ADIZES SCANDINAVIA HOSTS 26th ANNUAL ADIZES INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION 2004

WELCOME TO SILKEBORG - A TICKET TO PARADISE!

SILKEBORG - the beautifully situated Danish town which this summer will be the location of the Adizes Convention 2004. Silkeborg combines unique nature experiences with exciting attractions and an active shopping centre. The town is well-known for art, a variety of music and theatre festivals and the world's oldest functioning paddle steamer.

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Silkeborg is first mentioned in the beginning of the fifteenth century and it was then the name of a small castle of which a few remnants still exist. The origins of the name "Silkæborgh", or "Silkijborgh", as it was spelled then, are not known but it has nothing to do with the word "silk". A legend tells us that a bishop Peder from Århus lost his silk cap when he was visiting the area around Silkeborg. The cap was blown into the water by the wind and the bishop decided that he would build a castle where it was washed ashore. But there was no bishop Peder in Århus at that time. Nevertheless, the Silkeborg city arms consists of a castle with a mitre above it. Most probably the name Silkeborg is derived from the word "silje", which is an old name for "rush".

The huge forests

Silkeborg is a young town. It became a commercial centre in 1845 and was made borough in 1900. Before 1845, there was only the Manor with a handful of people living in great isolation, hidden away as they were in the huge forests without proper roads. But when Michael Drewsen established the paper mill in 1845, the place advanced by leaps and bounds, and today Silkeborg is a modern and prosperous town with approximately 45,000 inhabitants.

So though Silkeborg has not got a lot of historical monuments, the town has its own attractions. The oldest building in the town, Silkeborg Hovedgård (Manor), was erected by Hans Nic. Hoff around the year 1770 from material taken from Silkeborg Castle. The Manor has now been converted into the Silkeborg Museum with, inter alia, a collection of archaeological specimens, a section on the town's history with objects from the home of Michael Drewsen, a unique glassware collection, a pottery and the amazingly well-preserved bog corpse, the Tollund Man.

The Tollund Man was found in 1950 during peat digging in Tollund Bog. The body was sent to the National Museum. Here, it turned out to be the body of a man in his late thirties or early forties. He was lying on his right side almost doubled up, as if he were asleep. The body was very well-preserved - particularly the hands and feet, which have kept their original appearance. On his head the man had a leather cap and around his throat the braided leather string with which he had been strangled. Around his waist he had a primitive leather belt. He wore no other clothing. At an examination at the National Museum, all the internal organs could be recognised, the intestines and stomach being especially well-preserved. The examination showed that the man's last meal must have been consumed 12 to 14 hours before the time of death. Remains of barley, oats knot grass, and spurred seeds were found.

A comparison with other finds of bog corpses suggests that the Tollund Man is from the Early Iron Age, which means that he is 2,400 years old.

The arts centre

In recent years Silkeborg has become known as an arts centre. At the Silkeborg Art Museum a rich collection of modern art is exhibited by artists such as Asger Jorn and Jean Dubuffet.

Silkeborg is more than an arts centre: it is also a flourishing and prosperous industrial town which has grown up around the paper mill - the oldest industry in Silkeborg. The paper mill is now closed, and the area - right in the centre is turned into a mixing pot of culture, cafés and restaurants and in 2004 the new Music and Theatre building was opened right on the banks of Gudenåen - the only river in Denmark and streaming right through Silkeborg.

Down the river

The cruise from Silkeborg to the Himmelbjerget (large hills) is an exceptional experience. During the summer months the "Hjejle" company's boats sail this route up to four times daily. There are a lot of things to see on the way, not the least of which is the trip down the Gudenå. Having set out from Silkeborg's charming harbour, the boat sails down the river past the many beautiful river gardens, the "Indelukket" grounds and the alder stumps of Nåege and out into Brassø from where you get your first glimpse of the Himmelbjerget. The boat goes past Klüvers Canal which leads into the Aun lakes, called "The Spectacles of Ogier the Dane" because of their shape. A little further ahead on the opposite side of Sejs you can see the beautiful heathery knolls of Sindbjerg and Stoubjerg.

The trip continues into the Sejs Passage and out onto Julsø and to Himmelbjerget. The trip from Silkeborg to Himmelbjerget takes about one hour and 15 minutes and the distance is about 8 miles, but time flies because of the many things to see on the way. The experience is even greater when you sail on the 143-year-old paddle steamer "Hjejlen" which, despite her old age, still sails thousands of people to the Himmelbjerget every summer.

 

The 143-year-old paddle steamer

The "Hjejlen" was built at Baumgarten & Burmeister - later Burmeister & Wain - and she was launched in 1861. The machinery and the hull with the handsome paddle boxes are the original ones - making the "Hjejlen" the oldest original paddle steamer in the world.

The Himmelbjerget is a large hill range of which a 147-metre-high, steep top, the Kollen, juts out into Julsø. Because of its beauty and central situation in Jutland, the Himmelbjerget became centre for mass meetings more than 130 years ago. A monument was raised in memory of the first meeting, held by the Danish writer/clergyman Steen Steensen Blicher.

The Himmelbjerget Tower was built in 1875, commemorating King Frederik VII who signed the Danish Constitution on June 5 th 1849. From the Tower, which is approximately 25 metres high, you have the widest and loveliest view of the Silkeborg district with its lakes, forests and heathery knolls.

The ancient waterway

The Gudenå is an ancient waterway along which the autochthonous population went further inland and settled. There was traffic on the Gudenå long before the old military road drew its furrow down through Jutland. Through the centuries, the traffic up and down the river steadily mounted until the modern network of roads and railway lines rendered the river superfluous as a transport route. Remnants of the towpath along the river banks bear witness to the time when heavily loaded barges played between Randers Bay and the inland villages. It is still possible to follow the towpath from Silkeborg to Kongensbro.

Today, the traffic on the Gudenå is not related to work, but to pleasure. Every summer, hundreds of canoe enthusiasts follow this interesting route through Jutland to experience the countryside from the surface of the water.

Music and theatre festivals

The great fireworks regatta, widely known outside the country's borders, is a festive occasion which takes place in Silkeborg at four-year intervals. The brilliantly illumined boats, the numerous Chinese lamps in the river gardens, the tableaux along the river and the great display of fireworks create a really fantastic fairy-tale atmosphere.

Last, but not least, Silkeborg is famous for its jazz festival - the "Riverboat Festival" held every year in June. Artists from both Denmark and abroad give the 30-40,000 yearly visitors a fantastic musical experience - literally speaking: Silkeborg is swingin'!