Dates big and small in the Municipality of Hjørring
 

Circa 10000 BC The first people arrive in the area after the Ice Age. They are reindeer hunters whose flint tools have been found in several places within the municipality, among other things at Nørre Lyngby and Bjergby. Circa 5000 BC On the shores of a lagoon on what was then the north coast of Vendsyssel off Dvergetved at Tolne, the Stone Age hunters have their hunting and fishing grounds. At one of these sites, the remains of the oldest boat in Vendsyssel – a dugout – have been excavated. Circa 4000 BC Farming comes to Denmark – and thereby to Vendsyssel, as testified by the many archaeological finds from the following two thousand years.  An interesting relic from that time – the Neolithic period – is the dolmen in Tornby, which is the northernmost preserved dolmen in Denmark. Circa 1300 BC The Bronze Age farmers build numerous tumuli, often in high and prominent places in the terrain, such as the Ellevehøje tumuli at Mosbjerg. The street name Femhøje in Hjørring bears witness to the fact that there used to be five mounds in this location. The last was excavated in 1938; the stone circles from the three graves in the mound can be seen at the site, and a bronze sword from one of the graves is on display at Vendsyssel Museum of History. Circa 0 Many settlers arrive in the area as evidenced by the many settlements and graves found. A small number of stone burial chambers have been preserved in green areas, including eight graves on the lawn south of the chapel at Hjørring cemetery.		1050-1536 During the Middle Ages, a number of churches are built in Vendsyssel; the oldest ones from wood (remains founds under the existing Sct. Olai church in Hjørring), later from ashlars (including Mosbjerg and Tornby churches), and the most recent from medieval large bricks (including the churches in Asdal and Lendum). 1060 Three new dioceses are created in the northern part of Jutland: one in Aarhus, one in Viborg and one in Børglum. 1086 King Knud, subsequently known as Knud the Holy, flees the royal seat in Børglum, through Jutland to Odense where he is killed in Sct. Albani church. Circa 1150 The name of Hjørring is seen for the first time; in the Latin form Heringa. It is found on a coin minted by a mintmaster during the reign of Svend Grathe, c. 1150. 1100s Jorungr is the capital of Vendilsskagi. This is recounted in the Knytlinge Saga which is written down in c. 1280. 1100s The Premonstratensian Order establishes itself at Børglum, which becomes the headquarters for its monasteries in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. 1243 On 31 March the first known municipal charter is granted to the town of Hjørring by King Erik Plovpenning. The charter was frequently renewed in the course of the centuries which followed.

The 3,000-year-old bronze sword from Femhøje in Hjørring.

1253/54 Vrejlev Kloster is mentioned for the first time, but the convent is probably older. It is a convent under the Premonstratensian Order. 1299 Erik Menved sells one sixth of Hjørring. The king owned considerable property in the town at an early stage, which was listed as early as 1231 in King Valdemar’s Court Roll. 1343 District gatherings are often held in Hjørring; for example this year, when several clergymen, two knights and nineteen noblemen are present as witnesses. 1300s and 1400s The construction of several manor houses is commenced in the area, including Tidemandsholm east of Tårs, Baggesvogn northwest of Sindal, Skårupgård at Tolne and Odden at Mygdal. 1469 The first known use of the seal of Hjørring town featuring Sct. Catharina. 1519 Stygge Krumpen becomes bishop of Børglum and remains so until the Reformation in 1536, when he and all the other bishops are imprisoned by King Christian III. 1548 Hjørring again becomes an Episcopal town as the Lutheran bishop of the Vendelbo diocese has his seat for a period in Hjørring (until 1554). 1558 A Dutch reading map is published which includes views of, for example, Hirtshals and Lønstrup Klint with Rubjerg Knude. These are the oldest known landscape pictures of Vendsyssel. 1585 The cartographer Marcus Jordan prepares a map of Denmark – the first of its kind. It includes the localities of Hjørring, Børglum Kloster, Hirtshals and Odden. 1602 Niels Nielsen Rød in Hjørring “together with his wife and all his children” dies with many others in the Great Plague. The plague leaves its mark and for many years later people count the date from “after the Plague”.		1627 During the 30-year war Hjørring is occupied by Wallenstein’s German mercenaries under the command of Melchior v. Hatzfeldt. 1642 Due to “the very objectionable practice … which ordinarily here in … this town is exercised and used with drink, gambling, cursing … by a mob of depraved company”, police rules are introduced which include a ban on drinks being served after 9 pm. 1644 Hjørring is again occupied by enemy troops. The town arms 30 cavalrymen to participate in the defence of the region; only four of them return home. 1646 There is a proposal from the royal commission to move Hjørring’s impoverished citizens to the proposed garrison town at Hals. 1672 Duties are introduced – the so-called consumption – on foodstuffs brought into the town. The duty is collected until 1850. 1678 The first three people settle in Løkken, and during the 1700s a small community emerges, based on fishing and sea trading. 1698 The first post is carried between Hjørring and Aalborg, and the town acquires its first post office. 1719 The citizens of Hjørring are required to equip themselves with fire buckets. A register shows that there should be a total of 61. The rules testify to the ongoing battle against the fires which every few years leave parts of the town in ashes. 1778 Hjørring becomes the domicile for a district surgeon; for the first time, the poor thereby gain access to free medical help. 1794 The region gets its first pharmacy, the present Løveapotek in Hjørring.

