Skanderborg is a town in

Skanderborg Municipality Skanderborg Municipality () is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Midtjylland on the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark, just southwest of Aarhus. It covers an area of 462.45 km2, with a population of 65,760 (1. January 2025) ...

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 ...

. It is situated on the north and north eastern brinks of Skanderborg Lake and there are several smaller ponds and bodies of water within the city itself, like Lillesø, Sortesø, Døj Sø and the swampy boglands of Eskebæk Mose. Just north of the town on the other side of Expressway E45, is the archaeologically important Illerup Ådal. Over time, the town has grown into a suburb of

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 ...

to the north east, connected by the urban areas of Stilling, Hørning and Hasselager. Skanderborg is home to a population of 20,360 (1 January 2025),BY3: Population 1. January by urban areas, area and population density
The Mobile Statbank from

Statistics Denmark Statistics Denmark () is a Danish governmental organization under the Ministry of the Interior and Housing, reporting to the Minister of Economic and Internal Affairs. The organization is responsible for creating statistics on the Danish society ...

. out of Skanderborg Municipality's total population of 65,760 (2025).

History

Skanderborg is an old town and the area have revealed traces of human settlements, dating from the earliest

Nordic Stone Age The Nordic Stone Age refers to the Stone Age of Scandinavia. During the Weichselian glaciation (115,000 – 11,700 years ago), almost all of Scandinavia was buried beneath a thick permanent ice cover, thus, the Stone Age came rather late to thi ...

. A seasonal camp from the Ertebølle culture, was found here in the 1930s for example, near the former Ringkloster (English: ''Ring Abbey'') on the southern brinks of Skanderborg Lake. The town sprawled around the former Skanderborg Castle, founded at some point during the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and in 1583 Skanderborg was granted a

municipal charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally, the granting of a charter ...

.Skanderborg Castle Chapel
The National Museum of Denmark. Danish text with English summary available (p.6263).

Religious orders

The town of Skanderborg has attracted several religious communities over the years, especially in the early

. The long gone Ring Abbey founded by

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

nuns in the 12th century, was once situated on the southeastern brinks of Skanderborg Lake. The last buildings burned down in 1715 and now there is a mansion at the site. There also used to be a Dominican monastery on the small islet of Kalvø in the middle of the lake.Skanderborg Lake
Danish Agency for Culture. The monastery was founded by the Black Friar Order in the first half of the 12th century, along with a small harbour, but in 1168 there were only two monks left and the

Cistercian Order The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

took over. The Cistercians came here after they had failed in founding a proper monastery at several nearby locations since 1165. In that year, they embarked on a mission from Vitskøl Abbey in Himmerland, to found a daughter community in the

diocese of Aarhus The Diocese of Aarhus (Danish language, Danish: ''Århus Stift'') is one of 10 dioceses in the Church of Denmark, with headquarters in the city of Aarhus. The diocese covers a large district of northeast Jutland and comprises 14 deanery, deanerie ...

and tried at Sabro, at Sminge near

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025).Sminge Abbey), and then near the village of Veng ( Veng Abbey). The Cistercians eventually felt too isolated on the small isle of Kalvø, often cut off from the mainland for days and weeks even when the weather was harsh, and after just four years, they gave up here, too, and moved to Rye between Mossø and Gudensø, a few kilometres west of Skanderborg. Here they founded Øm Abbey in 1172.

Buildings and structures

Skanderborg Castle

The royal residence of Skanderborg Castle was arguably the most important and influential building in the history of Skanderborg, but it was demolished stone by stone during the 18th century. Founded at some point in the early Middle Ages around 1200, King Frederik II had the old medieval castle radically rebuilt and expanded around 1570. His project was grandiose in scale. An entirely new large

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

palace was erected and the deer park of Skanderbrog Dyrehave was constructed nearby, amongst other undertakings. Stones from the demolished Øm Abbey west of Skanderborg were used as construction materials. Many of the original structures survived the project and were incorporated into the new buildings, amongst these the old castle chapel. In the 12th-16th centuries, Skanderborg Castle functioned as the traditional hunting retreat of the Danish kings.

Demolition

In the years of 1717–22, King Frederik IV began demolishing the old original medieval structures and replaced the former fortifications with terraced gardens. Only the bell tower of the still existing castle church remained. In turn however, Skanderborg Castle saw a decline in popularity and attention by the royal family, and in 1767, the castle with associated gardens was sold at auction.

Commoner A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

Hans Lauritzen bought the royal property for the sum of 3004 Rigsdaler, while the castle church with furnishings and bells was granted to the town of Skanderborg. In April 1768, the demolishing of Skanderborg Castle began and nothing remains of it today, except the old castle church.

