Vendsyssel () is the northernmost traditional district of

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 = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and of

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

. Being divided from mainland Jutland by the

Limfjord The Limfjord ( common Danish: ''Limfjorden'' , in north Jutlandish dialect: ''Æ Limfjord'') is a shallow part of the sea, located in Denmark where it has been regarded as a fjord ever since Viking times. However, it now has inlets both from ...

, it is technically a part of the

North Jutlandic Island The North Jutlandic Island (), Vendsyssel-Thy, or Jutland north of the Limfjord (''Jylland nord for Limfjorden''), is the northernmost part of Denmark and of Jutland. It is more common to refer to the three traditional districts Vendsyssel, Hanh ...

, but the name often used informally for the entire island. Vendsyssel is part of the North Denmark Region. Limfjorden_zs_2_ubt

Vendsyssel neighbours Hanherred to the southwest and

Himmerland Himmerland is a peninsula in northeastern Jutland, Denmark. It is delimited to the north and the west by the Limfjord, to the east by the Kattegat, and to the south by the Mariager Fjord. The largest city is Aalborg; smaller towns include Hobro, ...

to the south, across the Limfjord. Whether the island

Læsø Læsø ("Isle of Hlér") is the largest island in the North Sea bay of Kattegat, and is located off the northeast coast of the Jutland Peninsula, the Danish mainland. Læsø is also the name of the municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') on that ...

is also a part of Vendsyssel, is a matter of definition. The major towns of Vendsyssel are

Hjørring Hjørring () is a town on the island of Vendsyssel-Thy at the top of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Hjørring Municipality in the North Jutland Region. The population is 25,644 (ac ...

Frederikshavn Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbor". It was originally named Fladstrand. The town h ...

Brønderslev Brønderslev is a city in Denmark with a population of 12,549 (1 January 2022). The city is the largest urban area in Brønderslev Municipality and is the municipal seat. It is the fourth largest city of Vendsyssel within the North Jutland Region ...

Sæby Sæby () is a town and seaport located on the east coast of the historical region of Vendsyssel in the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. The town is located in Frederikshavn municipality in Region Nordjylland. It has a population of 8,838 ...

Hirtshals Hirtshals is a town and seaport on the coast of Skagerrak on the island of Vendsyssel-Thy at the top of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark, Europe. It is located in Hjørring municipality in Region Nordjylland. The town of Hirtshals has a p ...

, Løkken,

Nørresundby Nørresundby () is a city in Aalborg Municipality, north of Limfjorden, in Vendsyssel, in Denmark. The urban area has a population of 23,718 (1 January 2021). It is located just north of Aalborg, which lies south of Limfjorden. Statistically its o ...

and, on its northern tip,

Skagen Skagen () is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skagen is ...

. The dominating city is, however,

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...

which is mainly situated outside Vendsyssel on the southern shore of the Limfjord with Nørresundby as a secondary, northern centre.

Etymology

Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von Bremen) (before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle ''Gesta ...

(ca. 1075) calls Vendsyssel Wendila, Ælnoth (ca. 1100) calls it Wendel, the

Icelandic literature Icelandic literature refers to literature written in Iceland or by Icelandic people. It is best known for the sagas written in medieval times, starting in the 13th century. As Icelandic and Old Norse are almost the same, and because Icelandic wo ...

Vendill. Derived from this is the ethnic name wændlar, Danish vendelboer, which is part of the name of the '' syssel''. In the

Danish Census Book The Danish Census Book or the Danish book of land taxation ( la, Liber Census Daniæ), ( da, Kong Valdemars Jordebog) dates from the 13th century and consists of a number of separate manuscripts. The original manuscripts are now housed in the Da ...

(Kong Valdemars Jordebog, ca. 1231) Wændlesysæl, Wendelsysel, Wændil. Presumably originally the name of the

, then name of the region north of it. According to historians and linguists, the name Vendsyssel may be derived from the Germanic tribe of the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...

