Frederikshavn

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This article is about a Danish town. For the German town, see Friedrichshafen.

Coordinates: 57°26′N 10°31′E

Frederikshavn

County	North Jutland
New region	Nordjylland
New municipality	Frederikshavn
Population	33,975
Area	179.6 km²
Population density	189 (2005)
Coordinates	57°26′ N 10°31′ E
Postal code	9900, 9970, 9981
Mayor	Erik Sørensen (Soc.dem.)
Website	frederikshavn.dk

Frederikshavn (originally named Fladstrand) is a municipality (Danish, kommune) in North Jutland County on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbour". The municipality covers an area of 180 km², and has a total population of 33,975 (2005). Its mayor is Erik Sørensen, a member of the Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterne) political party.

The main town and the site of its municipal council is the city of Frederikshavn.

Neighboring municipalities are Skagen to the north, Sindal to the west, and Sæby to the south. To the east are the waters of Ålbæk Bay (Ålbæk Bugt) in the north and the Læsø Channel (Læsø Rende), the strait that separates Jutland from the Danish island of Læsø, in the south. Beyond these lie the Kattegat, the strait that separates Denmark from Sweden.

Ferry service connects the municipality at the city of Frederikshavn to the cities of Oslo and Larvik in Norway, Göteborg, Sweden and to Læsø.

By January 1, 2007 Frederikshavn municipality will, as the result of Kommunalreformen ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007), be merged with existing Skagen and Sæby municipalities, forming a new enlarged municipality. The enlarged municipality will have an area of 642 km² and a total population of 63,799 (2005). The municipality will belong to the new Region Nordjylland ("North Jutland Region").

Contents 1 The City of Frederikshavn 1.1 History 1.2 Harbours 1.3 Friendship Towns 2 Other Attractions 3 Famous People of/from the Municipality 4 External Links 5 References

[edit] The City of Frederikshavn

Frederikshavn has a population of 24,309 (2003), and is an important traffic portal with its ferry connections to Sweden and Norway. The city is also well known for fishing, and its fishing and industrial harbours. The Danish term "frederikshavner" (lit. "Someone from Frederikshavn") is used to denote a quality plaice fish, probably the most popular eating fish in Denmark.

Frederikshavn's oldest building, Fiskerklyngen, is originally from the mid-1500s, but the houses now there are from 1700s–1800s.

Big business in the area include MAN/BW Alpha, Martin, as well as the Navy Base Frederikshavn (Flådestation Frederikshavn), which is the home location for the training ship Danmark, the national icebreakers, and the royal yacht Dannebrog.

Frederikshavn has, like the rest of North Jutland, been hit with hard unemployment. The city's largest workplace, the shipyard Danyard, closed in the late 1990s. This resulted in more than 2,000 workers being unemployed. Today there is still activity at the large ship building area, with many small companies renting space there.

[edit] History

Frederikshavn was originally called Fladstrand (lit. "Flat beach"), until 1818 when it received status as a merchant town under the name of Frederikshavn, after King Frederik VI.

Due to its advantageous proximity to the entrance to the Baltic Sea, Frederikshavn has historically been a naval base of some strategic importance. Tordenskjold barricaded himself here in the fortress German troops had already built in the 1600s. The only old military installations remaining to this day are the Gunpowder Tower (Krudttårnet), constructed in 1688, and the Northern Entrenchment (Nordre Skanse). The Gunpowder Tower has been preserved, and is incorporated in the municipality's coat-of-arms.

[edit] Harbours

The municipality has a number of harbours/marinas (listed in order from north to south):

• Strandby Harbour (Strandby Havn): Fishing and pleasureboat harbour
• Rønner Harbour (Rønnerhavn): Pleasureboat, dinghy and fishing harbour
• Northern Entrenchment Harbour (Nordre Skanse Havn): Dinghy harbour
• Frederikshavn Harbour (Frederikshavn Havn): Commercial harbout
• Naval Harbour (Flådehavn): National warships, icebreakers, royal yacht and training ships
• Sea Sports Harbour (Søsportshavn): Pleasureboat, dinghy and houseboat harbour
• Neppen's Harbour (Neppens Havn): Dinghy harbour

[edit] Friendship Towns

Frederikshavn has established the following friendship towns (venskabsbyer):

• Borlänge, Sweden
• Bremerhaven, Germany
• Frederikshåb, Greenland
• Larvik, Norway
• North Tyneside, England
• Riga, distrikt Zemgale, Latvia
• Rovaniemi, Finland
• Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland

[edit] Other Attractions

• Bangsbo Museum
• Frederikshavn Art Museum (Frederikshavn Kunstmuseum)
• Frederikshavn Shipyard Historical Society (Værftshistorisk Selskab Frederikshavn)

[edit] Famous People of/from the Municipality

Actress Connie Nielsen was born in Frederikshavn.

Erik Mortensen (born 26.th of april 1926 in Frederikshavn and died 23.th of june 1998 in Paris), danish haute couture designer. Was head designer of Balmain from 1982 to 1990.

[edit] External Links

• Municipality's official website
• The new Frederikshavn municipality's official website (Danish only)

[edit] References

• Municipal statistics: NetBorger Kommunefakta, delivered from KMD aka Kommunedata (Municipal Data)
• Municipal mergers and neighbors: Eniro new municipalities map