Coin minted in Hjørring (Heringa) by a mintmaster during the reign of Svend Grathe, c. 1150

1794 Hjørring becomes the domicile for the newly established County of Hjørring. 1802 sees the first proper post office in the town with post horses to Aalborg.  The post office is established to cater for the need for money to be sent from the county office, opened in 1801. 1802 Ad in Jydske Efterretninger on 9 March: “Carpenter Peder Pedersen in Hiøring is intending to sell his house situated at S. Olai church, comfortable for an artisan’s family. The house consists of some brick and timber frame and some mud and wattle, with a thatched roof…” There is also mention of a good well. 1808 The English frigate “The Crescent” is wrecked off Mårup church with the loss of most of its crew. A common grave can be found at Mårup church. 1818 At the court in Sæby, the parish clerk Martin Dietz from Vrensted is sentenced to three years of imprisonment with hard labour for “false evidence, pettifoggery, inducing the general public to make untruthful claims…”. 1819 At around noon on 25 August, a fire breaks out which develops into the most serious of all the many fires in Hjørring. All in all, 36 farms and houses burn to the ground. 1822 “On 22 July in the morning between 6 and 7, the farmer Thomas Thomasen Bisp ... was beheaded just north of the town, his body was placed on the wheel and his head on a stake above his body – he had poisoned his wife at the suggestion of his maid ...” (Diary of the local customs officer). This was the last execution in Hjørring. 1822 The first hospital in Hjørring is established. For this purpose a two-storey building in Nørregade is acquired (the house of the merchant Riis). In 1832, the old hospital is replaced by a newly built hospital at Skolegade 6. In 1891, the present hospital is ready for use. 1826 Trees are planted for the first time along Østergade in Hjørring; since then a characteristic feature of the main street in town. 1827 A fountain is installed at the square Springvandspladsen as part of the drinking water supply to the town.		1830 A.F. Heidemann, who had emigrated from Norway following the separation of Denmark and Norway in 1814, is granted a royal licence to build and run an iron foundry in Hjørring, the first of its kind outside Copenhagen. 1834 The town’s new town hall is inaugurated in the town square with many festivities and with a ball for the middle classes in the evening. 1842 The first newspaper in Hjørring, “Den jydske Borger og Borgerven” is published for the first time. As from 1843 it is joined by “Hjørring Amtstidende”. 1842 “The town had the pleasure of being visited by H.M. King Christian VIII, who arrived from Schagen. The train went along Østergade through a beautiful triumphal arch and was cheered by large crowds. In the evening …. an illumination took place in the town, and his majesty was greeted with a beautiful song of welcome …” (Diary of the local customs officer). 1843 King Christian VIII gives the town a planted area on its south-westerly outskirts. The area was originally a plant nursery, established by the state in 1821. The park is named Christiansgave, literally Christian’s present. 1843 Thomas Pedersen, known as Thomas Smed, establishes an iron foundry in Hjørring, subsequently known as T.C. Nielsens Jernstøberi and later still as Brüels Maskinfabrik. 1844 Sparekassen for Hjørring By og Omegn opens as the first financial institution in the region. 1845 Work commences on the establishment of a highway between Aalborg and Hjørring. 1846 Ad in Hjørring Amtstidende on 25 April: “The undersigned who shall only be staying in town for a short time, wishes to offer classes in the making of all types of wax flowers and wax fruit. Franciska Sasse”. 1846 Ad in Hjørring Amtstidende on 25 April: “Daguerreotype studio. The undersigned recommends himself to an honoured public as a taker of portraits. The portraits are taken daily in a glass house erected for the purpose at Hr. Gjæstgiver Ryes Gaard at Nørregade … I shall be in Hjøring for 10-12 days only. L. Sasse. Professor”. This is the first time that a photographer comes to Hjørring.

