Frederiksberg

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Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg Palace seen from the park
Coordinates: 55°40′N 12°32′E / 55.667°N 12.533°E / 55.667; 12.533
Country	Denmark
Region	Hovedstaden
Municipality	Frederiksberg
Government
- Mayor	Jørgen Glenthøj
Area (co-extensive with its municipality)
- Total	8.7 km2 (3.4 sq mi)
Population (2009)
- Total	95,029
- Density	10,923/km2 (28,290.4/sq mi)
Time zone	Central Europe Time (UTC+1)
Website	http://www.frederiksberg.dk/

Frederiksberg is a Danish town, seat of the Frederiksberg Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden. With a population of 95,029 in 2009 ^[1] it is the fift Danish city after Copenhagen, Århus, Odense and Ålborg.

Contents 1 Geography 2 History 3 Culture 3.1 Education 3.2 Shopping 3.3 Main sights 4 Demography 5 Transport 6 Personalities 7 Twin towns 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Geography

Frederiksberg is located as an enclave within the municipality of Copenhagen, the national capital. The municipality was originally situated west of Copenhagen, but after a number of smaller municipalities were merged with Copenhagen in 1901, it became completely surrounded by Copenhagen.

[edit] History

Frederiksberg's original name was Tulehøj (= Thyle-hill),^[2] indicating that a thul (= thyle) lived there, the reciter of eldritch times. The term is known from the Snoldelev rune stone.^[3] In Beowulf, Unferth holds the same title. In Håvamål, Odin himself is referred to as "the old thul".^[4] Thula translates as "song", like in the Rigsthula poem from the Edda. By 1443 the name Tulehøj was spelled Tulleshøy. It was regarded as Copenhagen's border to the west.^[5] People lived here since the Bronze Age.

The history of Frederiksberg goes back to June 2, 1651 when King Frederik III gave 20 Danish—Dutch peasants the rights to settle at Allégade (= allé = tree-lined street, gade = street), and founded the town then named "Ny Amager" (= New Amager) or "Ny Hollænderby" (= New Dutchman-town). Farming was not very successful, and in 1697 most of the town burned down. This meant that the peasants were unable to pay taxes, and the land reverted back to the crown by Frederik III's son Christian V.

In 1700-1703, King Frederik IV built a palace on top of the hill known as Valby Bakke (bakke = hill). He named the palace Frederichs Berg, and the rebuilt town at the foot of the hill consequently changed its name to Frederiksberg. A number of the local houses were bought by wealthy citizens of Copenhagen who didn’t farm the land, but rather used the properties as country houses.

The town changed slowly from a farming community to a merchant town, with craftsmen and merchants. During the summer rooms were offered for rent, and restaurants served food to the people of Copenhagen who had left the cramped city for the open land, and to be near the royals.

Initially the town grew slowly with population growing from 1,000 in 1770, to 1,200 in 1800, and to 3,000 in 1850.

In 1852 Parliament removed restrictions which prohibited permanent construction outside Copenhagen's city walls. Almost immediately numerous residential areas were constructed, starting in the eastern part near Copenhagen, and ending in the western part farthest away from Copenhagen in 1950. This led to rapid population growth; in 1900 the population reached 80,000, and in 1950 the city peaked with a population of 120,000.

Today the city consists almost entirely of 3-5 story residential houses, large single-family homes, and large parks; only a few small areas with light industry remain. On aerial pictures Frederiksberg stands out from the surrounding city of Copenhagen as a green area with few large roads. It is considered to be one of Copenhagen's more prestigious areas in which to live.

[edit] Culture

[edit] Education

Frederiksberg houses University of Copenhagen Faculty of Life Sciences and Copenhagen Business School and also 9 public schools (run by the municipality), 3 private schools, 1 technical college and more.

[edit] Shopping

The 3 streets Gammel Kongevej, Godthåbsvej and Falkoner Alle are the busiest shopping streets. The town also houses the Frederiksberg Centret shopping mall.

[edit] Main sights

[edit] Demography

Population of Frederiksberg (from 1769):