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Esbjerg
Esbjerg harbour from the watertower (May 2005)
Esbjerg Location in Denmark
Coordinates: 55°29′N 8°27′E / 55.483°N 8.45°E / 55.483; 8.45
Country	Denmark
Region	Region Syddanmark
Municipality	Esbjerg Municipality
Established	1868
City charter	1899
Current municipality	1 January 2007
Government
- Mayor	Johnny Søtrup
Area
- Total	5.8 sq mi (15 km2)
Population (2009)
- Total	71,025
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Website	www.esbjerg.dk

Esbjerg is a Danish seaport on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark, the main town of Esbjerg Municipality, the site of its municipal council and with a population of 71,025 (1st January 2009)^[1] the fifth largest city in Denmark. Its municipality has a population of 114,244.

Geography

The city is situated on the southwestern coast of Denmark, and is a seaport of the North Sea.

History

The city of Esbjerg was established in 1868 as a replacement for the harbour in Altona, which had previously been Denmark's most important North Sea harbour. In 1874 Esbjerg was connected by rail to Fredericia and Varde.

The city has been voted "City of the Year" twice. The first time was in 1997 where the city was awarded the title because of the corporate work between public and private companies. In 2006 the city was again awarded "City of the Year". The second award was given due to the work and support of young talents. The talents in sport, artwork and music have been given good support and given the best facilities to develop their talent even further. The city holds an annual music festival spanning two weekends (nine days) during mid-August and is focused around the central Torvet Square which hosts the main stage. The festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2006.

The city was once Denmark's biggest fishing harbour, and the harbour is still an economic driving force in the town. Besides the fishing industry Esbjerg is also the main city for Denmark's oil and offshore activities. Companies like Mærsk Oil & Gas, Ramboll Oil & Gas, ABB A/S,Schlumberger,COWI and Atkins Denmark all have offshore related activities in the city.

Esbjerg is one of the central towns of the University of Southern Denmark, and also houses a branch of Aalborg University and IT Academy West. The main branch of Profession School - University College West (Danish: Professionshøjskolen University College Vest) can be found in Esbjerg.

Halliburton has an office in Esbjerg.^[2]

Landmarks

The monument

The Men at Sea (Danish: Mennesket ved Havet) is a monument of four 9 metre (27 feet) tall white males, located to the north of Esbjerg by Sædding Beach . It is located opposite the Fisheries and Maritime Museum, and is one of the area's major tourist attractions, and it is a famous landmark of Esbjerg.

The sculpture was designed by Svend Wiig Hansen and installed on 28th October 1995.^[3] It was funded by the government of Esbjerg Kommune, the Kunstfond government and private sponsors to inaugurate the 100th anniversary of the municipality in 1994.

The artist's original idea for the location of the sculpture was Grenen, north of Skagen. The monument can be seen by ferry leaving or entering Esbjerg.

Transport

Ferry services connect the Esbjerg via Ho Bay to Nordby on the island of Fanø via Scandlines, and over the North Sea to Harwich, England via DFDS Seaways.

Esbjerg ferry

Esbjerg railway station is operated by Danish State Railways. Esbjerg is the western terminus of InterCity trains from Copenhagen (operating every other hour), with the journey taking about three hours. DSB also operates local trains to Fredericia. Arriva operates Vestbanen local trains south to Ribe and Tønder and north to Struer.

The city of Esbjerg is a large transport hub for both rail and road traffic, and is an important port for Danish North Sea oil offshore activity. It has an airport, and is a center for machine building. The municipality has a number of museums, theatres (staging opera, ballet and drama), and several libraries.

Sister cities

See also

• Esbjerg Airport
• Blue Water Arena
• University of Southern Denmark

References

External links

• Media related to Esbjerg at Wikimedia Commons
• Website of Esbjerg

50 most populous urban areas in the Nordic countries  Denmark ·  Finland ·  Iceland ·  Norway ·  Sweden 1.  Stockholm 1,252,000 2.  Copenhagen 1,167,569 3.  Helsinki 1,027,635 4.  Oslo 876,391 5.  Gothenburg 510,500 6.  Malmö 258,000 7.  Turku 248,598 8.  Århus 228,700 9.  Bergen 227,752 10.  Tampere 209,748 11.  Reykjavík 195,000 12.  Stavanger 189,828 13.  Trondheim 160,072 14.  Odense 152,100 15.  Uppsala 144,839 16.  Oulu 137,370 17.  Jyväskylä 128,114 18.  Aalborg 122,461 19.  Västerås 107,000 20.  Fredrikstad 101,698 21.  Lahti 100,444 22.  Örebro 98,200 23.  Linköping 97,400 24.  Drammen 96,563 25.  Kuopio 91,845 26.  Helsingborg 91,500 27.  Kouvola 88,396 28.  Skien 86,923 29.  Jönköping 84,400 30.  Norrköping 83,600 31.  Pori 75,562 32.  Lund 76,200 33.  Umeå 75,600 34.  Joensuu 72,167 35.  Esbjerg 71,900 36.  Lappeenranta 70,210 37.  Gävle 68,700 38.  Kristiansand 67,547 39.  Hämeenlinna 66,257 40.  Borås 63,400 41.  Södertälje 60,300 42.  Eskilstuna 60,200 43.  Randers 59,842 44.  Rovaniemi 59,274 45.  Vaasa 58,607 46.  Täby 58,593 47.  Karlstad 58,500 48.  Seinäjoki 56,578 49.  Kolding 56,249 50.  Halmstad 55,688

From Wikitravel

Esbjerg [1] [2] is in Jutland, Denmark.

