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This article is about the town of Ribe in Denmark. For other uses, see Ribe (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 55°21′N, 8°46′E

Ribe
Ripen
Town
One of the main streets of Ribe
Country	Denmark
Region	Region Syddanmark
District	Esbjerg Municipality
Center
- coordinates	55°21′N, 8°46′E
Population	18,000 (2005) approx.
Postal code	6760
Website : http://www.ribe.dk/

Ribe (German: Ripen) is the name of the oldest town of Denmark. Until 1 January 2007, it was the seat of both the surrounding Municipality, and County. Both entities were abolished effective 2007.

For the Catholic ecclesiastical history, see Roman Catholic bishopric of Ribe

Established in the first decade of the 8th century^[1] and first attested in a document dating from 854, Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark.

Ribe Cathedral

When Ansgar the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, set out on the "Mission to bring Christianity to the North", he made a request in 860 to the King of Denmark, that the first Scandinavian church be built in Ribe. This was not coincidental, since Ribe already at that point, was the most important trade city of Scandinavia.

However we can only confirm the presence of a bishop and thus a cathedral in Ribe from the year 948.

The town has many well-preserved old buildings, of which ca. 110 houses are under Heritage Protection. Denmark's oldest town hall is found on the town's Von Støckens Plads. The building was erected in 1496, and was purchased by the city for use as a town hall in 1709.

• Early 8th century, founding of Ribe.
• The Treaty of Ribe was proclaimed in 1460.
• 1580, 3 September: A great fire destroys a large part of the town. 11 streets and a total of 213 houses burn down.
• 1634, 11-12 October: A storm tide floods the city with waterlevels rising to 6.1 Meters above average.
• 2007, 1 January_ The Municipality of Ribe ceased to exist as it merged with the Municipalities of Esbjerg and Bramming, now forming a new Esbjerg municipality.

• Churches
  • Ribe Cathedral (Ribe Domkirke) — the bells of Ribe Cathedral playing the folk song about Queen Dagmar called "Dronning Dagmar ligger i Ribe syg" ("Queen Dagmar lies in Ribe sick").
  • Saint Catharinæ Church and Monastery.
• Museums
  • Ribe Viking Museum (Museet Ribes Vikinger)
  • Ribe Art Museum (Ribe Kunstmuseum)
  • Ribe Viking Center (Ribe Vikingecenter)
  • Denmark's oldest province museum (Antikvarisk Samling)
• The Night Watchman in Ribe. Every evening from 1st of May until 15th of September you may accompany the night watchman in Ribe on his route through the old town, while he is singing to alert citizens about bedtime approaching.
• Wadden Sea Center (Vadehavscentret)
• Mandø Mill (Mandø Mølle)
• The Mandø House (Mandøhuset)
• Mandø Island nature reserve, about 30 kilometres southwest

(Alphabetic by Surname)

• Playwright Kjeld Abell.
• Hans Adolf Brorson, Danish Pietist clergyman and hymn writer.
• The poet Anders Christensen Bording.
• Emil Christian Hansen, the father of Modern Brewing: At the Carlsberg Laboratories in Copenhagen, he was the first to discover that yeast was composed of different kinds of fungi and that the yeast culture could be cultivated. With this discovery, he was able to produce hybrid yeast. This yeast, known as Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, which allowed the brewing of lager beer, is today used in the vast majority of beer production worldwide.
• Bjørn Dunkerbeck, Windsurfing World Champion.
• Rued Langgaard romantic composer and organist, born 28 July 1893 in Copenhagen - died 10 July 1952 in Ribe.
• Holger K. Nielsen former leader of the Socialist People's Party, was born 23 April 1950 in Ribe and graduated from Ribe Katedralskole in 1969.
• Jacob A. Riis, an American immigrant photographer famous for his book How the Other Half Lives, a pioneering work of photojournalism. He was also a longtime friend of Theodore Roosevelt.
• Maren Spliid (Splids), Maren Splids was burned at a fire at the Gallows Hill near Ribe on November 9th 1641. She was probably the most well known Danish victim for persecutions of witches.
• Hans Tausen, protagonist of the Danish Reformation was the Bishop of Ribe from 1542-1562.

City hall.

The following citizens have been declared Honorary Citizens of Ribe: (By year)

• Stiftsfysikus J.J. Kiær (Appointent in 1911)
• Town Archivist C.N. Termansen (Appointent i 1934)
• Editor C. Willemoes (Appointent i 1946)
• Chairman of the Ny Carlsbergfondet, H. E .Nørregård-Nielsen (Appointent i 2005)

The town of Ribe, has a long history as a center of education, namely the Gymnasium (High School) called Ribe Katedralskole (cathedral school) has its roots in the Latin School of Ribe, dating back to at least 1145. Although confirmed to be older, this is the date for the oldest still existing document, that confirms the schools existence. Ribe Katedralskole is more than 850 years old, and is the oldest continuously existing school in Scandinavia.

• Ribe Katedralskole. http://www.ribekatedralskole.dk
• The State College of Education in Ribe (Teacher Training College) http://www.ribesem.dk, Part of The University College of West Jutland http://cvu-vest.dk
• Ribe Business College. http://www.ribehs.dk (Danish Only)
• VUC (Adult Education Center). http://www.vuc-ribeamt.dk

The following table shows the population of Ribe. Data from before the 18th century are estimates, the rest are taken from the official census.

Ribe Stork

(alphabetic list)

• Balleroy, région Basse-Normandie, France
• Ely, county of Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom.
• Güstrow, state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany.
• Krems, federal state of Lower Austria, Austria.
• Leikanger, county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway.
• Ratzeburg, state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
• Strängnäs, county of Södermanland, Sweden.
• Tainan (Chinese: 台南市), Taiwan Province, Republic of China - ("Taiwan").

• In 1976, a crater on Mars, was named after the city:

Nasa Website with picture

• One of Denmark's few storks (there are rumored to be only two) lives in Ribe

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913. [1]

1. ^ The New Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-521-36292-X. Page 205

• Official Tourism website
• Satellite Picture by Google Maps

Coordinates: 55°21′N, 8°46′E

Trade emporia of the Viking Age
Dorestad • Kaupang • Lindholm • Hedeby • Ribe • Birka • Sigtuna • Köpingsvik Reric • Arkona • Menzlin • Ralswiek • Wolin • Truso • Kaup • Grobin Vanaja • Aldeigja • Alaborg • Hólmgard • Gnezdovo • Sarskoe • Timerevo