The severed head of Thomas Bisp with the nail with which it was nailed to a pole. The skeleton and cranium of Thomas Bisp was rediscovered in 1900 and is currently on display at Vendsyssel Museum of History.

1848 Hjørring is ordered to pay ordinary war tax of 558 rix-dollars. 1848 For the soldiers in the army in Schleswig-Holstein, Hjørring sends: 149 pairs of stockings and 174 pairs of woollen socks. 1848 The town is in a state of alert due to rumours of slaves (convicts) having escaped from Rendsborg – the so-called “Slave war”. 1852 The Danish lifeboat institution is created by law, and lifeboat stations are set up in Lønstrup, Nørre Tornby and Blokhus. Two years earlier, Løkken had its own lifeboat and rocket apparatus. 1853 A plantation is created at Tversted for the purpose of stemming the drifting sand. Thirty-five years later, the dune plantation Lilleheden Klitplantage is established, and in 1910 Tornby Klitplantage. The plantations come to play an important role for farming in the region. 1855 An auditorium is built at Hotel du Nord at Nørregade in Hjørring. This is where the town’s theatre has staged its performances ever since. 1855 According to the census on 1 February, Hjørring has 2,190 citizens; the town has grown considerably since the last census five years earlier when 1,914 citizens were registered. 1855 First general meeting of “Laane- Spare- og Diskontobanken i Hjørring”, the first bank in Hjørring, later known as “Vendelbobank”, and now a branch of “Jyske Bank”. 1856 During the period 21-24 April, Joseph Liphardi’s menagerie of lions, elephants, boa constrictors and monkey families is found at Springvandspladsen in Hjørring. 1857 The first telegraph station is set up Hjørring on the initiative of the grocers in town.		1857 Hjørring Amtstidende, ad on 17 December: “Hjørring Præstegaard’s dairy including 50 cows is available for leasing from 1 May ....”. 1862 After four days of difficulties on the road from Frederikshavn, the road locomotive “Vendsyssel” arrives in Hjørring where everybody of rank has been invited for a test drive. During this drive, the locomotive becomes inextricably stuck. 1862 A lighthouse is built near Lilleheden (Hirtshals), which consists of only a few houses. The lighthouse is lit in 1863 and is the first lighthouse installation in the area. The Rubjerg Knude lighthouse is built 38 years later. 1864 Following the battle at Dybbøl, Hjørring is occupied by Prussian troops – 821 foot soldiers with 30 horses, 29 gunners with 16 horses and 94 dragoons with horses, as well as a field telegraph unit with 14 men and four pairs of horses. 1867 The editor Camillo Bruun in his “Diary under the Snow” describes life in Hjørring as the town disappears completely in snow. For long periods of time, the town is cut off from the outside world. 1871 Opening of the railway line from Aalborg via Hjørring to Frederikshavn and the new railway station in Hjørring. Hjørring is now properly connected to the big, wide world, and a period of dramatic growth for the nearby towns commences, for example in Vrå and Sindal. 1873 The paper “Vendsyssel Tidende” is published for the first time. In the following years, the new leftist newspaper runs into many clashes with the right-wing paper “Amtstidende”. 1875 The nonconformist chapel Horne Missionshus is built – the oldest in Denmark. The large congregation in Horne leads to the foundation of an evangelical high school in 1891 – now Horne Ungdomsskole.

The earliest known reproduction of Hjørring stems from 1677 and was intended for publication in the so-called Reesens Atlas. This is a section.

