Silkeborg


Silkeborg is a Danish town with a population of 46,923.
Silkeborg is the seat of Silkeborg City Council.
Silkeborg is located in the middle of the Jutlandic peninsula, slightly west of the geographical centre of Denmark. The city is situated on the Gudenå River in the hilly and lush landscape of Søhøjlandet, surrounded by Denmark’s largest forest district and a great number of lakes. Silkeborg is also known as Denmark’s outdoor capital. The lakes between Silkeborg and Ry that are linked by the Gudenå, are known collectively as Silkeborgsøerne.
The city is divided along an east-west axis by the lake of Silkeborg Langsø, which at the eastern side of the city, flows into the Gudenå River.

History

Silkeborg was the site of a castle, a monastery and a farming estate, established in the 15th century, some 6 km from Alling Abbey.
The modern town grew around the Drewsen og Sønner paper mill, established in 1844. Silkeborg Papirfabrik was located near the Gudenå River where Silkeborg castle once stood, in order to exploit the river as a source of energy for the mill, as a resource for paper production and as a means of transport. Michael Drewsen, regarded as the founder of the city, was responsible for the daily management of the mill. A statue of Michael Drewsen now stands in front of the old city hall in the town square.
A commission to establish Silkeborg as a trading centre was set up in 1845, and the site grew into a small settlement, from a population of 30 in 1844 to 556 in 1850 and to 1,204 in 1855. The City Council and the Parish were both established in 1855. The railway was built in 1871.
Silkeborg was given the status of market town in 1900. The population was recorded as being 7,228 in 1901, and 8,792 in 1911.
During the German occupation of Denmark, the Gestapo turned the Silkeborg Bad, which had until then served as the municipal sanatorium, into its Danish headquarters. The remnants of German bunkers can still be seen today, and one of these bunkers is now a public museum.

Geography

Silkeborg is located in region known as Søhøjlandet in mid-eastern Jutland, regarded as one of the most beautiful areas in Denmark. The landscape consists mostly of lakes, extensive woodlands and some of the highest points in Denmark, including Himmelbjerget. It is also one of the most expensive areas in Denmark in which to live, and the neighbouring village of Sejs is known for its particularly large mansions and lakeside villas at Brassø.

Economy

For many years the paper mill was the most prominent business in the city, but during the 1990s it suffered financial difficulties. In 1993, the German corporation, Drewsen Spezialpapiere, bought the mill, but in 2000 decided to close it. An urban renewal project turned the industrial area closest to the city centre partly into a new commercial district with a hotel, a cinema, a concert hall, restaurants and cafés; and partly into a new residential neighbourhood with modern apartment buildings.
The city has a large number of car dealerships, and is also the headquarters of Jyske Bank, Denmark's third-largest bank.

Main sights

Since 1899 Silkeborg has hosted an event called "Ildfestregatta", which means "fire party regatta". The event is held once every three years. During the regatta the city streets are closed to traffic in the evening, becoming temporary venues where live music is performed, merchandise is sold from stalls, and an amusement park operates. The houses next to the Gudenå River are decorated with colourful lamps, as are the many boats that enter the port at this time.''. In the background can be seen the city's former paper mills, now home to the Radisson-SAS Hotel and other shops.
On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 0:00 p.m., there is an unofficial Danish fireworks championship. Each day, a different company puts on a fireworks display and the winner is announced on Saturday. On Saturday evening, the winner from three years before puts on a major firework show sponsored by the City Council. Nowadays the fireworks are fired from a huge raft on Silkeborg Lake just next to City Hall, however, in years gone by, the show was done from the roof of the old paper mill.

Sports

The two most popular sports in Silkeborg are football and handball:
Silkeborg is served by two media outlets; a newspaper and a radio station. The oldest of the two is the daily newspaper Midtjyllands Avis founded in 1857 as Silkeborg Avis. It is the sixth oldest newspaper in Denmark and was founded when the town of Silkeborg had only existed for 11 years. For many years the paper had its own paper press, but now it is printed at Jyllands-Posten's facilities.
Midtjyllands Avis is now owned by the Silkeborg Avis group. This group is also the joint owner of the radio station Radio 1, a commercial radio station broadcasting online and on FM across central Jutland. The radio station tends to air a mix of pop music and local news. The sister station, Silkeborg Guld, tailors its programming for audiences interested in older Danish and English music, only interrupted by adverts. The newspaper and the radio station are both headquartered at Papirfabrikken.
On the 16th of August 2013 it was announced that Radio Silkeborg was to be handed over to the Radio ABC Group. As a consequence, five employees were made redundant, but programmes would continue to be broadcast on the same FM frequency.

Transportation

The Arts