Ribe

This article is about the Danish town. For other uses, seeRibe (disambiguation).

Ribe
Town
Ribe seen from Riberhus
Coat of arms
Ribe Location in Denmark Ribe Ribe (Region of Southern Denmark)
Coordinates:55°19′42″N08°45′44″E
Country	Denmark
Region	Southern Denmark (Syddanmark)
Municipality	Esbjerg
Area
• Urban	7.3 km2(2.8 sq mi)
Population (2024)
•Urban	8,295
• Urban density	1,100/km2(2,900/sq mi)
• Gender	3,952 males and 4,343 females
Demonym	Ripenser
Time zone	UTC+1(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2(CEST)
Postal code	DK-6760 Ribe
Website	www.ribe.dk

Ribe(Danish pronunciation:[ˈʁiːpə]) is a town in south-westJutland,Denmark, with a population of 8,295 (2024).It is the seat of theDiocese of Ribe.Until 1 January 2007, Ribe was the seat of both a surroundingmunicipalityandcounty.It is now part of the enlargedEsbjerg Municipalityin theRegion of Southern Denmark.It is the oldest town in Denmark.

History

Street in Ribe

The town was a center of commercial activity in the early 8th century, and this may have originated with royal influence. Coins may have been struck there in 720. Whichever king was involved in the digging of theKanhave Canalmay have been involved in the establishment of Ribe also. Trade contacts were mostly withFrisiaand England.Of the over 300sceatasfound in Denmark, 216 come from in or around Ribe, most of them the Wodan type, and these were likely minted in Ribe in the early eighth century.TheAncient Diocese of Ribewas established in 948 with the consecration ofLeofdag of Ribeas its first bishop.

Early in the ninth century a 2-meter wide ditch (a demarcation rather than a fortification) was dug around the town, enclosing a 12-hectare area. Later that century the ditch was replaced by a moat, 6 to 7 meters wide. Archeological evidence shows Ribe was "an active and impressive market place" in the eighth and ninth centuries, and again at the end of the eleventh century, but there is little evidence from the period in between; the town may have dwindled or even disappeared.

When archbishopAnsgarset out to christianize Scandinavia, he requested (in about 860) of KingHorik IIof Denmark that the first Scandinavian church be built in Ribe, which at the time was one of the most important trade cities in Scandinavia. However, the presence in Ribe of a bishop, and thus a cathedral, can only be confirmed from the year 948. Recent archaeological excavations in Ribe, however, have led to the discovery of between 2,000 and 3,000 Christian graves. They have been dated to the ninth century, indicating that a large Christian community was already living peacefully together with the Vikings at the time.Excavations conducted between 2008 and 2012 have also revealed more details of the original church built by Ansgar.

Construction on theRibe Cathedralstarted in 1150, on top of an earlier church, most probablyAnsgar's church, built in 860.TheTreaty of Ribewas proclaimed in 1460. Being located in a large region of low-lying marshland, Ribe has repeatedly been hit by storm floods, the most devastating being theBurchardi floodof 1634. The marks after this flood can still be seen on the cathedral's walls and is also marked as the top point on a flood pillar in the town.Today Ribe, along with much of theWadden Seacoastline, is protected bydykes.

The Catholic diocese was dissolved in 1536 during theReformation;it was succeeded by theDiocese of Ribe,governed by the newly established protestantChurch of Denmark.

On 1 January 2007, theMunicipality of Ribeceased to exist as it merged with the municipalities ofEsbjergandBramming,now forming the new municipality of Esbjerg.

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 ~5,000 1591 ~4,500 1641 ~3,500 1672 ~2,000

Year Population 1769 1,827 1801 1,994 1850 2,984 1901 4,243

Year Population 1976 7,452 1981 7,646 1986 7,709 1990 7,636

Year Population 1996 8,105 2000 7,984 2001 8,031 2002 8,033

Year Population 2003 8,006 2004 7,990 2006 8,081

Notable sites

• Ribe Cathedral
• Ribe Kunstmuseum- an art museum
• Riberhus- a castle (only some ruins remain, along with the water moat) likely built byEric V of Denmarkin the 1200s
• Wadden Sea Centre- a museum and visitors center for theWadden Sea National Park,located a few km outside Ribe

Education

The old cityhall.