Present buildings and structures

The town of Skanderborg has a total of three churches, and Skanderborg Castle Church used to be part of the former Skanderborg Castle. The cultural centre of Kulturhuset, located in Byparken (the city park) in the center of Skanderborg, was designed by native architectural firm Kjær & Richter and built in 1998. It houses the former library of the town, theatre and concert halls, a cinema, a three-story foyer with changing exhibitions and a café. Surrounding the buildings, are a Greek theatre with 500 seats, a playground and a beach volley field, amongst other facilities, as the city park itself is perceived as part of the cultural centre. The square of Højvangens Torv, in the northeastern parts of the town, is the center of the educational

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

known as Campus Højvangen. The campus is the site of educational institutions such as a public school, a

business college A business college is a school that provides education above the high school level but could not be compared to that of a traditional university or college. Unlike universities and even junior and community colleges, business colleges typically ...

(an HHX institution),

technical college An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

(an HTX institution under Aarhus Tech), an adult educational centre, Skanderborg Gymnasium etc., situated in a sculpture park. The gymnasium was designed by architectural firm Friis & Moltke and built in 1973. The Village of Sølund is an accommodation facility and home for people with extensive physical and mental handicaps. It is located within the park of Skanderborg Dyrehave near the pond of Lillesø, close to town. The main buildings were erected in 1935 and designed by architectural firm C. F. Møller Architects. Skanderborg Museum has their headquarters at Adelgade 5, a former

bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

(Danish: ''foged'') house from the mid 18th century. The buildings are located in the oldest parts of the town, next to the pond of Lillesø. The Museum functions as an

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...

for several museums in and around the town of Skanderborg, including Museet på Adelgade, Øm Kloster Museum, Museet på Gammel Rye Mølle, Ferskvandsmuseet and Skanderborg Bunkerne. Skanderborg Bunkerne is a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

museum, fitted out in the abandoned German

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

s in Skanderborg Dyrehave. The German

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

built their Danish headquarters here and one of the bunkers later found use as the command centre for the

civil defence Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, ...

agency during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

era. Øm Kloster Museum is located outside the town, at the old ruins of Øm Abbey on the northern brink of lake Mossø. Skanderborg Museum is the responsible organisation for

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and archiving of the

cultural history Cultural history records and interprets past events involving human beings through the social, cultural, and political milieu of or relating to the arts and manners that a group favors. Jacob Burckhardt (1818–1897) helped found cultural history ...

within the municipality.

Nature

The deer park

In the southern part of the town is the deer park of Skanderborg Dyrehave, located within Skanderborg Forest. The deer park was established around 1580 by King Frederik II to facilitate his interest in hunting. The park area was fenced and roe deer,

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

s and

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

s were released.

Pheasants Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Euras ...

, gray partridge and

turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

s were raised and pools and fishing ponds were dug.

The lake

Skanderborg Sø (English: ''Skanderborg Lake'') was created during the last ice age and formed from a melting block of ice left behind; a so-called kettle hole. The lake has an irregular shape divided into two larger lake-areas known as Hylke and Store Sø respectively, with a total surface area of 8.6 square kilometers. The lake has an average depth of 8 meters and up to 18.8 meters at the deepest spot. It holds approximately 49.3 million cubic meters of freshwater 23.5 meters above sea level and empties into Mossø, by the short stream of Tåning Å in the west. There are a number of small isles in the lake; Kalvø, Æbelø, Sct. Thomas and Sct. Helene.

Transportation

Rail

Skanderborg is served by Skanderborg railway station. It is located on the Fredericia–Aarhus and Skanderborg–Skjern railway lines and offers direct

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...

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 ...

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

and

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

and

regional train Regional rail is a public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connecting smaller cities a ...

services to

Fredericia Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region Denmark, Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vej ...

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)

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025).Skjern.

Events

Since 1980, the Skanderborg Festival, an annual

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

, has been held in August in Skanderborg Dyrehave. Every summer in June, Skanderborg also hosts a musical festival targeted specifically for people suffering from

arrested development ''Arrested Development'' is an American satire, satirical television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz. It follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family and is presented in a Serial (radio and television), serialized format, inco ...

. Organised by the institution of Sølund, it claims to be the largest festival in the world of its kind.

Notable people from Skanderborg

Public service and public thinking

Morten Børup Morten Børup (1446–1526) was a Danish educator, cathedral cantor and Latin poet. Early life and education Born in Skanderborg, he first worked as a farm labourer, suffering considerable abuse. When he was 27 he fled to Aarhus, where he mana ...

(1446 in Skanderborg – 1526) an educator, cathedral cantor and Latin poet. *

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...

