Greetings from Aarhus, the third of our three ports of call in Denmark. Aarhus is the country’s second largest city, though I have to admit that until recently I had never heard of it. Because of its location on the Kattegat, strategically positioned between the Baltic and the North Sea, it was a natural as a trading port, and still is today.
Before I get into today’s excursion, though, I want to backtrack just a bit. Yesterday, when we were in Copenhagen, we passed the burned out shell of the city’s stock exchange, and I was reminded that when we were in Skagen several days ago we saw a magnificent painting that had been rescued from the building as it burned. Our Skagen guide had told us the story from her town’s perspective, and our Copenhagen guide gave it a slightly different twist. My point is that the more places you visit in a country, the more you see the interconnections and the more complete your understanding of what you’re seeing becomes.
So, about Aarhus. Our five hour excursion began with a bus ride to the city center to view the Aarhus Cathedral, which holds the distinction of being Denmark’s longest and tallest church. It’s made of brick, which reflects the lack of rock and abundance of clay in the region, the latter ideal for making bricks. The other interesting thing about the Cathedral is that it combines Romanesque and Gothic architecture. This sort of thing isn’t unusual when a church takes a long time to complete. Architectural styles are a lot like clothes, in that they go in and out of fashion. When Romanesque went out of fashion part way through the Cathedral’s construction it was finished in the hip new style, Gothic.
We couldn’t enter the Cathedral because Sunday mass was underway, so we didn’t stay long, opting to head slightly out of town to the Moesgaard Museum, a beautifully done museum of prehistoric history. And while the entire museum is great there’s really one exhibit that tops them all, the Grauballe Man.
Otherwise known as a bog body, Grauballe Man was discovered in a peat bog near here in 1952, and carbon dating revealed that he was more than 2000 years old. Peat is virtually oxygen free, preventing bacteria from forming and halting decomposition, and Grauballe Man is one of the best bog bodies ever discovered. In fact, his hair and beard were still there, and scientists were even able to take his fingerprints. After viewing him we watched a fifteen minute video detailing his discovery, preservation, and cause of death (his throat was cut).
We were given quite a bit of free time to explore the museum and grab some lunch at its snack bar before heading back into the city to visit the day’s other big destination, the Den Gamle By open air museum. Den Gamle By is a collection of 75 old houses and commercial buildings that have been brought together from all over Denmark and laid out like a village. The buildings are authentic, not reproductions, and date back to the late 1500s. Most of the buildings are open, and you can walk through them to view period furnishings and commercial displays. It’s great, it really is, and worth a visit if you’re ever lost and find yourself in Aarhus.
Again, we were given a lot of free time to explore the village, and we made the most of it before rejoining our group and busing back to the pier. I liked Aarhus. It’s not flashy, and there’s no charming old town lined with narrow, winding lanes, but it’s neat, clean friendly, and spread out enough to make it feel like there’s enough room for everybody.
Tomorrow we’ll be in Oslo, the capital of Norway, where we have a nice day planned. I’ll be back with a full report. See you then.
The sun was in the wrong place for this shot, but I did the best I could. This is the spire of the Aarhus Cathedral. I can tell you from personal experience that the bells in the tower work really well.
The Cathedral is in profile behind us, showing two different architectural styles and its length, credited as the longest church in Denmark.
The Cathedral sits at the top of the city’s main square.
Just off to the side of the Cathedral is the grand old Hotel Royal.
What would a city be without a monument of a soldier on horseback? No idea who this is.
I think this is a manhole cover, but whether it is or not, that’s the city’s coat of arms on it.
This beautiful theater is just a short walk from the Cathedral.
Closer up view of the theater, with me spoiling the shot.
Closeup of the monster on the roof of the theater.
There are colorfully painted elephants all over the city. They’re part of a mental health project, meant to portray mental illness as the elephant in the room.
The tour description said we would get to see the Royal Family’s summer residence on our way to our next stop. Here it is. I guess they kept their word.
The Moesgaard Museum, where the famous Grauballe Man is housed. It’s also a beautifully done museum of prehistoric history and artifacts.
The entrance.
The 2000 year old Grauballe Man. He had red hair, but I don’t know if it actually was this bright or whether it was made brighter by the tanning process that was used to preserve him. His throat had been slashed, likely either as a human sacrifice or because he violated some law.
An old photo of scientists examining the bog man’s body shortly after it was discovered in 1952.
There are lots of other fabulous exhibits at the museum. This one reflects early gods from the Bronze Age.
On the road again we passed a centuries old amusement park. The Danes were early adopters of amusement parks.
At Den Gamle By, the outdoor museum that houses a collection of 75 old homes and commercial buildings laid out as a village. This street has more “modern” buildings, dating back only to the 1950s-1970s.
Most of the buildings look more like this. They are all real, and were moved here from across Denmark.
This is the very first building that was brought here. It was a large home.
For their time some of these homes were quite large and well appointed.
A second floor outdoor walkway in an old home.
We had great weather for walking around the village.
You could get carriage rides, which looked like fun.
Some of the old shops were selling more modern things, in this case postage stamps. Michele was able to mail a postcard home.
Pretty lawn and garden behind the old buildings.
Inside a blacksmith shop.
The village even has a waterway.
How they moved these buildings to this location from wherever in Denmark they found them is beyond me. Quite an accomplishment.
No idea what’s inside, but I’m going to find out.
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