Frederiksberg

Sister cities

• Hafnarfjörður

History

Frederiksberg's original name was , a combination of the Danish words (thyle) and (high), indicating that a thyle lived there, the reciter of eldritch times. The term is known from the Snoldelev rune stone. In Beowulf, Unferth holds the same title. In Håvamål, Odin himself is referred to as "the old thul". Thula translates as "song", like in the Rigsthula poem from the Edda. By 1443 the name Tulehøj was spelled Tulleshøy. It was regarded as Copenhagen's border to the west. People have lived in the area since the Bronze Age. The history of Frederiksberg goes back to 2 June 1651 when King Frederik III gave 20 Danish-Dutch peasants the rights to settle at Allégade (from the words allé (tree-lined street or avenue) and gade (street)), and founded the town then named "Ny Amager" (New Amager) or "Ny Hollænderby" (New Dutchman-town) as part of a general policy of introducing modern, Dutch farming techniques into Denmark, a policy begun by King Christian IV. Farming was not very successful, and additionally, in 1697 most of the town burned down. This meant that the peasants were unable to pay taxes, and the land reverted to the crown, by now Frederik III's son Christian V. In 1700–1703, King Frederik IV built a palace on top of the hill known as Valby Bakke (bakke = hill). He named the palace Frederichs Berg, and the rebuilt town at the foot of the hill consequently changed its name to Frederiksberg. A number of the local houses were bought by wealthy citizens of Copenhagen who did not farm the land, but rather used the properties as country houses. The town changed slowly from a farming community to a merchant town, with craftsmen and merchants. During the summer, rooms were offered for rent, and restaurants served food to the people of Copenhagen who had left the…

Geography

Frederiksberg, which lies west of central Copenhagen, is completely surrounded by boroughs forming part of the city of Copenhagen – the result of an expansion of the Copenhagen Municipality's boundary in 1901, which nevertheless did not include Frederiksberg in the list of municipalities to be incorporated in the enlarged area. Frederiksberg is thus effectively a municipal island within the country's capital – a unique phenomenon in present-day Europe. Other than administratively, however, it is largely indistinguishable in character from the districts of Copenhagen city which surround it. Municipal taxes in Frederiksberg are also lower than those in Copenhagen proper, which attracts a more affluent population. Frederiksberg has several stations on the Copenhagen Metro system, and is home to the tallest residential structure in Denmark and the second tallest residential building in Scandinavia: the 102-metre high Domus Vista.

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  56,277
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  51,036
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  48,882
• Graylag Goose

  Anser anser (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  46,462
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  45,105
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  44,752
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  43,970
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  40,228