The railway station square and Økolariet
The city walk will start from the VisitVejle office by the railway station square - Banegårdspladsen - to where the office moved to refurbished premises in 1999.
Across from the tourist office you find the city’s bus terminal and entrance to the railway station. On the square itself you see an 8.5 metre granite sculpture by Danish artist Bjørn Nørgaard featuring bas-reliefs with biblical motifs.
We then cross Dæmningen – the dam under which the old Mølleå river flows – and here we find Økolariet with its exceptional architectural design by Exner Architects. The almost 2000 m² science and experience centre was constructed in 2003 and offers hands-on experiences and learning about the environment, nature, power generation, technology, innovation, architecture and urban planning. The interactive exhibition offers insight into how nature and the environment are impacted by the way we live and work.
Den Smidtske Gård and Vejle Museum
We then head down Fiskergade and via the portico along Foldegade and Søndergade we reach Den Smidtske Gård, which is a grocer’s store and merchant’s house constructed in 1799 by master builder Anders Christensen Kruuse and designed by architect and sculptor Jens Hjernøe. The merchant’s house was commissioned by merchant A.I. Smidt. The front building along Søndergade is the oldest part. Note the names of the merchant and his wife are carved into the masonry above the entrance. This was the residential building complete with kitchen, pantry and mangling room (front building and northern wing), grain storage, warehouse, coach house and stables for horses.
Today, the historical merchant’s house is home to the Vejle Museum boutique and offers changing exhibitions on local heritage and history, and also café’s and shops.
Sct. Norbert’s Church and Sct. Maria Hospice
From Den Smidtske Gård we walk up Fjellegade where we pass Sct. Norbert’s Church, a Catholic church consecrated in 1924 to serve the Sct. Maria Hospice. Notice the stained glass windows facing Fjellegade. They were designed by one of the former teachers at the adjacent Catholic school, artist Nis Schmidt.
Behind the Town Hall- Rådhuset - you find Café Den Gamle Arrest and the town’s old police station, which today houses classrooms for Sct. Norbert’s School and parish council offices for Sct. Norbert’s Church. The building was designed by Danish architect Martin Nyrop and erected in 1919-1920. Behind the former police station you find the former gaol, which has now been converted into a café. The courtyard features a small open-air stage. We now continue to Blegbanken and on the left we see what once served as a Catholic hospital – Sct. Maria, De Hvide Søstres Sygehus – now called the Sct. Maria Hospice.
Magistrate’s office and state county office
We then walk along Vedelsgade to the magistrate’s office, which like the police station was constructed around 1920 and also designed by Martin Nyrop. The magistrate’s office still serves its original purpose.
Next to the magistrate’s office you find the state county office, erected in 1899-1900.
In front of the building are three stones that mark the entrance to the former royal game reserve established by Frederik II in 1579. The entrance was originally marked by wooden gateposts, which in 1760 were replaced by the stones.
Vejle Art Museum
We then turn left and cross the street to the Vejle Art Museum. For more than a century the city’s art collections have been housed at a number of different locations. In 2006 a new art museum was opened designed by Danish architect Kim Utzon as an annex to the first purpose-built museum, which was erected in 1923. These two civic buildings flank the public library from 1934 to which they are annexed by a characteristic foyer design of tall pillars and triangular glass tympanum structures.
The Vejle Art Museum features some of the nation’s most exciting collections of Danish and European graphic art, including copperplate prints by Albrecht Dürer and etchings by Rembrandt. The museum features a number of highlight exhibitions in addition to an art library, a museum boutique and audio guide facilities.
Vejle Music Theatre and the town park
The town’s concert hall is located by the roundabout at Flegmade. It was constructed in 1992 and is annexed to Hotel Jacob Gade. The Main Stage, which seats 1,100 concert-goers, and the Jacob Gade Stage play host to major Danish and international entertainers. The venue also has a restaurant and café.
Next to the municipal offices you find the town’s park - Byparken - which was established in 1993. The park was granted the Danish Open-Air Council award “Byens grønne blad” in recognition of its exceptional amenity values.
We then continue along Flegborg towards Grønnegade over a small subterranean creek, Midtåen. In olden days when the town boasted far more waterways this was the site of a bridge connecting two districts. The corner of Grønnegade – “the poor cobbler’s street” – and Kirkegade was the site of Vejle’s first town hall from 1460. It was consumed by fire in 1530. Kirkegade offers a view of the inlet and the Vejle Bridge, which was first opened for traffic in 1980.
The church square and ToRVEHallerne
The church square - Kirketorvet - features Danish sculptor Poul Søndergaard’s statue of historian and Lutheran pastor Anders Sørensen Vedel, who was born in Vejle. He is celebrated for translating into Danish from Latin the chronicle of the nation – Gesta Danorum – by Saxo Grammaticus. The fountain, which originally featured large coins embedded in the taps, was designed by Danish architect Martin Nyrop, who also designed the magnificent bank edifice across from the church. The former Vejle Bank, now Sydbank, was constructed in 1906 and features a footing of granite ashlars. The façade is embellished with the town arms. Note the six lion heads, which are to symbolically guard the bank vaults against robbers and thieves.
ToRVEHallerne - The market halls -– are designed with classical inspiration from southern Europe and feature a tropical palm house, restaurants, a café, pub and hotel. A stage venue that seats 400 theatre-goers highlights a wide repertoire of entertainment.
Sct. Nicolai Church
Sct. Nicolai Church, named after a patron saint of seafarers, was constructed around 1250. The northern wall features 23 holes with embedded human skulls. Legend has it that they are the skulls of 23 Polish robbers who were caught and executed in the 1600s. Their skulls were then embedded in the church wall as a gruesome deterrent and warning.
The church has a number of other interesting features architectural features. In the chapel to the north of the nave you find the tomb of a well-preserved human body from the bogs at Haraldskær. When the body was found in 1853 it was presumed to be that of the Norwegian Viking queen dowager Gunhild. Later carbon-14 dating of the wooden pegs used to nail the body to the peaty lake bed has revealed the woman to be much older. She was interred in the bogs during the Iron Age more than 2500 years ago, and her origins are unknown.
Vejle Windmill and the Old Town Hall
From Sct. Nicolai Church the tour continues to Rådhustorvet - the Town Hall Square. On the left-hand corner of Kirkegade and Rådhustorvet you see a beautifully restored building – Residensgården – where Christian II once spent the night. To the left, Søndergade offers a view of The White Mill, which crowns the town on a hillock that was once the site of the town gallows.
The windmill, a so-called Dutch windmill, was relocated here in 1846 and functioned as a grain mill until 1960. Today, the mill with its entire original interior is intact. It also features the Vejle Museum heritage exhibition on local mills.
We finish our tour in front of the Town Hall - Vejle Rådhus - which was designed by Danish architect C.V.F. Lehndorf and constructed in 1878-79. The building is the town’s fourth town hall and is constructed where there once was a medieval black friar’s cloister. The Town Hall bell, which sounds its chime every day, is the original bell that rang at mass in the old cloister. The Town Hall today houses the town council hall on the top floor and the town court on the ground floor.