The history of Aarhus began as a fortified Viking settlement founded in the 8th century and with the first written records stemming from the bishopric seated here from at least 948.
The city was known as ‘Århus’ or ‘Åros’ in ancient times which literally meant ‘The Mouth of the River’. ‘å’ in literal terms means a river and ’oss’ is the mouth.
In 2017, Aarhus was the European Capital of Culture along with Paphos in Cyprus.
Aarhus is twinned with Bergen, Norway; Gothenburg, Sweden; Harbin, China; Kujalleq, Greenland; Rostock, Germany & St. Petersburg, Russia.
Aarhus is home to the annual eight-day Aarhus Jazz Festival, the SPoT Festival, and the NorthSide Festival.
Aarhus is home to 32 consulates: Austria, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Japan, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain & Sweden.
The Population of Aarhus is 336,411, as of 2017.
The spelling “Aarhus” is first found in 1406 and gradually became the norm in the 17th century.
Founded in the early Viking Age, Aarhus is one of the oldest cities in Denmark, along with Ribe and Hedeby.
