Odense

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Odense
City
Saint Canute's Cathedral
Coat of arms
Country	Denmark
Region	Region Syddanmark
Municipality	Odense Municipality
Center	Flakhaven
- coordinates	55°23′45.48″N 10°23′18.73″E / 55.3959667°N 10.3885361°E / 55.3959667; 10.3885361
Population	158,163 (2008)
First documented	988
- City charter	1355
- Current municipality	1970
Timezone	CET (UTC+1)
- summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal codes	5000, 5100, 5200, 5210, 5220, 5230, 5240, 5250, 5260, 5270
Odense (left center) in Denmark
Website: www.odense.dk

The city of Odense (Danish pronunciation: [ˈoð̞ˀn̩sə]  ( listen)) is the third largest city in Denmark. The name Odense comes from the Norse god Odin.

Odense city has 158,163 inhabitants, as of January 1, 2008 and is the main city of the island of Funen. It is the seat of Odense Municipality and was the seat of Odense County until 1970, and Funen County from 1970 until January 1, 2007 when the county became part of Region Syddanmark.

Contents 1 History 2 Famous residents of Odense 3 Business 4 Education 5 Sports 6 Tourist attractions 7 Transport 8 Population 9 Twin cities 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

[edit] History

For the Catholic ecclesiastical history, see Roman Catholic bishopric of Odense

Odense (from Odins Vé, meaning "Odin's shrine", referring to the god Odin of Denmark's indigenous Norse mythology), is one of the oldest cities of Denmark and had its 1000th anniversary in 1988. To celebrate this, a forest named "the Thousand Year Forest" (Danish: Tusindårsskoven) was cultivated. The shrine of Saint Canute (Danish: Sankt Knud / Knud den Hellige) in Saint Canute's Cathedral held great attraction for pilgrims throughout the Middle Ages.

In the 16th century the town was the meeting-place of several parliaments, and down to 1805 it was the seat of the provincial assembly of Funen.

Odense's most famous landmark was Odinstårnet (The Odin Tower) constructed in 1935, as the second-tallest tower in Europe, only surpassed by the Eiffel Tower. Odinstårnet was blown up by a Danish Nazi group in 1944 and has never been rebuilt. However, a miniature model of it now stands in the residential area Odinsparken in the area where the original tower was.

Until the beginning of the Danish industrial revolution, Odense was also the 2nd largest city in modern Denmark, but has in recent times been overtaken by Aarhus.

[edit] Famous residents of Odense

• author and poet Hans Christian Andersen
• Classical composer Carl Nielsen was also born near Odense.
• King Canute IV, (ca. 1043 - July 17, 1086), also known as Canute the Saint and Canute the Holy
• Industrialist, banker and philanthropist Carl Frederik Tietgen
• Inventor and industrialist Thomas B. Thrige
• Handball player, Anja Andersen
• The cartoonist Henrik Rehr was born and grew up in Odense
• Her Royal Highness Birgitte, The Duchess of Gloucester was born and raised in Odense.
• Peter Eastgate, winner of the Main Event at the 2008 World Series of Poker
• Musician Kim Larsen

[edit] Business

Several large industries are located in or near Odense. Denmark's biggest shipyard, Odense Steel Shipyard owned by the A.P. Møller-Mærsk Group is situated in the neighbouring town Munkebo. The biggest sales auction of vegetables, fruits and flowers (GASA) in Denmark is situated here. The Albani Brewery brews the local Odense Pilsner amongst others.

The commercial national television company TV 2 is based in Odense.

In the South-eastern part of Odense the Rosengårdscentret shopping mall is located. The mall is one of the oldest and biggest in Denmark with 98,000 m² of commercially used area.

The city's central location in Denmark makes it one of the nationwide convention and congress centers.

[edit] Education

The main campus of the University of Southern Denmark is located in Odense.

[edit] Sports

Odense is the home of a number of football clubs, the most important are OB, FC FYN, B1909, B1913, FC Campus and Dalum FC.