1877 Natural disaster strikes in Lønstrup. One and a half hours of torrential rain causes the stream which runs through the town to swell, on its way seawards washing away the bridge across the stream and six houses. The rain leaves behind a 15-metre-wide and 360-metre-long gorge, Bækslugten, which can still be seen. 1878 The establishment of the park Svanelunden commences as a job creation programme. 1880 A breakwater is built off the small fishing hamlet Lilleheden (Hirtshals). The local community wanted a proper harbour, but the breakwater still helps the fishing. 1882 The first resident dentist, Lønborg Friis, comes to Vendsyssel. He opens his clinic in Jernbanegade in Hjørring. 1883 P.D. Svendsen’s old dyeworks in Strømgade in Hjørring is expanded to include a spinning mill and a weaving mill and becomes a proper textile factory, later known as Bechs Klædefabrik. 1883 The Vendia A/S brewery is founded in Hjørring. 1884 The telephone company Hjørring Amts Telefonselskab is formed. 1884 Kirstine Lund opens a photographic studio in Jernbanegade in Hjørring. It soon becomes the largest photographic business in the area. 1886 The Alfaholm dairy is set up in Poulstrup as the first cooperative dairy in Vendsyssel. 1889 Vendsyssel Museum of History is formed, on the initiative of, among others, the dentist Lønborg Friis. 1889 T. Kr. Kristensen produces a map showing the locations of publicans, innkeepers, alehouse keepers and producers and distributors of spirits in Hjørring. According to the map, there are 31 publicans in town.		The map also carries the words “If approx. 50 subscribers come forward, I intend to publish one or two monthly announcements concerning the temperance movement in Hjørring.” 1890 The cooperative slaughterhouse Hjørring Amts Andelssvineslagteri is founded, and operations commence the following year. In 1970, the slaughterhouse changes its name to Wenbo following a merger with the slaughterhouses in Brønderslev and Sæby. In 2005 the slaughterhouse, which has been part of the Danish Crown group since 1990, is closed down. 1890 Stenum Højskole, the first folk high school in Vendsyssel (1872), moves to Vrå. 1893 The Baptist church in Vrå is inaugurated. The Baptist community is, among other things, a symbol of the many revivalist movements which emerge in Vendsyssel, and the Baptists have several churches in the area, for example in Sindal, Vrå, Hjørring, Løkken and Sæsing. 1894 The fountain in the square Springvandspladsen is taken down and the square is without a fountain until 1935. 1895 The sea merchant Conrad Christensen sells his yard in Løkken to a public limited company which transforms it into a seaside hotel, the current Løkken Badehotel on the town square. The transformation of the sea merchant’s yard into a seaside hotel is clear evidence of the fact that the era of sea trading is coming to an end. 1896 The town’s first electricity utility starts operations. 1900 A new big park, Sankt Knuds Kilde, is opened to the southwest of town. Nine years later historical monuments are erected there. 1900 “Folkebogsamlingen for Hjørring og Omegn”, the first municipal library opens at Museumsgade 3 in Hjørring. In 1921 the library becomes a central library and in 1927 it moves to new buildings at Brinck-Seidelinsgade. In 2008 the library is moving into the new Metropol shopping centre.

