Kalundborg () is a Danish city with a population of 16,211 (1 January 2022),BY3: population 1. January by urban areas, area and population density
The Mobile Statbank from

Statistics Denmark Statistics Denmark ( da, Danmarks Statistik) is a Danish governmental organization under the Ministry of the Interior and Housing and which reports to the Minister of Economic and Internal Affairs. The organization is responsible for creating s ...

the main town of the municipality of the same name and the site of its municipal council. It is situated on the northwestern coast of the largest Danish island, Zealand (or Sjælland in Danish), on the opposite, eastern side of which lies the capital

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 ...

, away. Kalundborg is famous as the location of a large broadcasting facility, the

Kalundborg Transmitter Kalundborg Radio is a major transmission facility for long- and mediumwave at the harbour of Kalundborg in Denmark. History The transmitter site was inaugurated on 27 August 1927 and started broadcasting the first channel of Danish radio on 2 ...

. The city was also home to the largest coal-fired power station in Denmark, the

Asnæs Power Station The Asnæs Power Station ( da, Asnæsværket) is a woodchip power plant operated by Ørsted A/S in Kalundborg, Denmark. It consists of three active units, which deliver 147 MW (Unit 2), 270 MW (Unit 4) and 640 MW (Unit 5). Unit 3 ...

, which started it's transition to biomass in 2017. Kalundborg is mainly a trading and industrial town, but is also well known for its five-spired

Church of Our Lady Church of Our Lady may refer to: Belgium * Cathedral of Our Lady (Antwerp) * Church of Our Lady, Bruges *Church of Our Lady (Kortrijk) * Church of Our Lady of Laeken, site of the royal crypt, Brussels *Church of Our Lady, Melsele Canada * Church ...

, which is closely associated with King Valdemar I and the Archbishop

Absalon Absalon (21 March 1201) was a Danish statesman and prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and archbishop of Lund from 1178 until his death. He was the foremost politician and church father of Denmar ...

. The church itself is said to have been built by Absalon's brother,

Esbern Snare Esbern Snare, also known as Esbern the Resolute, (1127–1204) was a '' høvding'', or chieftain, royal chancellor and crusader. His family were members of the powerful Hvide clan. In 1192, during the Crusades and after the fall of Jerusalem, h ...

. Kalundborg is also the traditional seat of the aristocratic Lerche family. Their stately home,

Lerchenborg Lerchenborg is a manor house located 4 km south of Kalundborg on the west coast of Zealand, Denmark. History Origins The estate was established by Carl von Ahlefeldt when he closed down the village of Østrup to establish Østrupgård in 170 ...

, the best example of

rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

architecture in Denmark, can be seen in the town's outskirts.

Ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

connect Kalundborg westward to the island of

Samsø Samsø (Anglicized: "Samso" or "Samsoe") is a Danish island in the Kattegat off the Jutland Peninsula. Samsø is located in Samsø municipality. The community has 3,724 inhabitants (2017) (January 2010:4,010) called ''Samsings'' and is 114&nb ...

Geography

Kalundborg is at latitude 55°41′N, longitude 11°6′E, about west of Copenhagen on the island of Zealand ( Sjaelland).

History

The Kalundborg area was first settled in 1170 at a natural harbour at the head of the narrow bay today known as Kalundborg Fjord. It became more urbanized during the nineteenth century and had grown into a major industrial centre by the mid-twentieth century. Kalundborg Municipality has approximately 20,000 inhabitants, and its network is the most published example of

Industrial Symbiosis Industrial symbiosis a subset of industrial ecology. It describes how a network of diverse organizations can foster eco-innovation and long-term culture change, create and share mutually profitable transactions—and improve business and technica ...

. The history of Kalundborg Industrial Symbiosis activities began in 1961 when a project was developed and implemented to use surface water from Lake Tisso for a new oil refinery, to save the limited supplies of ground water. The City of Kalundborg took the responsibility for building the pipeline while the refinery financed it. Starting from this initial collaboration, a number of other collaborative projects were subsequently introduced and the number of partners gradually increased. By the end of the 1980s, the partners realised that they had effectively "self-organised" into what is probably the best-known example of

. The material exchanges in the Kalundborg region include: conservation of natural and financial resources; reduction in production, material, energy, insurance and treatment costs and liabilities; improved operating efficiency; quality control; improved health of the local population and public image; and realisation of potential income through the sale of by-products and waste materials.

