Ribe Bys Historie 3 (The History of Ribe 3)

Buy the book here (Danish)

Buy all three volumes here (Danish)

In 2010 Ribe – the oldest town of Denmark – celebrated its 1300 years anniversary. To mark the anniversary a three volume work about the history of the town was published.

Volume 3 tells the story from 1850 until today. In the middle of the 19th century many in Ribe hoped that the town under the new democracy introduced in Denmark in 1849 would break the negative development of the previous centuries and experience the growth, which the trades and industry had already given to other provincial towns. Denmark’s territorial loss of the two duchies Slesvig and Holsten in the war of 1864 however resulted in the loss for Ribe of its southern hinterland. To the north Ribe simultaneously met competition from the new state harbour in Esbjerg. Esbjerg went through a development from almost nothing in 1868 to become a town with 12.000 citizens in 1899.

Ribe though remained an important administrative centre. Here lived the chief administrative officer of the county and the bishop, and together with the traditional cathedral school these institutions brought many highly educated people to Ribe.

The economic life went through a development – some industry was established in the town. The Giørtz family for instance was active in establishing a cotton-spinning mill, and Frederik Axelsen founded an iron foundry. For a time there was also a chicory factory in the town. It though remained a problem that the river was to small for big ships to sail on it, and although the railway came to Ribe it wasn’t a solution that helped much to the situation. Ribe was hit, because the state had put its focus to the north – to the new state harbour in Esbjerg.

First in 1904 the state took an initiative, when it set up a commission with the purpose to look at possibilities to site some state institutions in Ribe. As a result Ribelund (home for the mentally deficient) was established in 1907, and later in 1918 the teacher training college Ribe Seminarium was founded. The town itself also played an active role with the very early introduction of a preservation policy for the old historical houses and quarters of the town. It later became fundamental for the branding of Ribe as the oldest town of Denmark. This together with the presence of storks and later archaeological findings gave Ribe a strong position as a tourist destination.

This last volume also tells about the era of democracy and about the town council and institutions. For instance about the so called drum man, who’s job until 1922 was to give official announcements to the citizens. Also the story of the night watchmen – which still today exist as a part of the town branding for tourist – is told. Furthermore the municipal reform of 1970 is told. Back then Ribe municipality increased its area through a fusion with the rural districts that surrounded Ribe. Later the book describes the new reform of 2007, when Ribe became a part of Esbjerg municipality.

At the end of the volume a chapter tells about the urban life and culture. The chapter finally gives a general view of all the cultural fragments from 1850 to 2010.

Price for one volume is 399 kr. and for all three volumes together 999 kr.

Writers

Søren Bitsch Christensen (editor), Jeppe Klok Due, Karsten Eskildsen, Kim Furdal, Mette Guldberg, Christian Larsen, Leif Hansen Nielsen, Niels Wium Olesen, Poul Ove Pedersen, Steffen M. Søndergaard, Kristian Buhl Thomsen og Jens Toftgaard.