Nørregade in Hjørring c. 1900

1903 The gasworks Hjørring Gasværk is inaugurated. Gas street lighting replaces the old paraffin lamps. 1903 A waterworks is established at Fuglsig. 1903 Under the name Skolen for Overgangsalderen Halvorsminde Ungdomsskole in Hjørring opens its doors – a Grundtvigian continuation school. The first group consists of three pupils and four teachers. 1905 Senior teacher Muhle starts a teacher training college in Hjørring. The college is housed in the buildings of Realskolen in Museumsgade and remains there until 1917. 1906 Hjørring’s first permanent picture-theatre, “Kosmorama” opens on the square. 1906 The planting company Plantningsselskabet A/S Tolne Skov is formed for the purpose of reviving the woods which used to exist in the region. In the following years, the woods become a popular destination for outings. School outings are organised from all of Vendsyssel with groups of pupils arriving by special train at Tolne Station. 1907 The old people’s home in Fynsgade in Hjørring is opened. 1907 The existing lower secondary school in Hjørring is extended to become an upper-secondary school. Hjørring earlier had a grammar school for almost 200 years, from 1549 until 1739. 1908 The vessel “Hensigten” from Løkken is pulled ashore for the last time and broken up on the beach. Sea trading has ended in Løkken. 1912 The public slaughterhouse in Hjørring is built. The slaughterhouse is closed down in 1978, and as from 2001 the area is included in the new quarter “Kvægtorvet” (the cattle market).		1913 The Hørbybanen railway line opens. The train runs from Hjørring to Hørby in 1 hour and 25 minutes. The same year sees the opening of the railway station Vestbanegården in Hjørring and the railway line from Hjørring to Løkken-Åbybro. In 1925, the railway line to Hirtshals is added. 1914 The medieval church at Nr. Lyngby is taken down and rebuilt further inland. Only the bell frame remains at the original site. A large part of the cemetery has now fallen into the sea, and each year about a metre of coastline is lost to the sea. 1918 The two remaining distilleries in Hjørring – Thomas P. Olesen’s distillery in Nørregade and A.R. Segelcke’s distillery at Springvandspladsen/Jernbanegade – are taken over by “De Danske Spritfabrikker” in Aalborg. As is the brand name “Gammel Dansk Snaps”. 1922 The biscuit factory Oxford in Hjørring, later known as Bisca, is inaugurated. It soon grows into a large company enjoying a worldwide reputation. 1922 The architects Knud H. Christiansen and Steen Eiler Rasmussen draw up an ambitious town plan for the growing town of Hirtshals. However, it soon becomes clear that the ideal town plan cannot control developments – many people come to live outside the planned urban area: Temporary, unplanned roads become permanent, squares are moved etc. From the outset “the most strictly planned town in the kingdom” is a failure, which one town plan after the other tries to compensate for. 1924 Electric street lighting arrives in Hjørring. The first streets to be thus illuminated are Torvet, Stokbrogade and Strømgade. 1924 The milk condensation factory, which later becomes Nestlé, is established in the five-year-old glucose factory’s buildings near Sankt Knuds Kilde in Hjørring.

Illustration from “Illustreret Tidende”, 1862, of the “Steam Elephant” as popular humour christened the road locomotive which was imported from England on the initiative of the grocer E.C.C. Christiansen from Frederikshavn. However, the 12-ton trackless train soon proved unsuitable for the soft roads between Frederikshavn and Hjørring, and after a few difficult trips, the Steam Elephant was returned to England.

1927-1928 The dune plantation Rubjerg Knude Klitplantage is created by the Municipality of Hjørring on an approx. 100-acre site south of Rubjerg Knude. The work is carried out as part of a job creation scheme. 1929 A founding general meeting is held in the cooperative slaughterhouse Vrå Andelsslagteri, and in 1931 the slaughterhouse starts operating. 1930 The Port of Hirtshals is inaugurated, the construction of which ran to 11.5 million Danish kroner. 1935 Mayor Otto Heerfordt unveils a new fountain at the square Springvandspladsen in Hjørring, donated by an old townsman. In 1992 the fountain was moved to Torvet. 1939 Opening of Jydske Arsenal at Arsenalvej in Hjørring. 1940 During the night of 10 April Hirtshals and Hjørring along with many other towns are occupied by the German Wehrmacht. 1941 The Germans appoint a harbour master in Hirtshals and start constructing two army shore batteries around the town, the so-called 9th and 10th batteries. Today, the 10th battery and the harbour master’s posts make up the Bunker Museum.		1942 The private railways start using the state-owned railway station, and Hjørring Vestbanegård ceases to be used as a station. This is possible following the building of a viaduct across Svanelundsvej, one of the many job creation schemes which were started to avoid a situation in which unemployed locals had to go to Germany to find work. 1943 The bridge Bispensgadebroen across the railway in Hjørring is opened. This bridge was also built under a job creation scheme. 1943 The new open-air theatre at Sankt Knuds Kilde in Hjørring is opened. The theatre was also built under a job creation scheme. 1945 The Vendsyssel Tidende building at Østergade and the tearoom Willy at Springvandspladsen are counter-sabotaged. 1945 150 wooden huts from Sweden are erected at Skallerup Klit. The huts are to house some of the 200,000 German refugees who arrive in Denmark shortly before the end of the war. The refugee camp is used until 1947 and is then converted into the holiday resort Skallerup Klit. 1948 The wooden stadium building at Femhøje in Hjørring is consumed by fire. A new stadium is built, for which a plan had already been drawn up in 1944.