The town of Ribe has a long history as a center of learning. Thecathedral school(Ribe Katedralskole) has its roots in the Latin School of Ribe, dating back to at least 1145, when the bishop officially handed over thechapter's school.The school provided religious education of priests and clergymen up until 1805 and is nowadays agymnasium(Danish high school). Ribe Katedralskole celebrated its 850th anniversary in 1995, and is the oldest continuously existing school in Scandinavia.

Schools

• Ribe Katedralskole
• The State College of Education in Ribe (Teacher Training College), part of the University College of West Jutland
• Ribe Business College
• VUC (Adult Education Center)

Transport

Ribe railway stationin 2023.

Ribe is served byRibe railway station,located on theBramming–Tønder railway line.The northern part of the town is also served by therailway haltRibe Nørremark.

Notable people

Anders Bording, 1645

Rued Langgaard, 1917

HK Nielsen, 2012

The arts

• Anders Bording(1619–1677), poet
• Kristen Feilberg(1839 in Vester Vedsted – 1919), photographer of the peoples and landscapes of Sumatra and Singapore
• Jacob Riis(1849–1914), an American immigrant photographer, wroteHow the Other Half Lives
• Bodil Hauschildt(1861–1951), photographer
• J. Bodewalt Lampe(1869–1929), American composer, arranger, performer
• Jens Olsen(1872–1945), a clockmaker and locksmith
• Astrid Noack(1888–1954), a Danish sculptor
• Rued Langgaard(1893–1952) a late-Romantic composer and organist atRibe Cathedral
• Kjeld Abell(1901–1961), playwright, screenwriter and theatrical designer
• Børge Ring(1921–2018), animated short film writer, director and animator
• Annemette Kure Andersen(born 1969), poet and literary editor
• Per Vers(born 1976), rapper

Politicians, clergy, and officials

• Valdemar II of Denmark(1170–1241), King of Denmark
• Hans Tausen(1494–1561), leader of theReformation in Denmark,Bishopof Ribe 1542–1562.
• Peder Palladius(1503–1560), theologian, priest and bishop
• Maren Spliid(c.1600–1641), victim of the persecution of witches
• Hans Schack, 2nd Count of Schackenborg(1676 in Ribe – 1719), nobleman
• Hans Adolf Brorson(1694–1764), DanishPietistclergyman and hymn writer
• Friderich Christian Hager(1756–1795), colonial commander and governor of theDanish Gold Coast
• Elisabeth Dons Christensen(born 1944), theologian, bishop of theDiocese of Ribe2003–2014
• Holger K. Nielsen(born 1950), former leader of theSocialist People's Party

Science and business

• Vibeke Jensdatter(1638–1709), merchant
• Emil Christian Hansen(1842–1909), brewmaster and mycologist
• Cathrine Horsbøl(1872–1947), furniture designer
• Jens Rasmussen(1926–2018), professor
• Erik Hansen(1927–2016), architect

Sport

• John Lauridsen(born 1959), footballer
• Martin Rauschenberg(born 1992), footballer
• Mikael Uhre(born 1994), footballer

Twin cities and towns

Balleroy,Normandy,France Ely, Cambridgeshire,United Kingdom. Güstrow,Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,Germany. Krems,Lower Austria,Austria

Leikanger,Sogn og Fjordane,Norway. Ratzeburg,Schleswig-Holstein,Germany. Strängnäs,Södermanland,Sweden.

See also

• Dankirke

Sources

• The New Cambridge Medieval History.Cambridge University Press, 1995.ISBN0-521-36292-X.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Ancient See of Ribe".Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.s:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Ancient See of Ribe in Denmark (Jutland)

External links

• Official Tourism website