Aabenraa

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Aabenraa
( German Aabenraa )
Aabenraa coat of arms
Aabenraa (Denmark)
Aabenraa
Aabenraa
Basic data
State : DenmarkDenmark Denmark
Region : Syddanmark
Municipality
(since 2007) : 		Aabenraa
Coordinates : 55 ° 3 '  N , 9 ° 25'  E Coordinates: 55 ° 3 '  N , 9 ° 25'  E
Founded: 1231
Population :
(2020) 		16,425
Area : 942 km²
Population density : 17 inhabitants per km²
Height : 16 m ö.h.
Postal code : 6200
Mayor : Thomas Andresen
Sister cities : see article text
Website: www.aabenraa.dk
Storegade
Storegade

Aabenraa or Åbenrå ( German Apenrade , South Jutian : Affenråe ) is a Danish city in the Syddanmark region with 16,425 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020). It is located about 30 kilometers north of Flensburg on an arm of the Baltic Sea , the Apenrader Förde . With its seaport, Aabenraa Havn , the city has a long tradition as a seafaring town and shipyard location.

Aabenraa is the main town and administrative seat of the Aabenraa municipality . The main office of the state family law agency Familieretshuset is also located here .

Attractions

Typical craftsman's house in the old town (Vægterpladsen 1A)
  • Old town, especially in the side streets such as Slotsgade (Schlossstraße), Nygade (Neue Straße), Store Pottergade (Große Töpferstraße) and Vægterpladsen (Wächterplatz) closed ensembles with town houses and craftsmen's houses v. a. From the 18th century. Typical is the one-storey construction with a triangular gable facing the street and a glazed stand bay , in which the craftsman was previously visible from the street at work. There are also more representative, two-story long houses with dormer windows . Some houses - white or colored plastered - have artfully decorated portals and above them a date, the names of their previous residents and German or Latin inscriptions.
  • Nikolaikirche , the core from the 13th century
  • Brundlund Castle , formerly the seat of the district administrator ( amtmand ), today an art museum
  • Watermill at the castle, the symbol of the city
  • Museum, town history and seafaring history
  • Town hall from the 1840s, simply late classicist
  • Gallows mountain, wonderful view over the city and harbor
  • Former navigation school, birthplace of Ernst Reuters , north of the old town
  • Färbersmølle (Farversmølle), old water mill in the south of the city
  • Postmeisterhof, town house with a beautiful park at the Südertor
  • Schwensen's pen, old poor pen at the south gate
  • Ring rider fairground, near the castle

Place name

Opnøraa

In the oldest medieval sources there is talk of a predecessor village Opnør , which was written after a small stream (Danish Aa / Å = Au) and Opnøraa or Opneraa . In the 13th century, a trading center was formed not far from it, which was elevated to a town before 1300.

Aabenraa

Since Middle Low German was the merchant language, the name changed to Aabenraa , the German name still in use today. The Saxon ending "Rade" in the sense of clearing is otherwise only known in Schleswig-Holstein in the extreme south-east, but is common in Holstein . It is assumed that the spelling Aabenraa was originally a German folk etymology , because the place name ending -rade is pronounced in Holstein Low German as / ra: / or / rå: /.

Aabenraa

In the 1850s, when the administration of the entire state under the Danish krone tried to strengthen Danish , Aabenraa was the only common written form of name. The form Åbenrå was common in the spoken Danish colloquial language; this is the name of a Copenhagen street, originally called Åbenrad (open (houses) row) , since about 1600 Åbenrå , as folk etymology has assumed that it was the city name. In the course of the national conflict, the Danish culture fighters introduced the city name Aabenraa into the written language after the 1840s and 1850s . In Danish usage, this name prevailed after the separation of Schleswig from Denmark in 1864 and became the official name of the city in 1920 after the annexation of North Schleswig .

The current name Aabenraa is therefore a very rare example of a danized, originally German spelling, which, however, replaced the Danish name Opneraa at the time . Nordborg is comparable , which according to the Danish language tradition should actually be called Nørborg or Nørreborg ; a few efforts to introduce the name Nørborg failed. The opposite is the case with most of Schleswig's place names: Germanized names of Danish origin (today in the German part of Schleswig, 1864–1920 also in North Schleswig).

Aa / Å dispute

The Danish spelling reform of 1948 made from aa one å as a double A in the Danish no long A, but an open O represents. While Aarhus was quick to declare its satisfaction with the writing reform, there was strong resistance in Aalborg and Aabenraa. The result was that the city name in alphabetical lists now slipped from first to last place, because Å is the last letter in the Danish alphabet. The city would also drop from “Aabenraa” to “Abenra” in international directories. Not least because of this, the spelling Åbenrå never caught on in the Fördestadt. The new letter was popularly called “bolle-å” (“bolle” = sphere, compass) and was introduced according to the Swedish pattern. The language-conservative association Dansk Sprogværn equipped the Aabenraaer with posters and stickers with the following rhyme in the 1950s :

Byens Navn er Aabenraa - uden svenske Boller paa!
(The name of the city is Aabenraa - without Swedish circles / dumplings on it!)