[edit] Tourist attractions

Saint Canute's Cathedral (Danish: Sankt Knuds Kirke) was formerly connected with the great Benedictine monastery of the same name, and is one of the largest and finest buildings of its kind in Denmark. It is constructed of brick in a pure Gothic style. Originally dating from 1081–1093, it was rebuilt in the 13th century. Under the altar lies Canute (Danish: Knud), the patron saint of Denmark, who had planned to conquer England from William of Normandy. He was slain in an insurrection at Odense in 1086. Odense is also the see of the bishop of Funen. * The cathedral has the skeletons of both the Saint/King and his brother on public display, it also boasts of one of Denmark's finest altarpieces, a magnificent triptych by Claus Berg. A large fragment of Byzantine cloth is displayed next to the two skeletons.

Kings John (Danish: Hans) and Christian II are buried in the city.

Our Lady's Church, built in the 13th century and restored in 1851–1852 and again in 1864, contains a carved 16th century altarpiece by Claus Berg of Lübeck.

Odense Palace was erected by King Frederick IV, who died there in 1730.

There is a theatre as well as a symphony orchestra, a zoo, and the Funen Village (Den Fynske Landsby) which is an open air museum with old houses typical for Funen.

The City Hall has a small scar from a battle between Germans and members of the Danish Resistance on 5 May 1945. The city's coat of arms - located above the main entrance to City Hall - is damaged. On close inspection, the kneecap of Saint Canute is penetrated by a bullet.

The 4 most visited attractions in 2007 were:

1. Odense Zoo - 420,254 visitors
2. The Funen Village - 105,040 visitors
3. Danish Railway museum - 97,759 visitors
4. H.C. Andersens House - 80,622 visitors^[1]

Other attractions:

• Odense City Museums
  • Hans Christian Andersen Museum
  • Hans Christian Andersen's Childhood home
  • The Funen Village
• Odense Theatre
• Odense Fjord
• Churches & Cathedrals
  • Saint Knud's Cathedral
  • Saint Albani Church
  • Vor Frue Church
  • Saint Hans Church
• Odense Zoo
• Odense Central Library
• Odense Sportspark
• University of Southern Denmark previously known as Odense University
• Odense Symphony Orchestra
• Odense Music School
• Danish Railway Museum
• Nonnebakken

[edit] Transport

The city lies close to Odense Fjord on the Odense River (Odense Å). Its railway station lies on the route between Copenhagen and Jutland, the peninsular mainland. A 7.5 metre (25 ft) deep canal, dug from 1796 to 1806^{[citation needed]}, gives access to the town from the fjord.

Accessibility to Odense was greatly increased when the ferry service between the two main Danish islands, Zealand and Funen, was replaced by the Great Belt Bridge - opened in 1997 for rail traffic, 1998 for road traffic. When the bridge opened, it was the second longest suspension bridge in the world. Its construction greatly cut transportation time between Odense and the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Copenhagen can now be reached by trains from Odense in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Odense is served by Odense Airport.

[edit] Population

The land area of Odense is 304 km², with a population density of 611 per km² (2005 figures from Helsingin Seudun Aluesarjat). The population of Odense city, per January 1 of a given year, according to Danmarks Statistik.

Year	Population	Year	Population
1976[2]	138,348	1999	144,940
1981	136,646	2000	145,062
1986	137,286	2001	144,849
1989	138,339	2002	144,636
1990	138,986	2003	145,374
1992	140,886	2004	145,554
1994	143,029	2006[3]	152,060
1996	144,518	2007	158,453
1997	145,354	2008	158,163
1998	145,296	2009	158,678

[edit] Twin cities

For a full list of twin cities, see Odense Municipality

[edit] See also

• Odense municipality
• Odense Airport
• Roman Catholic bishopric of Odense
• Tourism in Denmark
• The Funen Village