Female students at the folk high school Vrå Højskole, c. 1915.

1950 The first municipal kindergarten, Folkebørnehaven, opens at Dronningensgade. The kindergarten replaces the privately run Hjørring Børneasyl, which was founded in 1863 by a charity. 1954 A gigantic town fête is held in Hjørring: Vendsyssel finds independence. 1956 The factory “Limtræ Lilleheden” starts producing laminated wood arches. In the 1970s, Lilleheden is one of the factories which are granted regional development funding to expand its production capacity. 1957 Hotel du Nord in Hjørring burns down. The auditorium from 1907 does, however, survive the fire. 1957 The teacher training college Hjørring Seminarium opens. 1959 The upper secondary school’s new buildings at Skolevangen are inaugurated. 1962 Hjørring Art Museum opens (today Vendsyssel Art Museum). 1964 The installation of district heating in Hjørring starts.		1964 The local history archives, now known as Historisk Arkiv in Hjørring, are founded. 1964 Opening of the Føtex supermarket at Østergade 52 in Hjørring. During the following years, the retail trade changes character completely – whereas in the 1950s Hjørring had 70-80 grocery shops, this figure has by the end of the 1980s fallen to under 20. 1964 The first traffic lights are installed in Hjørring, at the intersection Bispensgade/Østergade. 1964 The first NORD-BO exhibition is established in Folkeparken near Svanelunden, laid out towards the end of the 1940s. A total of 100,000 people visit the various exhibitions over the summer. 1965 The first nightclub opens in Hjørring, “Aladdin Bar”. 1966 As part of a town fête, the new large car parks near Sankt Olai Plads are inaugurated following the demolition of the old Fiskerbakken and Bassingade quarters. With the increase in private car ownership, a market town such as Hjørring needs a lot of parking facilities. 1966 also sees the widening of Strømgade to make space for the increase in traffic through town.

Rubjerg Knude Fyr, 1901.

1966 The Municipality of Sindal is formed as a result of a voluntary amalgamation of the old rural districts of Astrup, Ugilt, Lendum, Tolne, Mosbjerg, Hørmested and Sindal. 1968 The light of the Rubjerg Knude lighthouse is extinguished for the last time due to the drifting sand and advances in equipment for maritime navigation. 1968 The doll’s clothes factory Algrema in Em leases the premises of the old grocery shop at Nygade in Vrå due to a shortage in production capacity. The move is spurred by the popularity of the Pusle dolls. The following year the factory merges with Tekno A/S and builds a new factory in Hjørring, partly subsidised by the regional development council. 1968 The old Hotel Skandinavien and Brüels Maskinfabrik in Hjørring are demolished and replaced by a modern office building, Codanhus, which is ready for occupation three years later, housing among other things the administration of the new municipality and Hjørring Library. 1969 The English Lee clothing company Cooper group sets up in Hjørring. 1970 A municipal reform means that the number of municipalities is reduced from approx. 1,000 to 275. In western Vendsyssel, the enlarged municipalities of Hirtshals, Løkken-Vrå and Hjørring become a reality. The enlarged Municipality of Sindal was formed back in 1966. New town halls are built in Hirtshals, Løkken-Vrå and Sindal.		1970 The County of Hjørring is abolished, and the administration is moved to Aalborg, which becomes the seat of the new County of Northern Jutland. 1971 Following many years of heated discussions, the Army Material Command is moved from Copenhagen to Hjørring. The move results in a boom in residential construction. 1973 The first Hjørring revue is staged. 1974 The company Eskofot starts production in Hjørring, soon seeing considerable growth and worldwide exports. 1976 The airfield Sindal Flyveplads is inaugurated. The airfield is constructed and owned jointly by what at the time were the municipalities of Sindal, Hjørring, Hirtshals and Frederikshavn. 1979 The North Sea Centre is founded in Hirtshals. The North Sea Centre is the result of a partnership between, among others, the business council, the fishermen’s association, the town council and the citizens’ association in Hirtshals. The centre houses several research institutions and organisations within fishing and aquaculture. The North Sea Museum, which opens in 1984, is also part of the North Sea Centre. 1982 The first Dana Cup football tournament is organised by the women’s football club “Fortuna”. 1989 The square Nørkjærs Plads in Hjørring is inaugurated with works by the Danish artist Bjørn Nørgaard inspired by, among other things, Nordic mythology.

