Ringkøbing is a town in Ringkøbing-Skjern municipality

Ringkøbing-Skjern municipality

Ringkøbing-Skjern municipality is a municipality in Denmark. It was formed on January 1, 2007 as part of the 2007 administrative reform from the former municipalities of Egvad, Holmsland, Ringkøbing, Skjern, and Videbæk. The new municipality has an area of 1,485 km², the largest, area wise,...

 in Region Midtjylland

Region Midtjylland

Central Denmark Region or Central Jutland Region is an administrative region of Denmark established on January 1, 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which replaced the traditional counties with five larger regions. At the same time, smaller municipalities were merged into larger...

 on the west coast of the Jutland

Jutland

Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

 peninsula in west Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

. The town has a population of 9,742 (1 January 2011).

History

Archeological finds suggest that the town was founded in the 13th century. At that time it was the only real harbour town along the Danish west coast, being sheltered from the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 by the wall of Holmsland Dunes (Holmsland Klit).

In the 17th century the exit out of Ringkøbing Fjord

Ringkøbing Fjord

Ringkøbing Fjord, despite its name, is in fact a shallow lagoon in the west of Jutland that is shielded from the North Sea by the long isthmus of Holmsland Dunes. On the Hvide Sande Canal in the middle of the isthmus, there is a floodgate that provides access to the sea to the west. The fjord is...

 started moving south, caused by wind and tide; Ringkøbing was then cut off from the sea. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that a new opening to the sea was created at the town of Hvide Sande

Hvide Sande

Hvide Sande is a small town on the northern tip of the Holmsland Dunes, in the western part of Central Denmark Region, formerly Ringkjøbing County, Denmark....

, in nearby Holmsland municipality. This enabled boats to come to Ringkøbing again from the North Sea.

The name Ringkøbing means "The market town near Rindum". Already in the 11th century, a church was built in the small village Rindum. The village is probably even older, and there has been found proof of settlements dating as far back as the 6th century.

Main sights

Today the centre of Ringkøbing has some quaint old streets, most of which lead towards the water of the fjord.

Ringkøbing Church was built in the early 15th century, and its tower, which is wider on top than on the bottom, was erected ca. 1550. The church houses two organ

Organ (music)

The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

s: the oldest in the west pulpit was built by Demant & Son in 1861 with a baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 facade from 1633; the other from 1974 is by Frobenius & Sons. As the result of a restoration in 1995-1996, the church has a number of modern features, including an altarpiece

Altarpiece

An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...

 by Arne Haugen Sørensen and a glass baptismal font

Baptismal font

A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...

.

External links

• West Jutland tourism information, covering Ringkøbing area
• Municipal statistics: NetBorger Kommunefakta, delivered from KMD aka Kommunedata (Municipal Data)
• Municipal mergers and neighbors: Eniro new municipalities map