. Syssel is an ancient form of administrative region. Vendel ( Old Danish ''Wændil'') was also the ancient name of the

itself.

Places of interest

lighthouse * North Sea Oceanarium * Rubjerg Knude lighthouse *

Vendsyssel Historical Museum The Vendsyssel Historical Museum (VHM) is a regional museum, preserving and exhibiting the history of the region of Vendsyssel in Denmark. The museum works as an umbrella organization for a total of five departments and six exhibitions in Vendsys ...

Events

The largest classical music festival in Scandinavia is the Vendsyssel Festival in the summer.

Infrastructure

Vendsyssel is an important gatehead for transport from the

European continent Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and Western

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. The European routes E39 and E45 cross the area as

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

s. National route 11 connects Vendsyssel with Hanherred and Thy before crossing the Limfjord to western Jutland on the

Oddesund Oddesund is a strait in the Danish Limfjorden. The Oddesund Bridge ( da, Oddesundbroen) spans the fjord connecting the mainland of Jutland with Thy. According to the Heimskringla, a battle took place in Oddasund between the Swedish king Jorund a ...

Bridge.

Danish national road 40 Danish national road 40 (), is a Danish national road in Vendsyssel in North Jutland between Skagen and Frederikshavn Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast of the Jutland ...

also passes through Vendsyssel.

Bridges

Vendsyssel is linked to mainland Jutland by bridges and a tunnel: *

Limfjord Railroad Bridge The Limfjord ( common Danish: ''Limfjorden'' , in north Jutlandish dialect: ''Æ Limfjord'') is a shallow part of the sea, located in Denmark where it has been regarded as a fjord ever since Viking times. However, it now has inlets both from ...

(in Aalborg, linking Vendsyssel to the

rail network Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

) * Limfjord Bridge (road, linking Nørresundby to central Aalborg) *

Limfjord Tunnel Limfjordstunnelen (The Limfjord Tunnel) is a Danish motorway tunnel which connects the highway in eastern Aalborg with the highway east of Nørresundby. Opened 6 May 1969, it was the country's first motorway tunnel. The tunnel measures in length, a ...

(motorway E45, east of Aalborg) *A further bridge crossing the Limfjord west of Aalborg (carrying the E39) has been proposed.

Railways

*Skagen-Frederikshavn-Hjørring-Brønderslev-Aalborg,

Nordjyske Jernbaner Nordjyske Jernbaner (abbreviated NJ) is a Danish railway company operating in Region Nordjylland. The company was formed in 2001 as a merger of Hjørring Privatbaner (HP) and Skagensbanen (SB). Headquartered in Hjørring, the company is respons ...

single track Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, hourly

Intercity train Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

s. From Aalborg there are connections to

Århus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

and

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 ...

* Hjørring-Hirtshals, local railway (and transit to Norway) operated by Nordjyske Jernbaner

Ferries

''To

:'' *Frederikshavn-

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

(also for railway

freight car A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a ...

s) ''To

:'' *Hirtshals-

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

(also for railway freight cars) *Hirtshals-

Larvik Larvik () is a List of cities in Norway, town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality ...

*Hirtshals-

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

*Hirtshals-

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

*Hirtshals-

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

*Hirtshals-

Langesund is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bamble, Norway. The town of Langesund was established as a municipality 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). It was merged with Bamble 1 January 1964. In the early days, Langesund was ...

*Frederikshavn-

''To mainland

:'' * Hals-Egense (crossing the eastern mouth of the Limfjord) ''To the island of Læsø:'' *

''To the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

:'' *Hirtshals-

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

Airports

* Aalborg Airport (international) *

Sindal Airport Sindal Airport is an airport in Sindal, 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 , s ...

(currently no scheduled routes)

References

{{Coord, 57, 17, 16, N, 10, 02, 44, E, region:DK_type:isle, display=title Traditional districts of Denmark North Jutland Region