(1574 in Skanderborg Castle – 1619 in Hampton Court Palace) daughter of King

Frederick II of Denmark Frederick II (1 July 1534 – 4 April 1588) was King of Denmark-Norway, Denmark and Norway and Duke of Duchy of Schleswig, Schleswig and Duchy of Holstein, Holstein from 1559 until his death in 1588. A member of the House of Oldenburg, Fre ...

and Queen consort by marriage to King

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 M ...

. * Carl Andreas Koefoed (1855 in Skanderborg – 1948) an agronomist active in Russia * C. F. Møller (1898 in Skanderborg – 1988) an architect and academic at Aarhus School of Architecture * Peder Tuborgh (born 1963 in Skanderborg) the Chief Executive of

Arla Foods Arla Foods is a Danish-Swedish multinational co-operative based in Viby, Denmark. It is the fifth biggest dairy company in the world and the largest producer of dairy products in Scandinavia and United Kingdom. Arla Foods was formed as the re ...

The arts

* Alma Fahlstrøm (1863 in Skanderborg – 1946) a Norwegian stage actress and theatre manager * Holger Blom (1905 in Skanderborg - 1965), fashion designer. * Ole Lund Kirkegaard (1940—1979) a Danish a teacher and writer of children's and youth literature; grew up in Skanderborg, the home of many of his characters * Kirsten Lehfeldt (born Skanderborg 1952) award-winning actress, including the Robert Award and Bodil Award * Christina Åstrand (born Skanderborg, 1969) a Danish violinist, became leader of the

Danish National Symphony Orchestra The Danish National Symphony Orchestra (DNSO; ), is a Danish orchestra based in Copenhagen. The DNSO is the principal orchestra of DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation). The DRSO is based at the Koncerthuset () concert hall in Copenhagen. Histo ...

aged 22 *

Camille Jones Camille Jones (born 25 June 1973) is a Danish pop singer. She is known for her song "The Creeps (song), The Creeps", written by herself and remixed by Dutch DJ Fedde le Grand, which became a worldwide club hit in the dance scene in 2007. Caree ...

(born 1973 in Skanderborg) a Danish pop singer, songwriter and record producer * Johannes Torpe (born 1973 in Skanderborg) a Danish designer, musician, producer and former creative director of Bang & Olufsen * Jøden (born 1974 in Skanderborg) stage name of ''Michael Mühlebach Christiansen'', a

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

* Peter Sommer (born 1974 in Skanderborg) a Danish singer and songwriter * Monika Pedersen (born 1978 in Skanderborg) a Danish singer with ''Sinphonia'' and the Norwegian gothic metal band

Sirenia The Sirenia (), commonly referred to as sea cows or sirenians, are an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit swamps, rivers, estuaries, marine wetlands, and coastal marine waters. The extant Sirenia comprise two distinct famili ...

* Johanne Louise Schmidt (born 1983 in Skanderborg) a Danish stage and film actress IMDb Database
retrieved 31 May 2020

Sport

* Otto Wegener (1881 in Skanderborg – 1938) a Danish sports shooter, competed at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

* Jens Jørn Mortensen (born 1927 in Skanderborg) a weightlifter, competed at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

* Willy Skibby (born 1942 in Skanderborg) a former cyclist, competed in the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

* Amanda Sørensen (born 1985 in Skanderborg) a retired amateur BMX cyclist, competed at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

* Hanne Skak Jensen (born 1986 in Skanderborg) a Danish tennis player * Claus Mogensen (born 1973), Danish

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

player and coach and coach of the Faroe Islands women's national handball team * Thomas Arnoldsen (born 2002), Danish Handball player

Literature

* Peter Abildgaard: ''Orla Frøsnapper boede da i Skanderborg'' * Jens Andersen: ''Ole Lund Kirkegaard: en livshistorie''

References

Sources

* Brian Patrick McGuire:
Conflict and Continuity at Øm Abbey
',

Museum Tusculanum Press Museum Tusculanum Press (Danish: ''Museum Tusculanums Forlag'') is an independent academic press historically associated with the University of Copenhagen, publishing mainly in the humanities, social sciences and theology. It was founded in 1975 as ...

, 1976.
Skanderborg Castle Chapel
The National Museum of Denmark. Danish text with English summary available (p. 6263).
Kalvø Monastery
The National Museum of Denmark.
Ring Abbey
The National Museum of Denmark.

External links

Denmarks Cultural Heritage association (J. Kock 1999). A map of the Castle as it were in 1668.
Official municipality website

Official website of NySkanderborg
{{Authority control Skanderborg Municipality Municipal seats of Denmark Cities and towns in the Central Denmark Region Municipal seats of the Central Denmark Region Prehistoric sites in Denmark 12th-century establishments in Denmark Benedictine nunneries in Denmark 18th-century disestablishments in Denmark Former castles in Denmark