Aarhus

Sister cities

• Novi Sad
• Gothenburg Municipality
• Harbin
• Turku
• Bergen
• Rostock
• Kiel
• Qaqortoq

History

Founded in the early Viking Age, Aarhus is one of the oldest cities in Denmark, along with Ribe and Hedeby. The original Aros settlement was situated on the northern shores of a fjord by the mouth of the Aarhus River, right where the city centre is today. It quickly became a hub for sea-going trade due to its position on intersecting trade routes in the Danish Straits and the fertile countryside. The trade, however, was not nearly as prominent as that in Ribe and Hedeby during the Viking Age, and it was primarily linked to Norway as evidenced by archaeological finds. A shipbuilding yard from the Viking Age was uncovered upriver in 2002 by archaeologists. It was located at a place formerly known as Snekkeeng, or Snekke Meadow in English ('Snekke' is a type of longship), east of the Brabrand Lake close to Viby, and it was in use for more than 400 years from the late 700s till around the mid-1200s. Archaeological evidence indicates that Aarhus was a town as early as the last quarter of the 8th century. Discoveries after a 2003 archaeological dig included half-buried longhouses, firepits, glass pearls and a road dated to the late 700s. Several excavations in the inner city since the 1960s have revealed wells, streets, homes and workshops, and inside the buildings and adjoining archaeological layers, everyday utensils like combs, jewellery and basic multi-purpose tools from approximately the year 900 have been unearthed. The early town was fortified with defensive earthen ramparts in the first part of the 900s, possibly in the year 934 on order from king Gorm the Old. The fortifications were later improved and expanded by his son Harald Bluetooth, encircling the settlement much like the defence structures found at Viking ring fortresses elsewhere. The centre of…

Geography

Aarhus is located at the Bay of Aarhus facing the Kattegat sea in the east with the peninsulas of Mols and Helgenæs across the bay to the northeast. Mols and Helgenæs are both part of the larger regional peninsula of Djursland. A number of larger cities and towns is within easy reach from Aarhus by road and rail, including Randers ( by road north), Grenå (northeast), Horsens ( south) and Silkeborg ( east). At Aarhus's location, the Bay of Aarhus provides a natural harbour with a depth of quite close to the shore. Aarhus was founded at the mouth of a brackish water fjord, but the original fjord no longer exists, as it has gradually narrowed into what is now the Aarhus River and the Brabrand Lake, due to natural sedimentation. The land around Aarhus was once covered by forests, remains of which exist in parts of Marselisborg Forest to the south and Riis Skov to the north. Several lakes extend west from the inner city as the landscape merges with the larger region of Søhøjlandet with heights exceeding at Himmelbjerget between Skanderborg and Silkeborg. The highest natural point in Aarhus Municipality is Jelshøj at 128 metres above sea level, in the southern district of Højbjerg. The hilltop is home to a Bronze Age barrow shrouded in local myths and legends. The hilly area around Aarhus consists of a morainal plateau from the last ice age, broken by a complex system of tunnel valleys. The most prominent valleys of this network are the Aarhus Valley in the south, stretching inland east–west with the Aarhus River, Brabrand Lake, Årslev Lake and Tåstrup Lake, and the Egå Valley to the north, with the stream of Egåen, Egå Engsø, the bog of Geding-Kasted Mose and Geding Lake. Most parts of the two valleys have been drained and subsequently farmed, but in the early 2000s…

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  20,465
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  19,573
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  17,463
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  16,809
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,458
• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,645
• Eurasian Wren

  Troglodytes troglodytes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,530
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  13,497

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2005-03-16
  13 km NNW of Kalundborg, Denmark
• M 2.8 — 2005-03-03
  29 km E of Ebeltoft, Denmark
• M 3 — 2005-02-03
  29 km NNW of Nykøbing Sjælland, Denmark
• M 3 — 2005-02-03
  32 km E of Ebeltoft, Denmark
• M 2.7 — 2005-02-01
  32 km SE of Grenaa, Denmark
• M 2.8 — 2004-11-24
  13 km SSE of Ebeltoft, Denmark