Ribe the oldest extant
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
town, is in southwest
JutlandJutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
and has a population of 8,192 (1 January 2011). Until 1 January 2007, it was the seat of both the surrounding
municipalityRibe Municipality is a former municipality in Denmark. It was located on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula and belonged to Ribe County. It was abolished effective 1 January 2007. The municipal seat was located in the town of Ribe....
, and
countyRibe Amt is a former county on the Jutland peninsula of southwest Denmark. It included Denmark's fifth largest city, Esbjerg. The county was abolished effective January 1, 2007, when it merged into Region of Southern Denmark .-List of County Mayors:-Municipalities :...
. Ribe is now part of the enlarged Esbjerg Municipality in the Region of Southern Denmark.
History
Established in the first decade of the 8th century and first attested in a document dated 854 AD; Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark.
When
AnsgarSaint Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar, was an Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. The see of Hamburg was designated a "Mission to bring Christianity to the North", and Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North".-Life:After his mother’s early death Ansgar was brought up in Corbie Abbey, and made rapid...
the
Archbishop of Hamburg-BremenThe Archdiocese of Bremen was a historical Roman Catholic diocese and formed from 1180 to 1648 an ecclesiastical state , named Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen within the Holy Roman Empire...
, set out on the "Mission to bring Christianity to the
NorthNorthern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
", he made a request in 860, to the King of Denmark, that the first Scandinavian church be built in Ribe. This was not coincidental, since Ribe already at that point was one of the most important trade cities in Scandinavia. However the presence of a bishop, and thus a cathedral, in Ribe can only be confirmed from the year 948 AD.
The town has many well-preserved old buildings,
Ribe CathedralOur Lady Maria Cathedral is located in the ancient city of Ribe on the western coast of southern Jutland, Denmark- History :Ribe is Denmark's oldest surviving city. Ribe began as an open trading market on the north bank of the Ribe River where it runs into the ocean...
, and about 110 houses are under Heritage Protection. Denmark's oldest
town hallIn local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...
is found on the town's Von Støckens Plads. The building was erected in 1496, and was purchased by the city for use as a town hall in 1709.
Timeline
- Early 8th century AD, founding of Ribe.
- The Treaty of Ribe
The Treaty of Ribe was a proclamation at Ribe made by King Christian I of Denmark to a number of German nobles enabling himself to become Count of Holstein and regain control of Denmark's lost Duchy of Schleswig...
was proclaimed in 1460.
- 3 September 1580: a great fire destroys a large part of the town. 11 streets and 213 houses burn down.
- 11-12 October 1634: a storm tide
A storm tide is a tide with a high flood period caused by a storm. Storm tides can be a severe danger to the coast and the people living along the coast. The water level can rise to more than 5 meters above the normal tide....
floods the city with waterlevels rising to 6.1 meters above average.
- 1 January 2007: the Municipality of Ribe
Ribe Municipality is a former municipality in Denmark. It was located on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula and belonged to Ribe County. It was abolished effective 1 January 2007. The municipal seat was located in the town of Ribe....
ceased to exist as it merged with the municipalities of EsbjergEsbjerg Municipality is a municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. Its mayor is Johnny Søtrup, from the Venstre political party...
and BrammingUntil 1 January 2007 Bramming was a municipality in Ribe County on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 170 km², and had a total population of 13,638 . Its last mayor was Karl Kristian Knudtzen, a member of the Venstre political...
, now forming a new municipality of Esbjerg.
- 4 June 2010: residents celebrated the city's 1300th anniversary with a town-wide party
Cultural and environmental features
There are numerous cultural and environmental features of Ribe. Among the cultural highlights are notable churches and museums. The flora and fauna, while depleted in large part from the man-made development and surrounding agricultural land conversion, retain notable aspects of the natural environment. The Ribe River flows through town and hosts certain elements of riparian
habitat* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
. Certain notable birdlife is found in and near the town; the
European White StorkThe White Stork is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on its wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to end of tail, with a wingspan...
,
Ciconia ciconia, is one of the historic inhabitants of the town, choosing to build nests atop chimneys. This bird has steadily declined in population throughout Western Europe due to agricultural land conversion as well as droughts in its wintering range in Africa.
The following list some of the specific town features:
- Churches
- Museums
- The Night Watchman in Ribe. Every evening from 1 May until 15 September you may accompany the night watchman in Ribe on his route through the old town, while he is singing to alert citizens about bedtime approaching.
- Wadden Sea Center (Vadehavscentret)
- Mandø Mill (Mandø Mølle)
- The Mandø House (Mandøhuset)
- Mandø Island
Mandø is one of the Danish Wadden Sea islands off the southwest coast of Jutland, Denmark in the Wadden Sea, part of the North Sea. The island covers an area of 7.63 km² and has 62 inhabitants...
nature reserveA nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
, about 30 kilometres southwest
Notable people
- Playwright Kjeld Abell
Kjeld Abell was a Danish playwright and theatrical designer. Born in Ribe, Denmark, Abell's first designs were seen in ballets directed by George Balanchine at Copenhagen's Royal Danish Theatre and London's Alhambra Theatre....
.
- Hans Adolf Brorson, Danish Pietist clergyman and hymn writer.
- The poet Anders Christensen Bording.
- Emil Christian Hansen
Emil Christian Hansen was a Danish mycologist and fermentation physiologist.Born in Ribe, he financed his education by writing novels and he was awarded a gold medal in 1876 for an essay on fungi....
