Billund
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Billund is a municipality (Danish, kommune) in Ribe County in the center of the Jutland Peninsula of Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 155 km², and has a total population of 8,697 (2005). Its mayor is Preben Jensen, a member of the Venstre (Liberal Party) political party. The site of its municipal council is the town of Grindsted.
Billund is a company town, the home of the Lego Group headquarters. There is a Lego factory on the outskirts of town which as of 2005 manufactures 90% of the company's products, though the effects of globalization and competition from companies such as Mega Bloks is likely to lead to more off-shore manufacturing. Across the road from the company's headquarters is the first of the Legoland theme parks, built in 1968.
Billund Airport, Denmark's second busiest airport, was built by the Lego Group in the 1960s, though it is now independently run.[citation needed]
On January 1, 2007 due to Kommunalreformen ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007), Billund municipality was combined with the former Grindsted municipality.
Due to peat bogs in some of the area vicinity, there is an unusual opportunity to find prehistoric remains in well preserved conditions. (Billund and western Denmark) For example, Grauballe Man, a 2000 year old human, is one of the most complete Danish finds of prehistory. It is the best preserved bog body from Iron Age Europe and can be observed all details, such as stubble, nails and skin structure at the Moesgaard Museum. Other area bog bodies are the Haraldskaer Woman (Rambow) and Egtved Girl. (Hogan)
- Municipal statistics: NetBorger Kommunefakta, delivered from KMD aka Kommunedata (Municipal Data)
- Municipal mergers and neighbors: Eniro new municipalities map
- Billund and western Denmark
- Nuha Ansari, John D. Rambow, Denmark: The Guide for All Budgets, Rambow, 2002, Fodor's Denmark, 224 pages ISBN 0676902014
- Hogan, C.Michael, Egtved Girl Barrow, The Megalithic Portal, editor A. Burnham 4 October, 2007
- Billund municipality's official website (Danish)
- Lego braces for big changes, a July 2005 International Herald Tribune article
- Satellite image from Google Maps