Silkeborg 6.41

Silkeborg is a Danish town with a population of 43,158 (1 January 2014). Silkeborg is the seat of the council of Silkeborg municipality (90,016 inhabitants as of 2015) and is also part of the East Jutland metropolitan area (ca. 1.2 million inhabitants).Silkeborg is located in the middle of the Jutlandic peninsula, slightly west of the geographical centre of Denmark. The city is situated at the Gudenå River in the hilly and lush landscape of Søhøjlandet, surrounded by Denmark’s largest forest district and a great number of lakes. The lakes between Silkeborg and Ry that are linked by the Gudenå, are known collectively as Silkeborgsøerne (the Silkeborg lakes). The city is divided north and south by the lake of Silkeborg Langsø, which at the eastern side of the city, resolves into the Gudenå River.HistorySilkeborg was the site of a castle, a monastery and a farming estate, established in the 15th century, some 6 km from Alling Abbey. The modern grew around the Drewsen og Sønner paper mill, established in 1844. Silkeborg Papirfabrik (Silkeborg Paper mill) was located near the Gudenå River where Silkeborg castle once stood, in order to exploit the river as a source of energy for the mill, as a resource for paper production and as a transportion route. Michael Drewsen, regarded as the founder of the city, was responsible for the daily management of the mill. Today a statue of Michael Drewsen stands in front of the old city hall in the town square. A commission to establish Silkeborg as a trading venue was set up in 1845, and the site grew into a small settlement, from a population of 30 in 1844 to 556 in 1850 and to 1,204 in 1855. A municipal council and parish was established in 1855. The railway was built in 1871. Silkeborg was given the status of market town (købstad) in 1900. Population was recorded as 7,228 in 1901, and as 8,792 in 1911. During the German occupation of Denmark, the Gestapo turned the Silkeborg Bad (Silkeborg Baths), which served at that time as the municipal sanatorium, into its Danish headquarters. The remnants of German bunkers can still be seen today, one of these bunkers is now a public museum.