The city of Esbjerg is Denmark's fifth largest city and has a population of 72,613 (2003). It was established around the harbour, which the state had built in 1868 as a replacement for that harbour in Altona that had previously been Denmark's most important North Sea harbour. In 1874 Esbjerg became connected by rail to Fredericia and Varde.

The town was once Denmark's biggest fishing harbour, and the harbour is still an economic driving force in the town.

Get in

By train

The train station is in the town center and this connects you to pretty all of Denmark and beyond.

• Esbjerg Airport [3] is in the eastern part of the city, with local bus connections. There are flight connections to London (Stanstead Airport), Aberdeen and Stavanger-Bergen, Norway

• Billund Airport [4] is western Denmark's biggest and more well connected. It is conveniently located about an hour's drive from Esbjerg.

The low-fare airline Ryan Air serves Esbjerg with flights from London Stansted Airport.

Esbjerg is the terminal for the DFDS overnight ships to England. Billund Airport, an hour away, is served by bus.

By ferry

Getting to Esbjerg from the UK is simple. With a regular ferry from Harwich [5], you arrive in Esbjerg around midday. You can get the number 5 bus, just outside the terminal from Esbjerg port to the railway station in the centre of town.

By bus

Express busses connect Esbjerg to Aalborg, Aarhus and Sønderborg as well as other towns in Denmark.

Get around

The town is centered around the harbour and shopping area (Skolegade, Kongensgade). As the town area is rather small, it is possible to get most places by walking. However, you might consider using the public bus for the more far sights as Fisheries- and Maritime Museum in Hjerting. (See Map of Esbjerg [6])

• Man meets the sea, [7] sculpture
• Fisheries and Maritime Museum, [8] The Fisheries and Maritime Museum is the largest institution of its kind in Denmark focusing on Danish fisheries and marine biology, the tidal wetlands (Wadden Sea), west Jutland coastal shipping and the North Sea offshore industries. So the theme of the museum can truly be said to be "people and the sea"

• Legoland, [9] the original is situated in the town of Billund about an hours drive from Esbjerg.
• Visit the Svømmestadion Danmark (on Strandby Kirkevej/Gl. Vardevej crossing)
• Visit the cinema Biocity Esbjerg (right next to Svømmestadion Danmark)
• Stroll around in one of the parks in Esbjerg. In a protected area, you can see wildlife animals such as deer and roe
• Sail the 10 minutes to the little island Fanø that has great beaches and the village Sønderho [10] (link to ferry [11])

Kongensgade

Esbjerg has some great options for shopping centered around the two main shopping streets. Kongensgade is a pedestrianized shopping street and has some 150 specialty shops and eateries. Torvegade, partly pedestrianized, is also worth a visit. The two converge right around the main square in town.

Shopping hours are on weekdays from 9-10AM. to 5:30-6:00PM. On Saturday, most shops close down at 2PM. while Sunday nearly all shops remain closed.

Eat

Esbjerg has some good options for eating out.

• Ristorante Maremma located right on the walk street serves great inexpensive Italian food.
• Den Røde Okse located a few kilometers from the center does steak and fish well at midrange prices
• Green Garden, [12] is the gourmet restaurant of the Hotel Britannia right in the town center. Prices in the high range.
• Brasserie b, Torvegade 24 (in Hotel Brittania), ☎ ''+45'' 7513 0111. Nice open and friendly restaurant from DKK 200 for main courses.  edit

Dronning Louise on Torvet

Skolegade is the street where most bars and clubs are located. It is in the center of the city.

• Industrien - also serves a really good reasonably priced meal. The burgers are recommended. Occasionally live music.
• Dronning Louise [13] Good looking place right on the town square. Has got “English pub” style live music and a good selection of beer.
• Paddy Go Easy - Irish Pub

Sands Restaurant is very good for Danish food.

• Danhostel Esbjerg, [14]
• Ådalens Camping, [15]
• Rent a holiday home, [16]
• Cab Inn, [17]
• Hotel Ansgar, Skolegade 36 (at Torvet), ☎ 75128244 (info@hotelansgar.dk), [18]. from DKK 800.  edit
• Hotel Britannia, Torvegade 24 (Close to Torvet (the Square)), ☎ ''+45'' 7513 0111 (info@britannia.dk), [19]. checkin: 2AM; checkout: 11PM. Free wireless internet from 1400 (700 weekend).  edit

• Hotel Scandic Olympic, [20]
• Hotel Hjerting, [21]
• Esbjerg Højskole, [22]

Kingston upon Hull ← (no connection) ←

W  E

→ Vejen → Kolding

From LoveToKnow 1911

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Danish

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:

Esbjerg

Wikipedia ^da

Proper noun

Esbjerg

Esbjerg

1. Esbjerg, a port on the North Sea. The second-largest city in Region Syddanmark and fifth-largest city in Denmark.
2. The capital of the eponymous municipality in which it is located.