitan area of Aalborg (referred to as a "functional urban area"), which includes all municipalities in the province (Danish: landsdel) of North Jutland (Danish: Nordjylland), with a total population of 594,323 as of 1 July 2022.
By road Aalborg is 64 kilometres (40 mi) southwest of Frederikshavn, and 118 kilometres (73 mi) north of Aarhus. The distance to Copenhagen is 412 kilometres (256 mi) by road without using ferries.
The earliest settlements date to around AD 700. Aalborg's position at the narrowest point on the Limfjord made it an important harbour during the Middle Ages, and later a large industrial centre. Architecturally, the city is known for its half-timbered mansions built by its prosperous merchants. Budolfi Church, now a cathedral, dates from the end of the 14th century and Aalborghus Castle, a royal residence, was built in 1550. Today, Aalborg is a city in transition from a working-class industrial area to a knowledge-based community. A major exporter of grain, cement, and liquors, its business interests include Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Alfa Laval, and Aalborg Portland. These companies have become global producers of wind turbine rotors, marine boilers, and cement.
With its theatres, symphony orchestra, opera company, performance venues, and museums such as Aalborg Historical Museum and the Aalborg Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg is an important cultural hub. The Aalborg Carnival, held at the end of May, is one of the largest festivals in Scandinavia, attracting some 100,000+ people annually. The town's major university is Aalborg University (often abbreviated to AAU), founded in 1974, which has more than 20,000 students (as of 2018). AAU is also North Jutland's largest university. The University College of Northern Denmark (UCN) is one of seven new regional organisations while the Royal School of Library and Information Science (RSLIS) provides higher education in library and information science. Trænregimentet, the Danish regiment for army supply and emergency medical personnel, is also in Aalborg. Aalborg University Hospital, the largest in the north of Jutland, was founded in 1881.
The football club Aalborg BK, established in 1885 and based at Nordjyske Arena, won the Danish Superliga in the 1994–95 season, the 1998–99 season, the 2007–08 season, and the 2013–14 season. Other sports associations include the ice hockey club Aalborg Pirates, the men's handball team Aalborg Håndbold, the rugby club Aalborg RK, and Aalborg Cricket Club. Aalborg Railway Station, on John F. Kennedys Plads has connected the city to Randers and the south since 1869. Aalborg Airport is just 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) northwest of the city centre.
A 2014 survey by the European Commission found that the citizens of Aalborg are the most satisfied people in Europe with their city.
The name of Aalborg can be traced back to coins from the 11th century in the form of Alabu or Alabur. Like Aabenraa, there has been dissent regarding the spelling of the city's name. In current times, the modern name of Aalborg is nearly always written with a double-a instead of the Danish standard letter for that sound, å. Å was implemented to replace "aa" in all Danish place names on 22 March 1948 as a result of a Danish spelling reform. However, the city council in Aalborg made the unanimous decision to ignore the new law and keep the old way of spelling, stating:
"Upon receiving a copy of the Ministry of Education's notice of 22 March 1948 about changes to orthography, according to which Aalborg's name henceforth shall be spelled Ålborg, the executive committee relays, that the city council – regardless of the notice – enacts that the city's name – as up until now – is spelled Aalborg, since the city's name with this way of spelling is known world-over. This was agreed upon unanimously."
In 1984, then Minister of Education Bertel Haarder and Minister of Culture Mimi Jakobsen, decided that the municipalities of Denmark could decide for themselves which way of spelling they preferred. This went against the Danish Language Council and the Toponomy Committee's advice. Both spellings are included in the official list of placenames. It is never orthographically wrong to write Ålborg though it might upset local residents, many of whom identify strongly with the traditional spelling of the name. Aalborg is locally known as "Dobbelt A" (Double A) and the local rapper Niarn has even made a song about the city of the same name. The city has also been nicknamed "Nordens Paris" (Paris of the North).
The area around the narrowest point on the Limfjord attracted settlements as far back as the Iron Age, leading to a thriving Viking community until around the year 1000 in what has now become Aalborg. In the Middle Ages, the town grew thanks to royal trading privileges, a natural harbour and a thriving herring fishing industry. The following centuries brought difficulties, but the city began to prosper again towards the end of the 19th century when a bridge was built over Limfjord and the railway arrived. Aalborg's initial growth relied on heavy industry but its current development focuses on culture and education.