The Port of Hirtshals, c.1958 

1992 The department store A-Z opens in Hjørring, the largest shop of its kind in Vendsyssel. 1992 “Kunstbygningen i Vrå – the Engelund Collection” is opened as an extension to Vrå Højskole. 1993 Hjørring celebrates its 750 years as a market town. 1993 The fountain De fem Hermer, created by the artist Niels Helledie, is unveiled at Nørre Torv in Sindal – the town with more than 100 fountains. 1993 Steps and a monument are constructed at the Green Square in Hirtshals. The steps provide direct access for the townspeople and tourists to the older part of the port. The design is by Dorte Dahlin and Mogens Møller. 1998 The newspapers Vendsyssel Tidende and Aalborg Stiftstidende merge, as from 1999 publishing the paper under the name Nordjyske Stiftstidende. 2000 The cinema at Søndergade in Hjørring is closed down. The building is demolished and a new building is erected on the site. The following year, a Hennes and Mauritz clothes shop opens at the address with the first escalator in Hjørring. The town is without a cinema for a while, but in 2001 a new large cinema opens at the new “Kvægtorv”. 2000 The commercial college and the technical college in Hjørring and the technical college in Frederikshavn, all of which are more than 100 years old, merge to form EUC Nord. 2001 The children’s house Naturli “Viis” opens in Hjørring. 2002 Nestlé discontinues most of its production in Hjørring and moves production to Iran 2002 The new nursing home, Vellingshøjcenteret, opens. There are now four nursing homes in Hjørring. 2003 A new art museum in Hjørring is opened. The museum, which has so far been housed in the former library building at Brinck Seidelinsgade, moves to the former, newly refurbished factory Bechs Klædefabrik at the square P. Nørkjærs Plads.		2004 The last section of the motorway system in Vendsyssel, the construction of which was approved in 1990, is opened by Crown Princess Mary. The section runs from Bjergby to Hirtshals. The first sections from Jyske Ås to Sæby and from Hjørring to Bjergby were opened in 1996. 2005 The biscuit factory KelsenBisca (Oxford) closes down, one of Hjørring’s oldest and largest businesses. Production is moved to Stege on Zealand. 2005 Another of Hjørring’s proud old workplaces, the slaughterhouse Danish Crown, closes down. The following year the buildings are demolished. 2005 In connection with the nationwide merger of the state tax authorities and the municipal tax authorities, a new and large tax centre opens in Hjørring. The centre covers all of Vendsyssel. 2005 The fish auction Fisketerminal Hirtshals is inaugurated, comprising modern facilities for the landing and auctioning of fish for human consumption. 2006 The premises formerly occupied by the cat food manufacturer Arovit in Vrå are taken over by a new slaughterhouse, Danish Meat Company. 2006 The construction of the new and large Metropol shopping centre at Hjørring town centre commences. The opening of the centre, which will house the library, tax centre, shops and offices, is planned for the beginning of 2008. 2007 On 1 January 2007 the four old municipalities of Hjørring, Hirtshals, Sindal and Løkken-Vrå are merged to form one large municipality, the new Municipality of Hjørring. 2007 A reform of the court system means that Hjørring becomes the centre of one of Denmark’s future 24 legal districts. The court in Hjørring now serves the municipalities of Frederikshavn, Læsø, Hjørring, Brønderslev and Jammerbugt. 2007 Hjørring police district is abolished in connection with the amalgamation of the five police districts in northern Jutland to form just one: Nordjyllands Politi. The centre of the new police district is based in Aalborg.
If you would like to know more about the history of our wonderful region, a visit to Vendsyssel Museum of History is a good idea.

Vendsyssel Museum of History
The Vendsyssel Museum of History, which was founded in 1889, is the old regional museum for Vendsyssel. Since it opened, the museum has worked with archaeology as well as more recent history, and it has over the years compiled very extensive collections within both these areas. Since 1899, the museum has been housed in old school buildings at Skolegyde – now Museumsgade. With the acquisition in 1940 of Hjørring’s old deanery with its gardens, the exhibition area was extended considerably, and all the exhibition buildings are now gathered around the atmospheric museum gardens.