At the end of the 1990s there was a political movement led by the mayor: Aabenraa? Right at the front!

Since a ministerial decree in 1984, locally preferred spellings such as Aabenraa and Aalborg have been allowed again. This happened against the recommendation of the Danish Language Commission : The official spelling rules recommend Åbenrå , while Aabenraa remains an optional subsidiary form.

history

coat of arms

Aabenraa was later than 1335, possibly already in 1284 as Opneraa the city explained. This name comes from the disappeared village of Opnør . As a trading town, Aabenraa was long in the shadow of Flensburg and Haderslev . The three mackerels in the city coat of arms indicate the great importance of fishing. A sovereign castle was built near the settlement in the Middle Ages and became the official seat.

After the division of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein in 1490, 1544 and 1581, Aabenraa and its surrounding area always belonged to the rulership of the Gottorf Duke until 1713/1721 . The city was badly hit by the wars of the 17th century. It did not take off until the end of the 18th century. The width of the fjord was a decisive locational advantage for shipping at that time with ever larger ships, and by the middle of the 19th century the shipping capacity had almost reached that of the much larger neighboring city of Flensburg . Shipbuilding was also one of the city's most important industries. Aabenraa set up a central water supply in 1858 long before the other cities in the region.

The German-Danish conflict, which was the dominant theme in the Duchy of Schleswig from 1840 , was fought particularly vehemently in Aabenraa. In the civil war of 1848, the citizens initially sided with the rebellious Schleswig-Holsteiners. After the end of the war in 1850, both languages ​​were officially considered equal, although Danish had priority, especially in schools. The unfinished conflict led to another war in 1864 , which, unlike in 1848, sparked off at the interstate level.

After the war, Aabenraa belonged to Prussia from 1867 and to the German Empire from 1871 . The office was converted into a Prussian district. The city was hard hit by the loss of the northern hinterland. Also, unlike in Flensburg , the shipyard industry and merchants were unable to switch to metal ship production, which resulted in the temporary end of shipbuilding. Nevertheless, a navigation school for boatman training was established. The city was only connected to the railway network via a branch line and from 1899 via the Apenrader Kreisbahn small railway . The industrialization remained rather modest, but a few metalworking companies emerged. The traditional brick industry also retained its importance. Organ building is a specialty of the city. From 1895 to 1901, a Bismarck tower was built on the Knivsberg in Aabenraa as the “national symbol of the recovery of the German northern mark”, which was blown up in 1945.

After the end of the First World War , 55.1% of the city's electorate voted for the German Reich in the Schleswig referendum on state affiliation. However, the city belonged to Zone I, in which the total of all residents of Zone I counted, so that the city came to Denmark. The driving force behind the Danish movement in the city and throughout Northern Schleswig was Hans Peter Hanssen , previously a member of the German Reichstag and editor of the local newspaper Hejmdal . As Minister for the South Jutland parts of the country, he worked from then on for the rapid integration of the city and the surrounding area into the Danish economic area. Despite extensive cultural concessions to the German ethnic group, the national conflict was not over. Just as Aabenraa was the center of the Danish movement in the region until 1920, it now fulfilled the same role for the German North Schleswig-Holstein.

The enthusiasm of substantial sections of the minority for National Socialism fueled the conflict. After the end of the German occupation in 1945, the minority was clearly weakened. Even today, all major national institutions of the German ethnic group such as high school, newspaper, office and library have their headquarters in the Fördestadt. This also includes the German Gymnasium for North Schleswig (DGN). In addition to training the students, it has taken on the task of promoting integration. Students from Germany and Denmark are equally at this school, who must have German and Danish in addition to the usual subjects as LK . Most of the teachers are bilingual and the school library has both German and Danish books. The grammar school, like Danish grammar schools, comprises grades 11 to 13. In addition to the German grammar school, there is also a German school in Aabenraa, which covers the first ten years of school, and a German kindergarten. In the neighborhood of the schools there is also the German Leisure Home, a day care center for 5 to 11 year old children.

In contrast to the neighboring cities, Aabenraa is still of major importance as a trading port. In addition, there are companies in many industries in the city. Since 1970 the city has been the capital of the Sønderjylland district, which also includes the neighboring towns of Løjt , Ensted and Rise . In 2007 Aabenraa merged with the previous municipalities of Rødekro Kommune , Lundtoft , Bov Kommune and Tinglev Kommune .

culture and education

Renovated merchant's house on the market square (Storetorv)

Schools:

  • The elementary schools Rugkobbel Skole , Høje Kolstrup Skole and Brundlund Skole
  • high school
  • CVU Sønderjylland (including training of educators)
  • Business school ( International Business College )
  • Højskolen Østersøen

German institutions:

Research:

Museums:

  • Maritime History Museum
  • Brundlund Castle Art Museum

population

Aabenraa is the center of German minority work in North Schleswig. The German-minded residents are organized in the Bund Deutscher Nordschleswiger and, like the Danes in Schleswig-Holstein , enjoy minority protection. As a result of the administrative reform in 2007 with the accompanying creation of the new Region Syddanmark (Region Southern Denmark), access to parliamentary and political functions is made more difficult - this is to be compensated by bodies that guarantee at least a representation of the minority without political authority (see minority voting rights ).