Economy

Kalundborg Municipality is home to approximately 19,000 jobs of which 13,000 are in the private sector (December 2014).

Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsværd, Denmark, with production facilities in nine countries, and affiliates or offices in five countries. Novo Nordisk is controlled by majority shareholder ...

has extensive production facilities in Kalundborg with a total of more than 2,400 employees. Since 1999 they have invested more than DKK 7.5 billions in the complex. Pronova BioPharma Danmark, a bulk manufacturer of Omega-3 products which was acquired by BASF in 2014, also has a manufacturing plant in Kalundborg.

Port of Kalundborg

The port plays a central role in the town's economy. It is a municipal self-governing port with independent finances. Kalundborg Container Terminal is served by Unifeeder on a weekly basis. Schultz Shipping is a local shipping company. As of 2015, the port is being expanded with a new west harbor on the south side of the Asnæs peninsula. Statoil Refining Denmark operates Denmark's largest oil refinery on the harbor with a capacity of 6.6 million ton oil products per year. Haldor Topsøe is one of the companies that has facilities at Kalundborg Tank Terminal.

Transportation

Rail

The

Northwest Line The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

connects Kalundborg with

Holbæk Holbæk () is a town in Denmark and the County seat, seat of Holbæk municipality with a population of 29,608 (1 January 2022).Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

and the rest of the Danish rail network. Kalundborg railway station is the principal railway station of the town and offers frequent direct

regional train Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster serv ...

services to , and

operated by the national

railway company A railway company is a company within the rail industry. It can be a manufacturing firm or an operator. Some railway companies operate both the trains and the track, while, particularly in the European Union, operation of the track is undertake ...

DSB. The eastern part of the town is also served by the railway halt Kalundborg East.

Notable people

Public Service & public thinking

(1127–1204) a crusader; had built the

Church of Our Lady, Kalundborg The Church of Our Lady (''Vor Frue Kirke, Kalundborg'') is a historical building at Kalundborg in northwestern Zealand, Denmark. The precise date of construction is not known with any certainty, though its architecture indicates the early part of ...

Christian II of Denmark Christian II (1 July 1481 – 25 January 1559) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union who reigned as King of Denmark and Norway, from 1513 until 1523, and Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Du ...

(1481–1559 in Kalundborg Castle) monarch under the Kalmar Union *

Jørgen Bjelke Jørgen Bjelke (2 June 1621 – 17 June 1696) was a Norwegian officer and nobleman. He was born at Elingaard Manor on Onsøy near Fredrikstad, in Østfold County, Norway and died in Kalundborg, Denmark. Early and personal life He was the son of ...

(1621–1696 in Kalundborg) an exiled Norwegian officer and nobleman *

Sophie Amalie Lindenov Sophie Amalie Lindenov, Baroness of Lindenborg (4 July 1649 – 4 August 1688) was a Danish noblewoman and landowner. She was Baroness of Lindenborg and the owner of Lindenborg Castle. Biography Lindenov was born at Kalundborg Castle ('' Kalun ...

(1649 in Kalundborg Castle–1688) noblewoman and landowner * Hans Hagerup Gyldenpalm (1717–1781) a Danish born, Norwegian jurist and civil servant * Arnoldus von Falkenskiold (1743–1819) a Danish military officer and landowner of ''Sæbygård'' * Henrik Steffens Hagerup (1806–1859) a Norwegian naval officer and politician who served as Minister of the Navy * Wilhelm Hellesen (1836–1892) inventor and industrialist; helped invent the

dry cell upLine art drawing of a dry cell: 1. brass cap, 2. plastic seal, 3. expansion space, 4. porous cardboard, 5. zinc can, 6. carbon rod, 7. chemical mixture A dry cell is a type of electric battery, commonly used for portable electrical devices. Un ...

battery *

Anne Elisabet Jensen Anne Elisabet Jensen (born 17 August 1951, in Kalundborg) is a Danish politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 until 2014. She is a member of the Venstre, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. I ...

(born 1951) a Danish politician and

MEP MEP may refer to: Organisations and politics * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka * Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...

* Professor Claus Manniche (born 1956) a Danish