Since 1974, the museum has been run jointly by the former municipalities of Hirtshals, Hjørring, Løkken-Vrå and Sindal. As a result of this cooperation, exhibitions are now on display in all the old municipalities. Today, the museum has various exhibition venues in the new Municipality of Hjørring.

Hjørring
The museum in Hjørring, which houses exhibitions about Vendsyssel from the Stone Age to the present time, is situated in the oldest part of town, to the south of the church Sct. Cathrine Kirke. It is housed in the town’s beautiful old deanery and in three of Hjørring’s oldest school buildings as well as in the old vicarage, which frames an idyllic museum garden and a beautiful herb garden with old medicinal plants.

The museum has exhibitions about prehistory and about medieval churches and ecclesiastical art. The deanery has an exhibition of furniture and crafts from the Renaissance to the Victorian age as well as toys and dress. In the adjacent stable and barn building, farming equipment and tools from the 19th century are on display. The town’s oldest school building from 1825 houses an exhibition of the history of the town with, for example, an old grocer’s store, which is open during the summer and on special occasions. Special exhibitions, primarily about cultural history, are also organised.

At the museum entrance at Museumsgade 3, a museum shop sells museum jewellery and books about local history. This is also where the tourist office can be found. A café serves coffee.

Mosbjerg
The museum department in Mosbjerg comprises two farms which are situated in a beautiful and dramatic landscape. The farm in Højen houses an exhibition about the natural and cultural history of the area, and from Højen a number of footpaths have been signposted through the different types of landscape, past ancient monuments and other cultural sites. Near Højen is a smallholding which is run as it would have been at the beginning of the 20th century. The smallholding is stocked with traditional farm animals, and in the school holidays the house is inhabited. The farm in Bjørnager has a large exhibition of farming equipment and machinery from the 1900-1950 period and many pictures of country life at the time.

Rubjerg
The museum’s exhibition in Rubjerg about sand and drifting sand was previously located in the old lighthouse at Rubjerg Knude. In 1980 Vendsyssel Museum of History organised the exhibition here – an exhibition consisting of texts and photographs about the history of the lighthouse and the role played by drifting sand in Vendsyssel over the years. However, in 2002 the museum was forced to leave the lighthouse on account of the drifting sand, and the museum now leases Strandfogedgården just south of the lighthouse and close to the old cemetery in Rubjerg. Exhibitions describing the natural and cultural history of the coastal region are being organised. Various walks through the preserved landscape around Rubjerg Knude start at Strandfogedgården.

Børglum Kloster
In the old Municipality of Løkken-Vrå, the museum also has, in addition to the department in Rubjerg, access to a large exhibition space at Børglum Kloster where the museum’s many carriages, coaches, sledges and sleighs are exhibited.

Hirtshals
The museum in Hirtshals recounts the early history of fishing in Hirtshals and the making of aquavit (bjesk). A small house built from granite boulders dating from 1880 has been laid out as a fisherman’s home from about 1912. In the boathouse, two of the oldest local boat types are on display.

Bunker Museum
In 2005, the museum took over the running and maintenance of the Bunker Museum in Hirtshals. The Bunker Museum consists of 70 bunkers connected by 3.5 kilometres of trenches. Exhibitions inside the various bunker types, including armed, ammunition, staff and sanitary bunkers, provide visitors with a very clear picture of the conditions for soldiers during the Second World War.

Historical Archives
The historical archives were founded in 1964 in a cooperation between Vendsyssel Museum of History and what was then the County of Hjørring Central Library. However, the archives are based on older collections held by the two institutions. The archives, which are currently part of Vendsyssel Museum of History, hold comprehensive collections of records, photos, maps, drawings, newspapers, printed matter, films, sound recordings, microfiches and lots more. The archives also hold two sizeable collections of books about Vendsyssel as well as an archaeological and historical library.

Municipal archives
Pursuant to the Danish Archives Act, it was decided in March 2006 to set up Hjørring municipal archives as part of the historical archives. The archives are housed at the former Sindal town hall and this is where records worthy of preservation from the four former municipalities will also be stored. Through the historical archives, the municipal archives will make the collections of records, printed matter, photographs, maps, drawings etc. available to the municipal authorities and interested citizens.