Vordingborg () is an old ferry town in

Vordingborg Municipality Vordingborg () is a municipality ('' kommune'') in the Sjælland Region, which is on the southeast coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in south Denmark. It was established in 2007. The municipality covers an area of 621 km2. It has ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

with around 18,000 inhabitants. Because of three large estates surrounding the town, a coherent urban development has not been possible, which is the reason why three satellite towns (former villages) have emerged around the town. Within the ring of estates, the town has 12,000 inhabitants, and 17,868 inhabitants when including the three satellite towns of Ørslev, Nyråd, and Stensved, situated 1, 3 and 5 kilometres, respectively, from the town of Vordingborg. Vordingborg Municipality (Kommune) has a population of 45,352. Long term head coach of the Danish national football team, Morten Olsen, was born in Vordingborg.

History

On 1 January 2007 the old Vordingborg municipality was, as the result of ''Kommunalreformen'' ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007), merged with Langebæk,

Møn Møn () is an island in south-eastern Denmark. Until 1 January 2007, it was a municipality in its own right but it is now part of the municipality of Vordingborg, after merging with the former municipalities of Langebæk, Præstø, and Vordin ...

, and Præstø municipalities to form an enlarged Vordingborg municipality.

Geography

Vordingborg is situated 37 km from

Nykøbing Falster Nykøbing Falster (; originally named Nykøbing) is a southern Danish city, seat of the Guldborgsund ''kommune''. It belongs to Region Sjælland. The city lies on Falster, connected by the Frederick IX Bridge over the Guldborgsund (''Gul ...

, roughly 50 km from Gedser, and roughly 100 km from

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 2 ...

. The town is situated on the island of

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is th ...

and is linked to the island of

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

with

Farø Bridges The Farø Bridges ( da, Farøbroerne, ) are two road bridges that connect the islands of Falster and Zealand in Denmark by way of the small island of Farø which is approximately mid-way across the Storstrømmen sound. A smaller bridge from Fa ...

and

Storstrøm Bridge The Storstrøm Bridge ( da, Storstrømsbroen, ) is a road and railway arch bridge that crosses Storstrømmen between the islands of Falster and Masnedø in Denmark. Together with Masnedsund Bridge it connects Falster and Zealand (''Sjælland' ...

Economy

Vordingborg Municipality is home to 9,500 jobs. Companies headquartered in Vordingborg include Vordingborg Køkkener, a kitchen manufacturer. Udbetaling Danmark, a public institution under ARP, has one of its five regional centres in the town.

Attractions

The ruins of

Vordingborg Castle The Vordingborg Castle ruins (''Vordingborg Slotsruin'') are located in the town of Vordingborg, Denmark and are the town's most famous attraction. History The castle was built in 1175 by King Valdemar I of Denmark as a defensive fortress, and a ...

, the old royal castle which was built around 1364, is the town's most famous attraction. The only fully remaining part of the castle, the 26 meter tall Goose Tower (''Gåsetårnet''), is the symbol of the city. It is the largest of King Valdemar Atterdag's nine main castle towers. The name comes from the golden goose perched on top of the tower's spire. Legend has it that Valdemar Atterdag used the symbol to taunt the Hanseatic League. The current goose was put there in 1871. It is not certain what was on top of the tower before 1871 and maybe it was just a

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , ...

made of gold. The tower was transferred into the national trust on 24 December 1808 and is thus the first protected historic monument in Denmark. A historic garden is also located on the site of the ruin. Vordingborg is the home of the South Zealand Museum (''Sydsjællands Museum''). The city holds an annual festival, Vordingborg Fest Week (''Vordingborg Festuge'') in July. The

Vordingborg Transmitter Vordingborg () is an old ferry town in Vordingborg Municipality in Denmark with around 18,000 inhabitants. Because of three large estates surrounding the town, a coherent urban development has not been possible, which is the reason why three s ...

is one of the tallest towers in Denmark. The

Danish Army The Royal Danish Army ( da, Hæren, fo, Herurin, kl, Sakkutuut) is the land-based branch of the Danish Defence, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structure ...

operates a barracks facility on the edge of town, known as '' Vordingborg Kaserne''.

