The historical Århus
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Aarhus – the second-oldest and second-largest city in Denmark
Aarhus is not only the second-largest city in Denmark, it is also the second-oldest.
Archaeological excavations in recent years have finally established that the city was established in the middle of the 9th century and that the development of the town up until the present day has its own special history.
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The Vikings’ Aros
The earliest traces of a settlement can be found around what was originally a bank lying north of the river Aarhus Å and close to its mouth in the Bay of aarhus. Later, in mid-900s, the settlement was consolidated through the construction of a semi-circular fortification which originally covered approx. twelve acres and the Viking town of Aros, the name of the town, gained importance as a military installation.
The Viking semi-circular fortification has very definitely influenced the design of the street plan in the inner city where many of the main street can be dated back to the 12th and 13th centuries, and the contours of the earthworks Aarhus Søndervold can still be seen between Bispetorvet, Kannikegade and Aarhus Å.
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St Clemens town
Constructing the large new cathedral, St Clemens Church, started in 1197, the first church in Jutland to be built of bricks. Up until the start of the 16th century work continued on the cathedral, and the building activities became very significant for the town’s further development, but also resulted in extensive changes to the inner city.
In about 1300, the large square in front of the cathedral, Store Torv, was established, and a short while later the adjoining smaller square Lille Torv, which right up until 1882 were the only open squares in Aarhus.
In the mid-1400s, the old semi-circular fortification was demolished, and new streets established including Graven and Volden which were laid directly on top of the fortifications and the filled-in moat.
In the 15th century, the settlement spread along the southern banks of Aarhus Å, what is today Fiskergade up the Brobjerg hill, the present Frederiksgade.
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The merchants’ town
The period following the Reformation until the mid-17th century was characterised by an economic upturn. The town grew, not least because of the flourishing trade at Aarhus Å harbour, and the number of inhabitants had grown to over 7,000 by the middle of the 17th century.
The economic boom influenced building construction in Aarhus, and from this period a number of renaissance buildings have been preserved in Skolegade, Mejlgade and Studsgade. Research carried out by the City Museum of Aarhus in recent years has shown that the town was rich in gabled buildings in this period, of which only a single example remains standing today.
As a consequence of the thriving trade, the 17th century also saw the building of the Mindegade district, at the start of the century on the south side of the river mouth.
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The Swedish bombardment
The positive development was brought to a halt when the Swedes bombarded Aarhus in the 1640s and again in 1657, in the process not only destroying large parts of the town but also the commerce that took place. The number of inhabitants was more than halved and the decline that followed lasted well into the 19th century.
Many of the timber-frame buildings near the city centre date from the subsequent rebuilding.
Early industrialisation
In the 1840s, industrialisation gained momentum in Aarhus.
The first industrial buildings appeared in connection with the old merchant’s yards in the Vestergade district and in Mejlgade, and industrial activities remained here right up until the 1960s. At this time, people also started leaving the countryside and moving to towns and the city’s first suburb, Sjællandsgadekvarteret, arose, a distinct working-class district.
The port of Aarhus
When, at this time, a decision was made to stop using the city’s old and out of date Å harbour and build a proper coastal harbour out in the Bay of Aarhus, developments really got under way. At this time, approximately 7,000 people were living in Aarhus.
Similar developments were occurring in Randers and Horsens, towns which were nearly as large as Aarhus, but these towns had fjord harbours that were more prone to freeze over in winter. Thus, Aarhus took a decisive leap forwards which resulted in the planned Jutland railway being moved from Viborg to Aarhus, which in the second half of the 19th century became an important railway traffic junction.
Jutland’s first railway
Following the opening of the Aarhus-Randers railway in 1862, a new working-class district appeared, Frederiksbjerg, and in the wake of the railway the railway workshops were constructed, subsequently becoming the Central Workshops. At times, this was one of the largest workplaces in Aarhus and from 1916 it was joined by Frichs A/S, the only railway locomotive manufacturer in Denmark.
In 1909, the 50th anniversary of industry coming to Aarhus was celebrated with the opening of a national exhibition, an exhibition of industry, craftsmanship and culture. The city had by then overtaken both Aalborg and Odense in terms of size, and the number of inhabitants almost totalled 70,000.
Structural problems
Up until 1970 Aarhus had serious structural problems with lack of space and a falling tax base. Many of the people working for the city’s large industrial enterprises were not living in Aarhus but in the large independent suburban municipalities which at that time formed a ring around the city. With the large municipal amalgamations in 1970, the old suburban municipalities joined Aarhus and contributed to the creation of the financial basis behind the large and modern city and its future.
Education town Aarhus
In 1928, Aarhus University was founded and from the end of the 1950s everything concentrated on training and education. The city gained an architectural college, a college of journalism and much more, and is today the no. 1 town for education in Denmark with more than 30,000 students.
The many courses for further and higher education explains why Aarhus has in recent years been able to attract a variety of large high-technology companies concurrently with the phasing-out of the more traditional industrial activities.
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Theatre, music and culture
In 1900, Aarhus Teater was inaugurated at Bispetorvet and at the same time acquired a permanent group of professional actors. Aarhus now has a rich theatrical life with nine state-supported theatrical groups.
In the 1990s, Aarhus was described as a town of music. This was not only due to the inauguration of The Concert Hall Aarhus, home to the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra which was founded as early as 1935, and the Danish National Opera. Rhythmic music has also flourished in the same period.
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Aarhus Art Museum was built as long ago as 1859, and the first museum of cultural history was established in 1861. In 1917, Aarhus Kunstbygning, a smaller exhibition venue was opened, providing exhibition space for local artists. Since then, the museum area and the galleries have been considerably extended and today consist of both large national, specialist museums and small and medium-sized cultural institutions.
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History has left its traces
Over the past ten years, much of central Aarhus has been transformed into a more peaceful place, less dominated by traffic, following the renovation of streets and squares and the reopening of Aarhus Å. This has transformed the city centre for Aarhusians and their visitors, and it is now quite a different experience moving about the streets where churches from the Middle Ages, merchant’s houses from the Renaissance, large industrial buildings and especially modern architecture help to tell a small part of Aarhus’s exciting 1,200-year-long history.
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