Odense, Denmark - 04/24/18

Odense COA

City of Hans Andersen

  From Slagelse we headed further west towards Odense, Denmark's third largest city, with close to 200.000 inhabitants.
  It is a very interesting stop for us, because it's actually the birthplace of Christian Andersen (1805-1875), the godfather of fables, of who we found trails all over Denmark.

  It seems times are good in Odense, (unlike in Sweden) with recent projects and redevelopments. - The city has been recently cited by The Guardian as the world's most liveable city. wait, wasn't it Copenhagen:?

  The 30 billion Danish Crone redevelopment is creating a modern, green and enviromental friendly city, with a special project to make Odense the cycle city of the world. Odense, being a cheaper place to live than the capital (Denmark is the 5th most expensive city in Europe), is competing head to head against Copenhagen and gaining ground. 

As we walked around we realized this was the cycling city we always wanted but could have never imagined, there were bike counters on the streets, many parking places and cycle only roads, a design complety thought out for pedestrians and cyclists. This city is a gem. 

The origin of the city's name is 'Odins Ve', meaning "Odins Sanctuary" as the area was know as a sanctuary for worshippers of Odin (Norse god). 

"More cycle friendly than a velodrome in the Olympics"

Interesting Fact: 

• Until WW2, an observation tower called Odinstårnet' (Odin's tower), built in 1935, was the second tallest in Europe, (after the Eifell tower, 175 to 177m), before it was blown up by Nazi saboteus in 1944. It took over 10 years to clean the rubble. In 2004(the 69th anniversary of the innauguration), Students of Odense Technical School made a 12 meter(39ft) replica of the tower in it's original place.

Of the places we can cycle to here, we picked the Hans Andersen Museum, the zoo and a few parks and squares.

IF: 

• The last viking king, Canute IV of Denmar was murdered by peasants in Odense's St Alban's Priori in 1086 Odense.

• Odense University Hospital is the city's tallest building. Established in 1912, it is of major regional importance, both for healthcare and research. OUH is the largest hospital unit in Denmark and the largest employer in Odense with over 10.000 employers.

Events: 

We got here early, barely missing a new music festival held in the city, called Tinderbox. Many intersting artists such as Depeche mode have played here.

In December 2017, the world's largest E-Sports event, ESL PRO League Offline, was held in Sparekassen Fyn arena in Odense.

Hans Christian Andersen's Museum 

Hans Christian Andersen's Museum was the first place we visited. The current museum is based at the home which is thought to be his birthplace, displaying documents which tell his life as the son of a shoemaker and some of his stories.. The museum is more used as a library, selling collections of his works and other books. - Though a new museum in his honor is under construction and is expected to open in 2020.

Can you guess where we are heading to next?