Aalborg traces its history back over a thousand years. It was originally settled as a trading post because of its position on the Limfjord. The sites of what were two settlements and a burial ground can be seen on Lindholm Høje, a hill overlooking the city. These large settlements, one from the sixth-century Germanic Iron Age, the other from the Viking Age in the 9th to 11th centuries, evolved at the narrowest point on Limfjord as a result of the traffic between Himmerland to the south and Vendsyssel to the north.
The first mention of Aalborg under its original name Alabu or Alabur on coins from c.1040 when King Harthacnut (Hardeknud) settled in the area. In c.1075, Adam of Bremen reported that Alaburg, as he called it in German, was an important harbour for ships sailing to Norway. In Valdemar's Danish Census Book from 1231 it was called Aleburgh, possibly meaning "the fort by the stream" as in Old Norse all meant "stream" or "current" and bur or burgh a fort or a castle. The Church of Our Lady in Aalborg was built in the early 12th century but demolished during the Reformation. Similarly, the Franciscan friary, or Greyfriars, on the east side of Østerå, was probably built around 1240; it was documented in 1268, but like many other Roman Catholic monasteries and convents was shut down in 1530 as a result of the Reformation.
Aalborg's earliest trading privileges date from 1342, when King Valdemar IV received the town as part of his huge dowry on marrying Helvig of Schleswig. The privileges were extended by Eric of Pomerania in 1430 and by Christopher of Bavaria in 1441. The town prospered, becoming one of the largest communities in Denmark. Its prosperity increased when the merchant- and trade association Guds Legems Laug was established in 1481, facilitating trade with the Hanseatic League, especially from 1516 when Christian II granted it a monopoly in salting Limfjord's herring. The king often visited the town, where he held court and stayed in the old Aalborghus. The herring fishery linked Aalborg to the East coast of England, across the North Sea, both in commercial competition and cultural exchange. During the Middle Ages a number of important institutions were established in Aalborg, including Budolfi Cathedral in the late 14th century and the Hospital of the Holy Ghost, a monastery and nunnery founded in 1451 to help those in need. It was converted into a hospital during the Reformation and is still in use today as a nursing home for the elderly.
In 1530 a large part of the town was destroyed by fire, and in December 1534 it was stormed and plundered by the king's troops after a peasants' revolt known as the Count's Feud led by Skipper Clement. This caused the death of up to 2,000 people. The Reformation in 1536 brought about the demolition of the town's two monasteries. As a result of the Reformation, Aalborg became a Lutheran bishopric in 1554.
From the 1550s to the 1640s, thanks increased foreign trade, Aalborg prospered second only to that of Copenhagen. The population grew and many fine buildings were built thanks to merchant shipping routes from Norway to Portugal. As such, by 1644, despite previous occupation by imperial forces from 1627 to 1629, Aalborg was a prosperous town with 3,000 to 5,000 inhabitants and a harbor providing access to the Kattegat, Norway, the Limfjord countryside, and Vendsyssel. In 1663, the city suffered another serious fire, which destroyed the tower of Budolfi Church.
During the second half of the 18th century, Aalborg entered a further period of prosperity. In Erik Pontoppidan's Danske Atlas (Danish Atlas) it was described as "after Copenhagen, the best and most prosperous market town in Denmark". In 1767, Denmark's second appeared in Aalborg. The population grew from 4,160 in 1769 to 5,579 in 1801.
After Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden in 1814, Aalborg lost its role as the country's centre for Norwegian trade. The herring industry also suffered after as the fish disappeared after the 1825 North Sea storm when the sea breached the Agger Tange (which had linked Thy with the rest of Jutland at the western end of Limfjord). The state bankruptcy in 1813 also contributed to widespread poverty in the city. In the mid-19th century, Aalborg was overtaken by Aarhus as the largest city in Jutland. An upturn came after the pontoon bridge over Limfjord was completed in 1865, the railway reached the city in 1869 and a railway bridge over the sound to Vendsyssel in 1872. The harbour facilities were also improved, making Aalborg Denmark's second port. Aalborg became the country's main producer of tobacco products and spirits, followed in the 1890s by fertilisers and cement. By 1901, the population had increased to almost 31,500.
