Odense

The ceety o **Odense** () is Denmark's thridd ceetie bi size.
Odense ceety haes a population o 167,615 (2011) an is the main ceety on the island o Funen.  It is the seat o Odense Municipality wi a population o 190.245 (2011), an wis the seat o Odense Coonty till 1970, an Funen Coonty frae 1970 till Januar 1, 2007 whan the coonty becam pairt o the Region o Soothren Denmark.

## History

: *For the Catholic  ecclesiastical history, see [[Roman Catholic bishopric o Odense]]*

Odense (frae *Odins  [[Vé (shrine)|Vé]]*, meanin "Odin's shrine", referrin tae the god Odin o Denmark's indigenous Norse meethology), is ane o the auldest ceeties o Denmark an haed its 1000t anniversary in 1988. Tae celebrate this, a widd cried "the Thoosan Year Widd"  (Dens: *Tusindårsskoven*) wis cultivatit. The shrine o Saunt Canute () in Saunt Canute's Cathedral  held great attraction for pilgrims throughoot the Middle Ages.

In the 16t century, the ceety wis the meetin-place o several parliaments, an doun tae 1805 it wis the seat o the provincial assembly o Funen.

Odense's maist famous laundmerk wis Odinstårnet (*The Odin Touer*) constructit in 1935, as the saicont-tallest touer in Europe, anerlie surpassed bi the Eiffel Touer. *Odinstårnet* wis blawn up bi a Dens Nazi group in 1944 an haes niver been rebiggit. Houanivver, a miniature model o it nou staunds in the residential aurie Odinsparken in the area whaur the oreeginal touer wis.

Till the beginnin o the Dens industrial revolution, Odense wis the 2nt lairgest ceety in modren Denmark, but haes in recent times been owertaken bi Aarhus.

## Economy

Several lairge industries are locatit in or near Odense. Denmark's lairgest shipyard, Odense Steel Shipyard awned bi the A.P. Møller-Mærsk Group is in the neighbourin toun Munkebo. The biggest sales auction o vegetables, fruits an flouers (GASA) in Denmark is situatit here. The Albani Brewery brews the local *Odense  [[Pilsener|Pilsner]]* amangst ithers.

The commercial naitional telly company TV 2 is based in Odense.

In the sooth-eastren pairt o Odense the Rosengårdcentret shoppin maw is locatit. The maw dates frae 1971 an is ane o the lairgest in Denmark wi 100,000 m2 o commercially uised aurie an 153 stores.

Odense is the commercial hub o Funen, its retail businesses serve the surroondin ceeties. The ceety centre hooses a shoppin destrict wi diverse stores.

The ceety's central location in Denmark maks it ane o the naitional convention an congress centers.

## Education

The main campus o the University o Soothren Denmark is locatit in Odense. A branch o University College Lillebaelt () can be foond in Odense an aw. Odense is hame tae 8 Gymnasiums, a business schuil, a vocational schui, 21 public grade schools as well as a nummer o private schuils.

## Sports

Odense is hame tae a nummer o fitbaa clubs. The maist important are OB, FC FYN,  B1909 an B1913.

The H.C. Andersen Marathon an Eventyrløbet is held annually in Odense.

## Tourist  attractions

Saunt Canute's Cathedral () wis ance connectit wi the great Benedictine monastery o the same name, an is ane o the lairgest an finest  biggins o its kynd in Denmark. It is constructit o brick in a pure  Gothic style. Oreeginally datin frae 1081–1093, it wis rebuilt in the 13t century. Unner  the altar lies Canute  (Dens: *Knud*), the patron saunt o Denmark, who haed planned tae conquer Ingland, then ruled bi William the Conqueror. Canute wis slain in an insurrection at Odense in 1086. Odense is the see o the bishop o Funen an aw. The cathedral haes the skelets o baith the Saunt/King an his brither on public display. A lairge fragment o Byzantine cloth is displayed next tae the twa skelets. The cathedral boasts ane o Denmark's feenest altarpieces an aw, a magnificent triptych bi Claus Berg. Kings John () an Christian II are buried in the ceety.

Our Lady's Kirk, biggit in the 13t century an restored in 1851–1852 an again in 1864, contains a carved 16t century altarpiece bi Claus Berg o Lübeck.

Odense Palace wis erectit bi King Frederick IV, who dee'd thare in 1730.

Thare is a theatre as well as a symphony orchestra, a zoo, an the Funen Village (*Den Fynske Landsby*)  which is an open-air museum wi auld hooses teepical o Funen.

