Byvandringer i Aarhus

Why are danish universities so good, and what makes Aarhus a good place to study?

Aarhus is the danish city with the liveliest population and the highest IQ! This dynamic pearl of a city is located on the east coast of Jutland facing Kattegat and it is home to a university with about 30.000 students. Their joie de vivre and eagerness and youthful energy evidently leaves its mark on the atmosphere and face of the city.

We will see how and why while walking across the most beautiful campus in the country, the Universitetsparken in Aarhus. Until the nineteenthirties, the area was taken up by allotments. At that time the landscape designes worked a small miracle and the beautiful buildings were designed by the world renowned architects from C. F. Møllers tegnestue. The result was spectacular – but by and by the university grew, however, buildings were expanded and new ones were built. Finally a decision had to be reached, to either bulid more or keep the trees and hills, the small lakes and the brook – and consequently to move some of the institutes elsewhere. Some academic activities had to move to a new home.

We will also visit some parts of these new academic areas. The tour starts in front of the Institute for Geoscience, we wil start by traversing the original Universitetsparken and also visit some of the newer parts of the complete Campus.

The history of Aarhus based on the great men and women buried at Nordre Kirkegaard, the Northern Cemetery.

Nordre Kirkegaard was founded in 1876 in order to relieve the pressure of too many burials at the then existing Søndre Kirkegaard, the Southern Cemetery which was situated where Raadhusparken, the City Hall Park now is.

Nordre Kirkegaard soon became a much prefered place of burial for the citizens of Aarhus because of the environment and rural landscape just north of the city. Today the entire area is part of the city. Today the cemetery takes up an area of 14,8 hectars.

Buried at Nordre Kirkegaard are a number of former mayors of Aarhus, including perhaps the most popular mayor ever in the city's history Bernhardt Jensen alongside various Aarhus celebrities.

On this guided tour I reveal the history of Aarhus by means of the various celebrities buried at Aarhus Nordre Kirkegaard which also give a good hint of how Aarhus grew and developed from the middle of the 19th century to the present day.

Spring, summer and autumn the citizens of Aarhus will go for a picnic, relax or play in the beautiful park next to Marselisborg Palace, the summer residens of the Danish Queen Margrethe II.

Meet the Danes in the Memorial Park, Mindeparken, and enjoy the sight of the sea. In this peaceful park people run, do outdoor fitness and celebrating birthdays underneath the shadow of big trees.

When the royal family is in town people will gather at the entrance of the Marselisborg Palace to catch a glimpse of Queen Margrethe, Crownprince Frederik and his wife Mary and their charming family. Come join us!

The public have acces to the royal park with the beatiful roses and lots of sculptures when the royal family is out of town. Let us go for a walk in the park and imagine ourselves being royal…

Right next to the royal garden is another awesome place of interest – a botanical garden with trees from all over the world. Quiet, astonishing and beautiful.

Frederiksgade, Frederik's Street, named after a Danish King is one of the oldest streets in the city of Aarhus and it dates back to the middle ages.

Along the street there was in the middle ages a Carmelite convent and only a few years ago archaeologists discovered its cemetery in the back yard of no. 78. In front of that same adress was the town gate towards Brobjerg, which was then the country side.

Also buildings from the 17th to the 19th century are still preserved in the street and this tour will show you their interesting back yards where you can still see what some of them were used for in the past. The street is also renowned for its many beautiful cast iron gates.

This historic walk can last 1-2 hours according to your wishes and shorter versions are also available.

Aarhus might only be the second largest city in Denmark, and only a blip on the map of the world, but there are still a great many fascinating, surprising and fun stories to tell.

Did you know, that the cream puff was invented here? Or that the oldest church in Scandinavia is found here?

Learn more about this and a number of interesting stories about Aarhus being bigger, better or first about something while you are strolling leisurely on a guided tour through the wonderful city centre.

If you wish, we could add a detour through Den Gamle By, which is a major sight and the first open air museum of its kind in the world. You need to decide this in advance, because this will need an additional hour and there will also be an admission fee. Besides being a spectacular place in it's own right, Den Gamle By is also a nice place to taste some old school sweets and take refreshment, such as coffee and a piece of a tradtional Danish layer cake.