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The city of 'Odense' [] is the third largest city in Denmark.
Odense city has 146,564 inhabitants, as at January 1 2007, and is the capital of the island of Funen. It is the seat of Odense Municipality and was the seat of Odense County until 1970, and Funen County from 1970 until January 1, 2007 when the county became part of Region Syddanmark.
The city lies close to Odense Fjord on the Odense River (''Odense Å''). Its railway station lies on the route between Copenhagen and Jutland, the peninsular mainland. A 7.5 metre (25 ft.) deep canal, dug from 1796 to 1806, gives access to the town from the fjord.
Accessibility to Odense was greatly increased when the ferry service between the two main Danish islands, Zealand and Funen, was replaced by the Great Belt Bridge - opened in 1997 for rail traffic, 1998 for road traffic. The bridge is the second longest suspension bridge in the world. Its construction greatly cut transportation time between Odense and the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Copenhagen can now be reached by trains from Odense in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Contents

History

Famous residents of Odense

Business

Tourist attractions

Population statistics

Trivia

Twin cities

See also

Sources and external links

History

:''For the Catholic ecclesiastical history, see Roman Catholic bishopric of Odense''
Odense (from ''Odins Vi'', i.e. "Odin's Sanctuary", referring to Odin of Denmark's indigenous Norse mythology), is one of the oldest cities of Denmark and had its 1000th anniversary in 1988. To celebrate this, a forest named "the Thousand Year Forest" (Danish: ''Tusindårsskoven'') was cultivated. The shrine of Saint Canute () held great attraction for pilgrims throughout the Middle Ages.
In the 16th century the town was the meeting-place of several parliaments, and down to 1805 it was the seat of the provincial assembly of Funen.
Odense's most famous landmark was Odinstårnet (''The Odin Tower'') constructed in 1935, as the second-tallest tower in Europe, only surpassed by the Eiffel Tower. ''Odinstårnet'' was blown up by a Danish Nazi group in 1944 and has never been rebuilt. However, a miniature model of it now stands in the residential area Odinsparken in the area where the original tower was.
Until the beginning of the Danish industrial revolution, Odense was also the 2nd largest city in modern Denmark, but has in recent times been overtaken by Aarhus.

Famous residents of Odense

The famous author and poet Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense on April 2 1805. A house in the old part of Odense has been turned into a museum with a large collection of his works and belongings. Also his childhood home is a museum.
Classical composer Carl Nielsen was also born near Odense, and the town houses a museum in his honour.
King Canute IV, (ca. 1043 - July 17, 1086), also known as ''Canute the Saint'' and ''Canute the Holy''
Industrialist, banker and philanthropist Carl Frederik Tietgen was born in Odense on March 19, 1829. Best known for establishing Denmark's first private bank and numerous conglomerates including DFDS, B&W, Danisco, and Tuborg.
Inventor and industrialist Thomas B. Thrige, he was born in Odense on May 5, 1866.
Actor Ove Sprogøe (December 21, 1919 - September 14, 2004), was a beloved cinema, stage and TV actor, and now has a square in the centre of town named after him.
Swimmer Louise Ørnstedt (born 1985) was born in Odense. She recently won gold at the European championships in Trieste, Italy in the 50m back crawl and silver in the 100m and the 200m back stroke.
One of the world's best female team handball players, Anja Andersen, was born in Odense on February 15, 1969. She now coaches the handball team Slagelse Dream Team, multiple winners of the Champions League.
Norwegian missionary Paul Olaf Bodding is buried in Odense.

Business

Several large industries are located in or near Odense. Denmark's biggest shipyard, Odense Steel Shipyard owned by the A.P. Møller-Mærsk Group is situated in the neighbouring town Munkebo. The biggest sales auction of vegetables, fruits and flowers (GASA) in Denmark is situated here. The Albani Brewery brews the local ''Odense Pilsner'' amongst others.
The commercial national television company TV 2 is based in Odense.
The main campus of the University of Southern Denmark is located in Odense.
Odense is the home of a number of football clubs, the most important are OB, FC FYN, B1909, B1913 and Dalum IF.

Tourist attractions

Saint Canute's Cathedral () was formerly connected with the great Benedictine monastery of the same name, and is one of the largest and finest buildings of its kind in Denmark. It is constructed of brick in a pure Gothic style. Originally dating from 1081-1093, it was rebuilt in the 13th century. Under the altar lies Canute (Danish: ''Knud''), the patron saint of Denmark, who had planned to conquer England from William of Normandy. He was slain in an insurrection at Odense in 1086. Odense is also the see of the bishop of Funen.
Kings John (Danish: ''Hans'') and Christian II are buried in the city.
Our Lady's Church, built in the 13th century and restored in 1851-1852 and again in 1864, contains a carved 16th century altarpiece by Claus Berg of Lübeck.
Odense Palace was erected by King Frederick IV, who died there in 1730.
There is a theatre as well as a symphony orchestra, a zoo, and the Funen Village (''Den Fynske Landsby'') which is an open air museum with old houses typical for Funen.
Other attractions:

★ Odense City Museums

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★ Hans Christian Andersen Museum

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★ Hans Christian Andersen's Childhood home

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★ The Funen Village

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★ Carl Nielsen Museum

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★ Carl Nielsen's Childhood home

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★ Funen Art Museum

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★ City Museum Møntergården

★ Odense Theatre

★ Odense Fjord

★ ''Churches & Cathedrals''

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★ Saint Knud's Cathedral

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★ Saint Albani Church

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★ Vor Frue Church

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★ Saint Hans Church

★ Odense Zoo

★ Odense Central Library

★ Odense Sportspark

★ University of Southern Denmark previously known as Odense University

★ Odense Symphony Orchestra

★ Odense Music School

★ Danish Railway Museum

★ Nonnebakken

Population statistics

The land area of Odense is 304 km², with a population density of 611 per km² (2005 figures from Helsingin Seudun Aluesarjat).
The population of Odense city, per January 1 of a given year, according to Danmarks Statistik.

Year	Population
1976	138,348
1981	136,646
1986	137,286
1989	138,339
1990	138,986
1992	140,886
1994	143,029
1996	144,518
1997	145,354
1998	145,296
1999	144,940
2000	145,062
2001	144,849
2002	144,636
2003	145,374
2004	145,554

Trivia

★ Public busses in Odense are painted dark red: the city's former streetcars had the same colour. In Copenhagen and Århus, busses are yellow.

★ The City Hall has a small scar from a battle between Germans and members of the Danish Resistance on 5 May 1945. The city's coat of arms - located above the main entrance to City Hall - is damaged. On close inspection, the kneecap of Saint Canute is penetrated by a bullet.

★ The city's cathedral, Saint Canute's Church, has the skeletons of both the Saint/King and his brother on public display. The cathedral also boasts of one of Denmark's finest altarpieces, a magnificent triptych by Claus Berg. A large fragment of Byzantine cloth is displayed next to the two skeletons.

★ Odense was known as ''Little Copenhagen'' in the 19th century.

Twin cities

: ''For a full list of twin cities, see Odense Municipality''

See also

★ Odense municipality

★ Odense Airport

★ Roman Catholic bishopric of Odense

★ Tourism in Denmark

★ The Funen Village

Sources and external links

★ Odense - City of Hans Christian Andersen

★ The City of Odense

★ Odense City Museums

★ Odense Symphony Orchestra

★ Odense Zoo

★ Odense Steel Shipyard

★ Albani Brewery

★ Satellite image from WikiMapia