The Ceety Haw haes a sma scar frae a battle atween Germans an members o the Dens Resistance on 5 Mey 1945. The ceety's coat o airms – locatit abuin the main entrance tae Ceety Haw – is damaged. On close inspection, the kneecap o Saint Canute is penetratit bi a bullet.

The 4 maist visitit attractions in 2007 wur:

1. Odense Zoo  – 420,254  visitors
2. The Funen Village – 105,040 visitors
3. Danish Railway museum – 97,759 visitors
4. H.C. Andersen's House – 80,622 visitors

Ither attractions:

* Odense Ceety Museums
** Hans Christian Andersen Museum
** Hans Christian Andersen's Hoose
** The Funen Veelage
* Odense Theatre
* Odense Fjord
* *Kirk & Cathedrals*
** Saunt Knud's Cathedral
** Saunt Albani Kirk
** Vor Frue Kirk
** Saunt Hans Kirk
* Odense Zoo
* Odense Central Library
* Odense Sportspark
* University o Soothren Denmark  previously kent as Odense University
* Odense Symphony Orchestra
* Odense Muisic Schuil
* Danish Railway Museum
* Nonnebakken
* Teater Momentum

## Transport

The ceety lies close tae Odense Fjord on the Odense River (*Odense Å*). A 7.5 metre (25&nbsp;ft) deep canal, dug frae 1796 tae 1806, gies access tae the toun's harbor frae the fjord.

Bi road, Odense connects tae Zealand an Jutland bi way o the Funish Motorwey (*Fynske Motorvej*), a section o the E20, an tae Svendborg on the soothren pairt o Funen bi wey o the Svendborg Motorway (*Svendborgmotorvejen*), which comprises the Dens route 9. Ither, smawer routes connect Odense tae the rest o Funen, wi direct links tae aw coastal touns.

Odense's main railwey station Odense station lies on the line atween Copenhagen an Jutland, the peninsular mainland. Internaitional trains connect the toun wi Swaden an mainland Europe, i.e. Stockholm. SJ haes a direct X2000 train tae Stockholm daily, takin 7 oors thare. Local an regional trains link Odense tae the rest o Denmark. A separate passenger railwey (*[[Svendborgbanen]]*) operates atween Odense an Svendborg. Umwhile, railways connectit Odense tae maist o Funen's coastal ceeties, but thir links wur closed doun in the 1950s an 1960s. The day, thir regional routes are served bi buses operatit bi the public company FynBus, which operates the toun's municipal buses an aw, connectin the toun's suburbs tae the ceety center.

Accessibility tae Odense wis greatly increased when the ferry service atween the twa main Dens islands, Zealand an Funen, wis replaced bi the Great Belt Bridge  – opened in 1997 for rail traffic, 1998 for road traffic. When the brig opened,  it wis the seicont langest suspension brig in the warld.  Its construction greatly cut transportation time atween Odense an the Dens caipital, Copenhagen.  Copenhagen can nou be reached bi trains frae Odense in 1 oor an 15 minutes an Aarhus in 1 oor an 35 minutes.

Odense is served bi Odense Airport, which operates regular flichts anerlie durin the simmer months.

## Population

The land aurie o Odense is 304&nbsp;km2,  wi a population density o 611 per km2 (2005 figures frae Helsingin Seudun Aluesarjat).
The population o Odense ceety, per Januar 1 o a gien year, accordin tae Danmarks Statistik.

## Notable residents
* Anja Andersen, Handbaw  player
* Hans Christian Andersen, author an poet
* Her Ryal Heichness Birgitte, Duchess o Gloucester  wis born an raised in Odense.
* King Canute IV (ca. 1043 – Julie 17, 1086), kent as *Canute the Saunt* an *Canute the Holy* an aw
* Peter Eastgate,  winner o the Main Event at the 2008  World Series of Poker
* Kim Larsen, muisicker
* Carl Nielsen, composer
* Thomas B. Thrige, Inventor an industrialist
* Carl Frederik Tietgen, industrialist,  banker  an philanthropist
* Caroline Wozniacki, tennis player

## Twin ceeties
*  Kaunas, Lithuanie
*  Klaksvík, Faroe Islands
*  Kiev, Ukraine
*  Sisimiut, Greenland
*  Petah Tikva, Israel
*    Funabashi,  Japan

: *For a full leet o  twin ceeties, see [[Odense Municipality]]*

## Relatit pages

* Odense municipality
* Odense Airport
* Roman Catholic bishopric o Odense
* Tourism in Denmark
* The Funen Village

## References

## Freemit airtins

*  Odense – Ceety o Hans Christian Andersen 
* The Ceety o Odense 
* FynBus – Municipal an regional bus operator 
*