Ribe

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Ribe
Town
none One of the main streets of Ribe
One of the main streets of Ribe
Coat of arms
Country Denmark
Region Region Syddanmark
District Esbjerg Municipality
Center
 - coordinates 55°19′42.15″N 8°45′43.84″E / 55.328375, 8.7621778Coordinates: 55°19′42.15″N 8°45′43.84″E / 55.328375, 8.7621778
Population 8,081 (2006)
Postal code 6760
Website : http://www.ribe.dk/
This article is about the town of Ribe in Denmark. For other uses, see Ribe (disambiguation).

Ribe (German: Ripen) is the oldest town of Denmark, situated in southwest Jutland. Until 1 January 2007, it was the seat of both the surrounding Municipality, and County. Ribe is now part of the enlarged Esbjerg Municipality newly created Region Syddanmark.

Contents

[edit] History of Ribe

For the Catholic ecclesiastical history, see Roman Catholic bishopric of Ribe

Established in the first decade of the 8th century[1] and first attested in a document dating from 854, Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark.

Ribe Cathedral
Ribe Cathedral

When Ansgar the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, set out on the "Mission to bring Christianity to the North", he made a request in 860 to the King of Denmark, that the first Scandinavian church be built in Ribe. This was not coincidental, since Ribe already at that point, was the most important trade city of Scandinavia.

However we can only confirm the presence of a bishop and thus a cathedral in Ribe from the year 948.

The town has many well-preserved old buildings, Ribe Cathedral, c. 110 houses are under Heritage Protection. Denmark's oldest town hall is found on the town's Von Støckens Plads. The building was erected in 1496, and was purchased by the city for use as a town hall in 1709.

[edit] Selected Dates in the History of Ribe

[edit] Attractions

[edit] Famous People from Ribe

(Alphabetic by Surname)

[edit] Official Honorary Citizens

The following citizens have been declared Honorary Citizens of Ribe: (By year)

  • Stiftsfysikus J.J. Kiær (Appointent in 1911)
  • Town Archivist C.N. Termansen (Appointent i 1934)
  • Editor C. Willemoes (Appointent i 1946)
  • Chairman of the Ny Carlsbergfondet, H. E .Nørregård-Nielsen (Appointent i 2005)

[edit] Education in Ribe

The town of Ribe, has a long history as a center of education, namely the Gymnasium (High School) called Ribe Katedralskole (cathedral school) has its roots in the Latin School of Ribe, dating back to at least 1145. Although confirmed to be older, this is the date for the oldest still existing document, that confirms the schools existence. Ribe Katedralskole is more than 850 years old, and is the oldest continuously existing school in Scandinavia.

[edit] List of Schools

[edit] Demographics

The following table shows the population of Ribe. Data from before the 18th century are estimates, the rest are taken from the official census.

Year Population
1500 ~5000
1591 ~4500
1641 ~3500
1672 ~2000
Year Population
1769 1827
1801 1994
1850 2984
1901 4243
Year Population
1976 7452
1981 7646
1986 7709
1990 7636
Year Population
1996 8105
2000 7984
2001 8031
2002 8033
Year Population
2003 8006
2004 7990
2006 8081

[edit] Industry

Dancake has a factory in Ribe.

[edit] Twin cities and towns

Ribe Stork
Ribe Stork

(alphabetic list)

[edit] Trivia

  • In 1976, a crater on Mars was named after the city:[2]
  • One of Denmark's few storks (there are rumored to be only two) lives in Ribe

[edit] References

  1. ^ The New Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-521-36292-X. Page 205
  2. ^ NASA. Ribe crater map. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.

[edit] External links