Frederikshavn

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

Frederikshavn

Town

Logo

Country

Denmark

Region

Region Nordjylland

Municipality

Frederikshavn municipality

Center

- coordinates

57°26′28.00″N 10°32′23.00″E / 57.4411111, 10.5397222Coordinates: 57°26′28.00″N 10°32′23.00″E / 57.4411111, 10.5397222

Population

23,636 (2006-01-01)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

- summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

9900

Krudttårnet

Frederikshavn (originally named Fladstrand) is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbour".

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

Frederikshavn has a population of 23,636, and is an important traffic portal with its ferry connections to Sweden and Norway. The town is 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. Also AC-REN is a large employer in the area.

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. However, the municipality is currently engaged in many innovative projects which are retaining population and attracting tourists.

1 History
2 Renewable-Energy City
3 Harbours
4 Friendship Towns
5 Other Attractions
6 Famous People of/from the town

[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] Renewable-Energy City

Frederikshavn will be the first medium-sized city in the world to be exclusively supplied with electricity, heat and power for transportation from renewable energy sources. In 2015 the city’s 25,000 inhabitants will enjoy the fact that they are not contributing to global warming, because electricity will be supplied from wind turbines, heat from heat pumps, solar panels and biogas plants, while cars will be powered by electricity or biofuel.

The vision of basing a whole city’s energy needs on renewables in an integrated system covering electricity, heat and cooling, and power for transport, will make Frederikshavn a shop window to inspire the world. At present, although Danish energy technology is world-class and is exported worldwide, it tends to be sold for individual applications rather than for entire systems like cities. [1]

[edit] Harbours

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

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):

[edit] Other Attractions

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