Jelling is a

railway town A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated, or was expanded, as a result of a railway line being constructed there. North America During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporary, ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

with a population of 4,038 (1 January 2025), located in Jelling Parish, approximately 10 km northwest of Vejle. The town lies 105 metres above sea level.

Location

Jelling is located in Vejle municipality and

Region of Southern Denmark The Region of Southern Denmark (, ; , ; ) is an administrative region of Denmark established on Monday 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which abolished the traditional counties ("amter") and set up five larger regions ...

. The town is mainly famous for the

Jelling stones The Jelling stones () are massive carved runestones from the 10th century, found at the town of Jelling in Denmark. The older of the two Jelling stones was raised by King Gorm the Old in memory of his wife Thyra. The larger of the two stones ...

, national monuments. Until the Municipal Reform of 2007 on 1 January 2007, Jelling was the capital of Jelling municipality. Jelling was also the only town in the former Vejle County headquarters for a bank – Jelling Sparekasse, which had its headquarters in the town until 2007 when it merged with , headquartered in Grindsted. Jelling Sparekasse's slogan was: "If king Gorm was alive today ... we would probably be the country's National Bank." One source at least claims that Jelling was the capital of an ancient kingdom of Denmark that was known as Jellund.

Infrastructure

From Jelling it is 56 km to

Herning Herning () is a Denmark, Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 51,782 (1 January 2025)

and

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025).Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

and 10 km to the regional capital Vejle. Jelling is close to the Østjyske Motorvej – ( E45) and Midtjyske Motorvej – ( Primary Route 18). Jelling is served by Jelling railway station, located on the Vejle–Holstebro railway line. The stations offers direct InterCityLyn services to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and Struer operated by the

railway company A rail transport company is a company active within the rail industry. It can be: * a manufacturing company, * a rail transport operations, railway undertaking providing services through operating rolling stock, * a railway infrastructure manager ...

DSB as well as regional train services to Vejle,

and Struer operated by

Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...

. In 2003 Jelling municipality was the first municipality in Denmark to offer its residents wireless Internet connection, up to 4 Mbit broadband, at a distance of up to 10 km from Jelling.

Town centre

Vejle municipality has executed a reconstruction project in the village centre. The main road, Gormsgade, was closed and a new bypass constructed, leaving space for the monument area of Jelling. The plan was estimated to cost in the neighbourhood of 250 million DKK (33,5 million €) which included financing allocated by The State of Denmark, Vejle municipality, Haderslev Diocese and other private foundations, among them "AP Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation for General Purposes" – which has donated 70 million DKK (10 million €) for the project. A new culture house and city square was built as additions to the modern village life, while houses were demolished elsewhere to make space for the monument area. Some houses of historical value were preserved in the museum of Den Gamle By in

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

History

Jelling is an old and important historical town in the history of Denmark. In the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

it served as the royal seat of the first Monarchs of the Kingdom of Denmark, including

Gorm the Old Gorm the Old (; ; ), also called Gorm the Languid (), was List of Danish monarchs, ruler of Denmark, reigning from to his death or a few years later.Lund, N. (2020), p. 147

, Þyra and

Harald Bluetooth Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson (; , died c. 985/86) was a king of Denmark and Norway. The son of King Gorm the Old and Thyra Dannebod, Harald ruled as king of Denmark from c. 958 – c. 986, introduced Christianization of Denmark, Christianity to D ...

. Jelling is the site of a large

stone ship The stone ship or ship setting was an early burial custom in Scandinavia, Northern Germany, and the Baltic states. The grave or cremation burial was surrounded by slabs or stones in the shape of a boat or ship. The ships vary in size and were ...

and two large

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s, the

, and Jelling Church. They have been

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

s since 1994. In the North Mound, built between 958 and 959 CE (possibly for King Gorm of Denmark), an empty burial chamber was found. The South Mound was built around 970 and contains no burial. Beneath the two mounds is a large stone ship from around the end of the 9th century. Between the two mounds stand two rune stones, the Jelling stones. Near the stones, Gorm's son King

built a wooden church (965), and beneath it re-interred (965–966) the remains of his father.

Local culture

The Jelling Music Festival is held annually and is currently Denmark's third largest festival. Bredagerskolen (situated in Jelling) is the largest school in Vejle municipality. The school currently has 810 students (2009) divided into 0–9 classes over 2–5 traces. The village houses the CVU Lillebælt, which trains teachers and educators. There are three grocery stores in Jelling, two gas stations, three garages, two banks, two breweries, and some other stores. The newly opened town house is to house Borgerservice, a library, a cinema, a café, and one of the two breweries.

Notable people

Gorm the Old Gorm the Old (; ; ), also called Gorm the Languid (), was List of Danish monarchs, ruler of Denmark, reigning from to his death or a few years later.Lund, N. (2020), p. 147

(900-958) ruler of Denmark, reigning from c.936 to his death c.958; he ruled from Jelling, and made the oldest of the

Jelling Stones The Jelling stones () are massive carved runestones from the 10th century, found at the town of Jelling in Denmark. The older of the two Jelling stones was raised by King Gorm the Old in memory of his wife Thyra. The larger of the two stones ...

* Nielsine Paget (1858 in Jelling – 1932) a New Zealand homemaker and community worker

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities and towns in the Region of Southern Denmark Viking Age populated places Vejle Municipality