Around the start of the 20th century, as a result of decisions taken by the municipality, many of the city's half-timbered houses were torn down. They were replaced by hundreds of modern buildings, completely changing the look of the city. Factories with smoking chimneys became ever more prevalent in the outskirts. Among the most important were De Danske Spritfabrikker (spirits and liquors), De forenede Textilfabrikker (textiles), the East Asiatic Company (trading), Dansk Eternit (building materials) and C.W. Obel's tobacco factory (established in 1787). Aalborg Portland, run by F.L. Smidth, was one of several cement factories operating in 1913, together employing some 800 workers. By the 1930s, Aalborg was being promoted as "Denmark's new centre for industry and workers". Replanning continued with additional thoroughfares cutting through the city. The port facilities were also improved with the help of a dredger and the opening of new docks. In 1933, Christian X inaugurated a new bridge over Limfjord to replace the fragile pontoon crossing.
Aalborg Airport, officially opened in 1938 because of the success of the cement industry, had in fact operated flights to Copenhagen since 1936. During the German invasion of Denmark in 1940, the airport was captured by German paratroopers on the night of 21 April as a base for German aircraft flying to Norway. On 13 August 1940, a dozen Bristol Blenheim bombers of No. 82 Squadron RAF were launched against the Luftwaffe airfield during one of the most disastrous Royal Air Force raids of the war. One turned back because of fuel problems, but all of the remaining 11 were shot down by enemy fighters and/or flak batteries within 20 minutes. After the war, the Royal Air Force destroyed all the German facilities including planes, hangars and equipment but left the passenger facilities intact.
By 1960, Aalborg had become known as the "city of smoking chimneys", with half of the inhabitants working in industry or manufacturing. Ten years later, Aalborg's population had grown to around 97,000 inhabitants.
The significance of Aalborg's industry began to decline in the 1970s, precipitating a fall in the city's population until about 1990, when it began to increase again. By the year 2000, the service and education sectors accounted for about 60% of the workforce, partly due to the founding of Aalborg University (AAU) in 1974. Since 1970, Aalborg and the northern suburb of Nørresundby have become a major administrative centre, thanks in part to the offices of the Region Nordjylland established in the east of the city. In addition to large industrial companies including Aalborg Portland, the only cement-producing company in the country, and the building products company Eternit, many small and medium-sized enterprises have been established. The telecommunications and information technology sector has developed with the support of Aalborg University and the North Jutland knowledge park NOVI.
The First European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns took place in Aalborg in 1994. It adopted the Aalborg Charter, which provides a framework for the delivery of local sustainable development and calls on local authorities to engage in Local Agenda 21 processes. The Fourth European Sustainable Cities and Towns Conference, held in Aalborg in 2004, adopted the more binding Aalborg Commitments on local sustainable development. The commitments have now been signed by 650 local authorities while over 2,500 have signed the earlier Aalborg Charter.
On 10 August 2009, a strong tornado hit downtown Aalborg and some eastern districts. The tornado severely damaged the rooves of many buildings, snapped and uprooted trees and tossed caravans over hedges along its 6.6 kilometer path. The European Severe Storms Laboratory (ESSL) rated it F2 on the Fujita scale.
A 2014 survey by the European Commission found that the citizens of Aalborg are the most satisfied people in Europe with their city.
Aalborg is in North Jutland (northwestern Denmark), at the narrowest point of the Limfjord, a shallow sound that separates North Jutlandic Island (Vendsyssel-Thy) from the rest of the Jutland Peninsula and connects Aalborg to the Kattegat about 35 kilometres (22 mi) to the east. Aalborg is 118 km (73 mi) north of Aarhus, 82 km (51 mi) north of Randers, and 64 km (40 mi) southwest of Frederikshavn. It is 414 km (257 mi) by Great Belt Fixed Link to Copenhagen, 150 km (93 mi) by the Frederikshavn-Göteborg ferry to Gothenburg in Sweden, and 363 km (226 mi) by the Frederikshavn-Oslo ferry to Oslo in Norway.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Aalborg”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.