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Odense - City of Hans Christian Andersen
• The City of Odense
• Odense travel guide from Wikitravel

v • d • e Municipal seats of Denmark Hovedstaden Albertslund · Ballerup · Brøndbyvester · Buddinge · Charlottenlund · Copenhagen · Frederiksberg · Frederikssund · Frederiksværk · Glostrup · Helsinge · Helsingør · Herlev · Hillerød · Holte · Hørsholm · Hvidovre · Ishøj · Kokkedal · Kongens Lyngby · Lillerød · Rønne · Rødovre · Stenløse · Store Magleby · Taastrup · Tårnby · Værløse · Vallensbæk Midtjylland Århus · Grenå · Herning · Hadsten, Hinnerup, Hammel and Hvorslev · Hedensted · Holstebro · Horsens · Ikast · Lemvig · Odder · Randers · Ringkøbing and Skjern · Rønde · Silkeborg · Skanderborg · Skive · Struer · Tranebjerg · Viborg Nordjylland Åbybro · Ålborg · Års · Brønderslev · Byrum · Frederikshavn · Hjørring · Hobro · Nykøbing Mors · Støvring · Thisted Sjælland Greve · Haslev · Højby · Holbæk · Hvalsø · Kalundborg · Køge · Maribo · Næstved · Nykøbing Falster · Ringsted · Roskilde · Slagelse · Solrød Strand · Sorø · Store Heddinge · Vordingborg Syddanmark Aabenraa · Assens · Bogense · Esbjerg · Fredericia · Grindsted · Haderslev · Kerteminde · Kolding · Marstal · Middelfart · Nyborg · Nordby · Odense · Ringe · Rudkøbing · Svendborg · Sønderborg · Tønder · Varde · Vejen · Vejle

v • d • e 30 most populated urban areas of Denmark as of 1 January 2009, according to Statistics Denmark [2] 1. Copenhagen 1,167,569 2. Århus 239,865 3. Odense 158,678 4. Ålborg 122,461 5. Esbjerg 71,025 6. Randers 59,842 7. Kolding 56,249 8. Horsens 52,518 9. Vejle 50,654 10. Roskilde 46,292 11. Helsingør 46,101 12. Herning 45,470 13. Silkeborg 41,979 14. Næstved 41,717 15. Fredericia 39,484 16. Viborg 35,108 17. Køge 34,733 18. Holstebro 34,062 19. Hørsholm 33,039 20. Taastrup 32,102 21. Slagelse 31,682 22. Hillerød 29,683 =23. Svendborg 27,179 =23. Sønderborg 27,179 25. Holbæk 26,623 26. Hjørring 24,963 27. Frederikshavn 23,511 28. Haderslev 21,435 29. Skive 20,686 30. Ringsted 20,575

v • d • e 50 most populous cities in Scandinavia  Denmark ·  Norway ·  Sweden 1.  Stockholm 1,252,000 2.  Copenhagen 1,167,569 3.  Oslo 857,000 4.  Helsinki 578,126 5.  Gothenburg 510,500 6.  Malmö 258,000 7.  Espoo 242,372 8.  Århus 228,700 9.  Bergen 223,600 10.  Tampere 209,744 11.  Vantaa 196,228 12.  Stavanger 185,900 13.  Turku 175,738 14.  Trondheim 156,800 15.  Odense 152,100 16.  Oulu 137,360 17.  Uppsala 128,400 18.  Jyväskylä 128,245 19.  Ålborg 121,500 20. Template:Country data ICELAND Reykjavík 120,165 21.  Västerås 107,000 22.  Fredrikstad1 100,500 23.  Lahti 100,252 24.  Örebro 98,200 25.  Linköping 97,400 26.  Drammen 94,900 27.  Kuopio 92,018 28.  Helsingborg 91,500 29.  Skien 86,300 30.  Jönköping 84,400 31.  Norrköping 83,600 32.  Pori 76,434 32.  Lund 76,200 33.  Umeå 75,600 34.  Joensuu 72,368 35.  Esbjerg 71,900 36.  Lappeenranta 70,354 37.  Gävle 68,700 38.  Kristiansand 66,500 39.  Hämeenlinna 66,210 40.  Borås 63,400 41.  Södertälje 60,300 42.  Eskilstuna 60,200 43.  Rovaniemi 59,351 44.  Vaasa 58,746 45.  Täby 58,600 46.  Karlstad 58,500 47.  Randers 55,900 48.  Halmstad 55,700 49.  Växjö 55,600 50.  Kolding 55,000 1 with Sarpsborg. Data according to Statistics Sweden [3] · Statistics Denmark [4] · Statistics Norway [5] This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.