Notable people

Anne Lykke Anne Lykke (30 April 1595 – 1641) was a Danish noblewoman and royal mistress of Christian, Prince Elect of Denmark. Early life Anne Henriksdatter Lykke was born into one of Denmark's more prosperous noble families. She was the daughter of the ...

(1595 in Vordingborg Castle – 1641) a Danish noblewoman and royal mistress of Christian, Prince Elect of Denmark *

Jacob Baden Jacob Baden (4 May 1735 – 5 July 1804) was a Danish philologist, pedagogue, and critic. He was a professor of rhetoric and Latin at the University of Copenhagen in 1779. He was the first person to lecture on Danish grammar at the university be ...

(1735 in Vordingborg – 1804) a philologist, pedagogue, critic and academic * Peter Andreas Heiberg (1758 in Vordingborg - 1841) a Danish author and philologist * Frederik Christian Kielsen (1774-1850) a Danish schoolmaster, published copiously illustrated books on natural history; he lectured at the Latin School in Vordingborg from 1819 to 1833 * N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783 in Udby near Vordingborg – 1872) a Danish pastor, author, poet, philosopher, historian and politician * Martin Hammerich (1811 - 1881 in Iselingen) an art historian, educator, author and translator. * Meïr Aron Goldschmidt (1819 in Vordingborg – 1887) a publisher, journalist and novelist The Encyclopedia Americana, Goldschmidt, Meier Aaron
retrieved 14 June 2020 * Carl Lange (1834 in Vordingborg – 1900) a physician, worked on neurology, psychiatry and psychology * Julius Lange (1838 in Vordingborg – 1896) a Danish art historian and critic * Astrid Stampe Feddersen (1852 in Christinelund – 1930) a Danish women's rights activist * Jacob Ellehammer (1871 in Bakkebølle – 1946) a Danish watchmaker, inventor and contributor to powered flight * Johannes Friis-Skotte (1874 in Vordingborg – 1946) a Danish politician and minister *

Jesper Ewald Jesper Ewald (24 December 1893 in Vordingborg – 30 August 1969 in Copenhagen) was a Danish author, journalist and translator. He was the son of Carl Ewald and half-brother to Poul Henningsen. Beside the books he wrote under his own name, Jes ...

(1893 in Vordingborg – 1969 in Copenhagen) an author, journalist and translator * Jesper Juul (born 1948 in Vordingborg) a family therapist and author on parenting * Yenz Leonhardt (born 1961 in Vordingborg) a heavy metal musician * Anders Trentemøller (born 1974 in Vordingborg) an electronic music producer and multi-instrumentalist Morten Olsen 2012

Sport

Vagn Ingerslev Vagn Ingerslev (23 March 1885 – 28 December 1952) was a Danish tennis player. He competed in two events at the 1912 Summer Olympics. References External links

* 1885 births 1952 deaths Danish male tennis players Olympic tennis pl ...

(1885 in Vordingborg – 1952) a tennis player, competed at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

* Morten Olsen (born 1949) former footballer with 531 club caps and 102 for

with whom he was head coach from 2000 until 2015 * Birger Pedersen (born 1950 in Vordingborg) a Danish former footballer, 14 caps for

* Steven Lustü (born 1971 in Vordingborg) a Danish former footballer with 9 caps for

Twin towns

Vordingborg is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Słupsk Słupsk (; , ; formerly german: Stolp, ; also known by several alternative names) is a city with powiat rights located on the Słupia River in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland, in the historical region of Pomerania or more specifi ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

- since 1994.

References

External links

Official site of Vordingborg
{{Coord, 55.00000, N, 11.90000, E, region:DK-035_type:city(25500), display=title Municipal seats of Region Zealand Municipal seats of Denmark Cities and towns in Region Zealand Vordingborg Municipality