, the father of Modern Brewing: At the Carlsberg Laboratories in CopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, he was the first to discover that yeastYeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
was composed of different kinds of fungi and that the yeast culture could be cultivated. With this discovery, he was able to produce hybrid yeast. This yeast, known as Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, which allowed the brewing of lager beer, is today used in the vast majority of beerBeer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
production worldwide.
- Björn Dunkerbeck
Björn Dunkerbeck is a professional windsurfer who has won Professional Windsurfers Association Overall World Championships a record twelve times....
, Windsurfing World Champion.
- Kristen Feilberg
Kristen Feilberg or Christen Schjellerup Feilberg was an early Danish photographer who is known mainly for his images captured far beyond the borders of Denmark. From the 1860s until the 1890s, Feilberg participated in expeditions to Sumatra, Singapore, and Penang...
, born in 1839 at Vester Vedsted near Ribe was an early Danish photographer who, from the 1860s, photographed the native peoples and landscapes of Sumatra, Singapore, and Penang.
- J. Bodewalt Lampe
Jens Bodewalt Lampe was a Danish-born American composer, arranger, performer and band-leader of ragtime and syncopated dance music. With the exception of Scott Joplin, Lampe was possibly the most famous composer of ragtime songs of the early-20th century.Lampe was born in Ribe, Denmark to...
, American composer, arranger, performer and band leader of ragtime and syncopated dance music. With the exception of Scott Joplin, Lampe was possibly the most famous composer of ragtime songs of the early 20th century.
- Rued Langgaard
Rued Langgaard was a late-Romantic Danish composer and organist. His then-unconventional music was at odds with that of his Danish contemporaries and was recognized only 16 years after his death.- Life :Born in Copenhagen, Rued Langgaard was the only son of composer and Royal Chamber...
romantic composer and organist, born 28 July 1893 in Copenhagen — died 10 July 1952 in Ribe.
- Holger K. Nielsen
Holger Kirkholm Nielsen, known as Holger K. Nielsen for short, is a Danish politician, member of the Danish Folketinget parliament for the Socialist People's Party...
former leader of the Socialist People's PartyThe Socialist People's Party is a green and socialist political party in Denmark.-1959–69:The SF was founded on 15 February 1959 by Aksel Larsen, a former leader of the Communist Party of Denmark and CIA agent. Larsen was removed from the ranks of the DKP for his criticism over the Soviet...
, was born in Ribe and graduated from Ribe KatedralskoleRibe Katedralskole is a cathedral school in the Town of Ribe, Denmark. The school was first mentioned in 1145. The oldest building still in use, Puggård, is from the fourteenth century...
in 1969.
- Jacob A. Riis
Jacob August Riis was a Danish American social reformer, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer. He is known for using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the impoverished in New York City; those impoverished New Yorkers were the subject of most of his prolific...
, an American immigrant photographer famous for his book How the Other Half LivesHow the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York was an early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s...
, a pioneering work of photojournalismPhotojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism...
. He was also a longtime friend of Theodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
.
- Maren Spliid (Splids) was burned at a fire at the Gallows Hill near Ribe on 9 November 1641. She was probably the most well known Danish victim for persecutions of witches.
- Hans Tausen
Hans Tausen , the protagonist of the Danish Reformation, was born at Birkende on Funen in 1494 and died in Ribe in 1561.- Life :...
, protagonist of the Danish ReformationThe Reformation in Denmark–Norway and Holstein was the transition from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism in the realms ruled by the Copenhagen-based House of Oldenburg in the first half of the sixteenth century...
was the BishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Ribe from 1542–1562.
Official Honorary Citizens
The following have been declared Honorary Citizens of Ribe: (By year)
- Stiftsfysikus J.J. Kiær (1911)
- Town Archivist
An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...
C.N. Termansen (1934)
- Editor
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
C. Willemoes (1946)
- Chairman of the Ny Carlsbergfondet, H. E .Nørregård-Nielsen (2005)
Education
The town of Ribe has a long history as a center of education, namely the Gymnasium (
High School) called
Ribe Katedralskole (
cathedral schoolCathedral schools began in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education, some of them ultimately evolving into medieval universities. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, they were complemented by the monastic schools...
) has its roots in the Latin School of Ribe, dating back to at least 1145. Although confirmed to be older, this is the date for the oldest still existing document that confirms the school’s existence. Ribe Katedralskole is more than 850 years old, and is the oldest continuously existing school in Scandinavia.
Schools
Demographics
The following table shows the population of Ribe. Data from before the 18th century are estimates, the rest are taken from the official census.
| >
| Year |
Population |
| 1500 |
~5,000 |
| 1591 |
~4,500 |
| 1641 |
~3,500 |
| 1672 |
~2,000 |
>
| Year |
Population |
| 1769 |
1,827 |
| 1801 |
1,994 |
| 1850 |
2,984 |
| 1901 |
4,243 |
>
| Year |
Population |
| 1976 |
7,452 |
| 1981 |
7,646 |
| 1986 |
7,709 |
| 1990 |
7,636 |
>
| Year |
Population |
| 1996 |
8,105 |
| 2000 |
7,984 |
| 2001 |
8,031 |
| 2002 |
8,033 |
>
| Year |
Population |
| 2003 |
8,006 |
| 2004 |
7,990 |
| 2006 |
8,081 |
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