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

Aabenraa station (2012)

The city is about six kilometers east of the north-south E 45 motorway . Important highways are the A 24 to Ribe and Sønderborg and the 170 to Flensburg and Haderslev . There are hourly bus connections to the last three cities, while the timetable to the west with lines to Tønder , Bredebro - Løgumkloster , Rømø and Ribe is much thinner.

Since the hilly terrain would have required expensive engineering structures, the main railway from Hamburg and Flensburg to Vamdrup and Fredericia was built on the flat Geest eight kilometers past the city. The Rødekro – Aabenraa railway from Rødekro was finally closed in 2003 and is now just a museum railway, separated from the rest of the railway network, on which draisines operate. The previously insignificant station location developed in the 20th century, not least at the expense of Aabenraa, into a fairly large community with an urban character.

The Aabenraa Amts Jernbaner with connections to Løgumkloster and Gråsten have long since been closed. The former train station has been empty for years. The association that previously operated an art exhibition (Kunstforeningen BaneGården Art & Culture) dissolved on March 7, 2018. The background is that the station building belongs to the Abena company, which now wants to use it itself.

For several years now, express buses have been connecting the city with neighboring cities as well as Esbjerg and Vejle .

port

Due to the favorable location of the city at the end of the deep Aabenraa Fjord, it has the only deep-water port in the German-Danish border region Sønderjylland-Schleswig.

Established businesses

  • Marcussen & Søn , renowned organ builder since 1806
  • Bukh , now a ship engine manufacturer , was founded as Bukh & Gry Maskinværksted in Hørve in 1904
  • Elvstrøm Sails A / S , sailmaker founded by Paul Elvstrøm
  • Abena , an international group, founded in 1953 under the name Sækko A / S , today OX-ON A / S, hygiene products, around 1800 employees
  • Sydbank , headquarters of the bank founded in 1970

media

Regional radio P4 Syd , part of DR Syd, has an editorial office in Aabenraa in addition to Esbjerg and broadcasts radio and television news from the Sønderjylland region. The private broadcaster Radio Mojn was discontinued in 2014. Aabenraa is the seat of the daily newspaper Der Nordschleswiger (circulation: over 2,100) published by the German minority . The regional newspaper JydskeVestkysten , based in Esbjerg, has a local editorial office in Aabenraa. Its local edition reached a circulation of 6,831 copies in the second half of 2010. The free newspapers Aabenraa Ugeavis ( Syddanske Medier ) and - since 1998 - a local edition of Lokalavisen Budstikken ( Politikens Lokalaviser A / S , subsidiary of JP / Politikens Hus ) appear here.

Town twinning

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

  • Ipland , captain and seafarer family

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b Statistics Banks -> Befolkning og valg -> BY1: Folketal January 1st efter byområde, alder og køn (Danish)
  2. ↑ Else Bojsen: Hvor svært kan det være? Om dansk-svensk sprogfællesskab and sprogforståelse in the 50th year. In: Grændse som skiller ej! Contact about Öresund under 1900-talet. Ed. Kjell Å Modéer, Museum Tusculanum, 2007, ISBN 978-87-635-0481-2 .
  3. ↑ Spelling rules, §3.2 ( Memento of May 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), sproget.dk (in Danish)
  4. ↑ Heinrich Gottfried Gengler: Regesten and documents on the constitutional and legal history of German cities in the Middle Ages. Erlangen 1863, pp. 51-52 ; see also p. 966.
  5. ^ After the referendum. Retrieved August 24, 2009 .
  6. ↑ Om Bukh. In: Bukh-traktor.dk. Retrieved April 2, 2014 (Danish).
  7. ↑ Fra leverandør til samarbejdspartner. Abena A / S, accessed April 2, 2014 (Danish).
  8. ↑ P4 Syd: Om P4 Syd ( Memento from April 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on April 25, 2012 (Danish)
  9. ↑ Lukket May 23, 2014, accessed November 29, 2015.
  10. ↑ Dansk Oplagkontrol: Kontrollerede oplagstal for 2. halvår 2010 ( Memento from October 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 49 kB), accessed on April 25, 2012 (Danish)
  11. ↑ Local notifications Aabenraa ( Memento from July 27, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) (Danish)

Web links

Commons : Aabenraa  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Åbenrå  - travel guide