Kolding Municipality
Encyclopedia
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
, kommune) in Region Syddanmark on the east coast of the Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
peninsula in southeast Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. The municipality covers an area of 640 km², and has a total population of 87,781 (2008). Its mayor is Jørn Pedersen, a member of the Liberal Party
Venstre (Denmark)
VenstreThe party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom. , full name Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti , is the largest political party in Denmark...
(Venstre) political party
Politics of Denmark
The Politics of Denmark takes place in a framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic, constitutional monarchy, in which the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system...
. The main city and the site of its municipal council is the seaport city of Kolding
Kolding
Kolding is a Danish seaport located at the head of Kolding Fjord in Region of Southern Denmark . It is the site of the council Kolding Municipality. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing centre, and has numerous industrial companies, principally geared towards shipbuilding...
, the sixth largest city in Denmark.
To the east is a strait
Strait
A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...
, first called Snævringen ("The Narrowing") and then further south Bredningen ("The Broadening"), that separates the Jutland mainland from the island of Funen
Funen
Funen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
in this area, where the two lie very close to each other, often less than 1.5 km apart. Snævringen is an extension of the Kattegat
Kattegat
The Kattegat , or Kattegatt is a sea area bounded by the Jutland peninsula and the Straits islands of Denmark on the west and south, and the provinces of Västergötland, Scania, Halland and Bohuslän in Sweden on the east. The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Øresund and the Danish...
, and begins near the cities of Fredericia
Fredericia
Fredericia is a town located in Fredericia municipality in the eastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark, in a sub-region known locally as Trekanten, or The Triangle...
and Middelfart
Middelfart
Middelfart is a town in central Denmark, with a population of 14,781 . The town is the municipal seat of Middelfart municipality on the island of Funen .-Overview:The Middelfart municipality has a population of 37,701 people as of 2011...
, north and east of Kolding municipality. As Snævringen broadens it becomes Bredningen, which opens out into the Little Belt
Little Belt
The Little Belt is a strait between the Danish island of Funen and the Jutland Peninsula.The belt is about 50 km long and 800m to 28 km wide, the maximum depth is approximately 75 m, and contains numerous small Danish islands....
(Lillebælt), the main strait between Jutland and Funen. The municipality of Middelfart
Middelfart municipality
Middelfart municipality is a municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the west coast of the island of Funen in southern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 297 km². It has a total population of 37,274 . Its mayor is Steen Dahlstrøm, a member of the Social Democrats political party...
on the other side of Snævringen is thus Kolding's municipal neighbor to the east. The island of Fænø
Fænø
Fænø is a small Danish island in the Little Belt off the west coast of Funen in Middelfart Municipality. With an area of 3.9 km2, as of 1 January 2010 it has a population of just 2. Reaching a height of 39 metres above sea level at its highest point, the island is privately owned...
lies in Snævringen between Kolding and Middelfart.
Leading directly into the city of Kolding from Snævringen are the waters of Kolding Fjord
Kolding Fjord
Kolding Fjord is about 10 km long fjord between Kolding and Little Belt.Fjord has a 7 meters deep ship channel linking it to Kolding port.In 1943 a shipwreck later known as Kolding cog was found in the fjord....
.
Several major Danish motorways intersect in Kolding municipality. Middelfart municipality and Kolding municipality are connected by two bridges: the Old Little Belt Bridge
Little Belt Bridge
The Little Belt Bridge , also known as The Old Little Belt Bridge, is a truss bridge over the Little Belt strait in Denmark. The first bridge to have been constructed over the strait, it spans from Snoghøj on Jutland to Kongebrogaarden on Funen. It is owned by the state and Banedanmark, the Danish...
and the New Little Belt Bridge
Little Belt Bridge (1970)
The New Little Belt Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the Little Belt strait between Jutland and the island of Funen in Denmark. The bridge is 1700 metres long, the main span is 600 metres, the pylons reaching a height of 120 metres, and the maximum clearance from the sea is 44...
.
On January 1, 2007 Kolding municipality was, as the result of Kommunalreformen ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007), merged with Christiansfeld
Christiansfeld
Christiansfeld, with a population of 2,915 , is a town in Kolding Municipality in Southern Jutland in Region of Southern Denmark in Denmark....
, Lunderskov
Lunderskov municipality
Until January 1, 2007 Lunderskov municipality was a municipality in Vejle County near the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in southeast Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 96 km², and had a total population of 5,478 . Its last mayor was Hans Peter Andersen, a member of the Venstre ...
, and Vamdrup
Vamdrup municipality
Until January 1, 2007 Vamdrup municipality was a municipality in the former Vejle County on the Jutland peninsula in southeast Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 102 km², and had a total population of 7,456...
municipalities to form a new Kolding municipality.
Attractions
The former royal castle of KoldinghusKoldinghus
Koldinghus is a Danish royal castle on the south central part of the Jutland peninsula in the town of Kolding. The castle was founded in the 11th century and was expanded since with many functions ranging from fortress, royal residency, ruin, museum, and the location of numerous wartime...
is located in Kolding city. It was built in the 13th century by King Eric Glipping and is now a museum with certain parts of the castle, including its chapel and hall, being used for governmental ceremonial events. It was the last royal residence in Jutland.
Another notable site is the 13th century stone Church of Saint Nicholas, which is one of the oldest in Denmark.
Other popular tourist attractions include the Trapholt Art Museum and the Geographic Garden (Geografisk Have). Trapholt has a collection of Danish arts from 1900 onwards, as well as a smaller number of non-Danish exhibits.