Aalborg

Sister cities

• Edinburgh
• Gdynia

History

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. 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 1040 when King Harthacnut (Hardeknud) settled in the area. In 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. 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. 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…

Geography

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 to the east. Aalborg is north of Aarhus, north of Randers, and southwest of Frederikshavn. It is by Great Belt Fixed Link to Copenhagen, by the Frederikshavn-Göteborg ferry to Gothenburg in Sweden, and by the Frederikshavn-Oslo ferry to Oslo in Norway. The area close to the waterfront is low-lying, with an elevation averaging about , Nørresundby, on the northern side of the sound, is also a hilly area. To the north of the city, villages include Vadum, Aabybro, Vestbjerg, Sulsted, Tylstrup, Vodskov, and Hjallerup. The Himmerland region to the south still has a number of moors which once formed a vast area of heathland extending to the Rold Forest near Arden. Rebild Hills in the Rold Forest stretch over of rolling heath country about south of Aalborg. Lille Vildmose, to the southeast, is reported to be the largest raised bog in north-western Europe. The city centre, dating from the Middle Ages, lies on a series of clay banks between the former streams of Vesterå and Lilleå, which used to run into the sound. Despite effective drainage, the main streets, including Algade, still run east to west while the side streets run north to south. The Budolfi Church and the old town hall line Gammeltorv, the old market square. The main shopping streets are Algade and Bispengade, the latter lying in between the modern Vesterbro thoroughfare and Nytorv square. Østerågade, once the old harbor, is noted for its merchants' mansions. covers an area of and consists mainly of farmland although there are still a few untilled areas of…

Most-observed species

• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,376
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,230
• Eurasian Marsh-Harrier

  Circus aeruginosus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,082
• Whooper Swan

  Cygnus cygnus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,021
• Common Crane

  Grus grus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,981
• Common Chiffchaff

  Phylloscopus collybita (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  2,888
• Eurasian Kestrel

  Falco tinnunculus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,877
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,843

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2008-04-25
  9 km NNW of Strandby, Denmark
• M 2.6 — 2005-06-08
  3 km WNW of Skagen, Denmark
• M 2.7 — 2005-04-26
  24 km N of Hirtshals, Denmark
• M 3.1 — 2004-11-24
  59 km E of Hals, Denmark