Skanderborg

Sister cities

• Eisenach
• Lidköping Municipality

History

Skanderborg is an old town and the area have revealed traces of human settlements, dating from the earliest Nordic Stone Age. A seasonal camp from the Ertebølle culture, was found here in the 1930s for example, near the former Ringkloster (English: Ring Abbey) on the southern brinks of Skanderborg Lake. The town sprawled around the former Skanderborg Castle, founded at some point during the early Middle Ages and in 1583 Skanderborg was granted a municipal charter. The town of Skanderborg has attracted several religious communities over the years, especially in the early Middle Ages. The long gone Ring Abbey founded by Benedictine nuns in the 12th century, was once situated on the southeastern brinks of Skanderborg Lake. The last buildings burned down in 1715 and now there is a mansion at the site. There also used to be a Dominican monastery on the small islet of Kalvø in the middle of the lake. The monastery was founded by the Black Friar Order in the first half of the 12th century, along with a small harbour, but in 1168 there were only two monks left and the Cistercian Order took over. The Cistercians came here after they had failed in founding a proper monastery at several nearby locations since 1165. In that year, they embarked on a mission from Vitskøl Abbey in Himmerland, to found a daughter community in the diocese of Aarhus and tried at Sabro, at Sminge near Silkeborg (Sminge Abbey), and then near the village of Veng (Veng Abbey). The Cistercians eventually felt too isolated on the small isle of Kalvø, often cut off from the mainland for days and weeks even when the weather was harsh, and after just four years, they gave up here, too, and moved to Rye between Mossø and Gudensø, a few kilometres west of Skanderborg. Here they founded Øm Abbey in 1172.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  19,313
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  18,000
• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,358
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  16,246
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  15,989
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,500
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  14,148
• Eurasian Wren

  Troglodytes troglodytes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,550

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