A Brief History Of The City Of Aalborg, Denmark During The Viking Era

Aalborg (alternatively spelled in Danish as ‘Ålborg’) is currently Denmark’s fourth-largest city by means of total population and area as well as an important university centre in Northern Europe. The city is situated in the proximity of Limfjorden (a 110 miles-long strait in the north of Jutland) and almost halfway between the North and Baltic seas. Given its geographic location, Aalborg has a predominantly temperate continental climate (as it is also case of all of continental Denmark).

The etymology of the city’s name can be traced back to Old Norse (i.e. the language of the Norsemen) and broken down into the following two words: ‘allr‘ meaning ‘all’ and ‘burg(h)‘ (cognate with the the Anglo-Saxon ‘burh’) meaning ‘stronghold’ or ‘castle’.

During the early Middle Ages, the city of Aalborg was part of an important trading network which linked various emerging trading settlements in Scandinavia among which there were, most notably, Ribe, Hedeby, Skiringssal in Norway, or Birka in Sweden.

The city of Aalborg gradually developed from what once was a noteworthy Viking Age trading settlement established on its present-day eastern side. To this day, the burial mounds from Lindholm Høje (the Lindholm Hills) in the northern part of the city (close to Nørresundby, the neighbouring northern satellite town of Aalborg) reflect a dual Bronze Age/Viking Age historical heritage which dates back to at least a millennium in time.

The graves which can be seen on the site of Lindholm Høje are shaped in the form of stone ships, a common Viking era burial type that was eventually found and examined by archaeologists in other areas of Scandinavia as well. Nowadays, the artifacts unearthed at Lindholm Høje are exhibited at the Lindholm Høje Museet, North Jutland’s historical centre.

Aalborg was firstly mentioned as ‘Alabu’ on a handful of minted coins at some point during the reign of King Cnut I of Denmark (Hardeknud), that is in the mid 11th century. In the works of medieval German chronicler Adam of Bremen, the city was called ‘Alaburg’ and was described as a strategic dockyard for vessels sailing from and to early medieval Norway.

After the end of the Viking Age, Aalborg subsequently enlarged itself and became one of the most thriving trading communities in high medieval Denmark, enjoying further commercial growth by entering in contact with the cities of the Hanseatic League.

Below you can also check a brief footage showcasing the major touristic attractions of the city:

Documentation sources and external links: