View source for Christiansfeld

{{short description|Town in Denmark}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Christiansfeld
| native_name        = 
| other_name         = 
| settlement_type    = Town
<!-- images, nickname, motto -->| image_skyline      = Christiansfeld brødremenighedskirken 31 maj 2015 crop.jpg
| image_caption      = {{ill|The Moravian Church in Christiansfeld|da|Brødremenighedens Kirke i Christiansfeld}}
| image_flag         = 
| image_shield       = Coat of arms of Christiansfeld.svg
| motto              = 
| nickname           = 
| etymology          = <!-- location -->
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = [[Denmark]]
| subdivision_type1  = 
| subdivision_name1  = 
| subdivision_type2  = Region
| subdivision_name2  = [[Region of Southern Denmark|Southern Denmark (''Syddanmark'')]]
| subdivision_type3  = 
| subdivision_name3  = 
| subdivision_type4  = Municipality
| subdivision_name4  = [[Kolding Municipality|Kolding]]
<!-- maps and coordinates -->| image_map          = 
| map_caption        = 
| pushpin_map        = Denmark#Denmark Region of Southern Denmark
| pushpin_relief     = 
| pushpin_map_caption = 
| coordinates        = {{coord|55.35667|N|9.48635|E|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = <!-- established -->
| established_title  = 
| established_date   = <!-- area -->
| area_footnotes     = 
| area_urban_km2     = 2.6
| area_total_sq_mi   = 
| area_land_sq_mi    = 
| area_water_sq_mi   = <!-- elevation -->
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m        = 
| elevation_ft       = <!-- population -->
| population_as_of   = 2025
| population_footnotes = 
| population_urban   = 3115
| population_density_urban_km2 = auto
| population_density_sq_mi = 
| population_demonym = <!-- time zone(s) -->
| timezone1          = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset1        = +1
| timezone1_DST      = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset1_DST    = +2
<!-- postal codes, area code -->| postal_code_type   = Postal code
| postal_code        = 6070 Christiansfeld
| area_code_type     = 
| area_code          = 
| geocode            = 
| iso_code           = <!-- website, footnotes -->
| website            = [http://www.christiansfeldcentret.dk www.christiansfeldcentret.dk] {{in lang|da}}
| footnotes          = {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
  | Official_name = Christiansfeld
  | Part_of      = Moravian Church Settlements
  | Criteria      = iii, iv
  | ID            = 1468
  | Year          = 2015
  | child         = yes
}}
}}

'''Christiansfeld''', with a population of 3,115 (1 January 2025),<ref>[https://m.statbank.dk/TableInfo/BY3?lang=en BY3: Population 1st January by urban areas, area and population density] The Mobile Statbank from [[Statistics Denmark]]</ref> is a town in [[Kolding Municipality]] in [[Southern Jutland]] in [[Region of Southern Denmark]]. The town was founded in 1773 by the [[Moravian Church]] and named after the Danish king [[Christian VII of Denmark|Christian VII]].<ref>Dansk Stednavne Leksikon, JYLLAND - Sydlige del, FYN med omliggende øer, (page 30). {{ISBN|87-00-55221-6}} (in '''Danish''')</ref> Since July 2015 it has been a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]], highlighting its status as the best-preserved example of the town-planning and architecture of the Moravian Church.<ref name="unesco">{{cite web |title=Moravian Church Settlements |url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1468 |access-date=28 July 2024 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization}}</ref>

==Description==
The town was constructed around a central Church Square bordered by two parallel streets running east to west.<ref name = "unesco"/> The Hall, Sister's House, fire-house, the vicarage, and the former provost’s house were built directly around the square, and shops, Brother's House, family residences, a hotel, and a school were built along the parallel streets. <ref name = "nominate">{{cite report |url = http://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/1468.pdf |title = Danish World Heritage Nomination: Christiansfeld, a Moravian Settlement |author1 = Annemette Løkke Borg Berg |author2 = Lene Lindberg Marcussen |author3 = Karen Stoklund |publisher = Kolding Municipality |date = 2013 |access-date = 29 Jul 2021}}</ref> Many of the residential buildings are communal, which were typical of Moravian settlements and were used by the widows and unmarried women and men of the congregation.<ref name = "unesco"/> The architecture of Christiansfeld is homogeneous, dominated by one or two-story buildings made out of yellow brick and red tile roofs.<ref name = "unesco"/> Many of the buildings in Christiansfeld retain their original uses.<ref name = "nominate"/>

==History==
Most of Christiansfeld was constructed in the years 1773–1800, following a strict city plan that drew inspiration from the earlier Moravian settlements of [[Herrnhaag]] and [[Gnadau]].<ref name = "nominate"/> To encourage construction, king Christian VII promised a ten-year tax holiday for the city and paid 10% of the construction costs of new houses.<ref name = "nominate"/> By 1779, the town's population reached 279, and by 1782, it had about 400 residents.<ref name = "nominate"/> It was one of many towns in [[Schleswig]] officially designated a small [[market town]] (''flække'').

In 1864, Christiansfeld and the rest of Schleswig was ceded to [[Prussia]] as a result of Denmark's defeat in the [[Second Schleswig War]]. It remained a part of Germany until 1920 when, as a part of a [[1920 Schleswig plebiscites|plebiscite]] called for by the [[Treaty of Versailles]], [[Northern Schleswig]] voted to rejoin Denmark. After reunification, the Moravian church lost some of the rights it had obtained as a part of the town's founding in the 18th century. For example, it no longer had the ability to choose the town's leadership, paving the way for the town's first Danish mayor who was not a member of the church in 1920.<ref>[http://www.christiansfeldcentret.dk/00150/00168/ A Town Walk in Christiansfeld] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719122516/http://www.christiansfeldcentret.dk/00150/00168/ |date=19 July 2011 }}</ref> The church also sold its schools at this time due to the declining membership of its congregation.

From 1970 to 2007, the town was the administrative seat of [[Christiansfeld Municipality]], but it lost this status and was placed in the [[Kolding Municipality]] as a part of the [[Municipalities of Denmark|Municipal Reform of 2007 (Kommunalreformen 2007)]].

In 2009 [[Kolding Municipality]] and Realdania-foundation agreed on a 100 million DKK restoration project of the inner-city. In 2012 the [[A.P. Møller og Hustru Chastine Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond til almene Formaal|A.P. Møller og Hustru Chastine Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond]] donated 60 million DKK for the restoration of the Sister's House.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heggland |first=Nils-Ole |date=2012-01-24 |title=Stenrig A.P. Møller-fond udskriver millioncheck |url=https://www.berlingske.dk/content/item/220006 |access-date=2022-07-06 |website=Berlingske.dk |language=da}}</ref>

==Today==
Today, the city is a tourist attraction: the old city core, the Moravian Church with its light, simple and impressive hall and the special cemetery draw thousands of tourists each year. Its well preserved architecture is one of the reasons it was nominated as a tentative [[World Heritage Site|UNESCO World Heritage Site]] in 1993.<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/182/ UNESCO World Heritage Centre]</ref> It was finally inscribed on the main list on 4 July 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1315/|title=Sites in Denmark, France and Turkey inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List|website=unesco.org|publisher=UNESCO|date=4 July 2015|accessdate=8 July 2015}}</ref>

The town is famed for its honey cakes. These are baked to a secret recipe from 1783. Until 2008, the cakes were baked in the original 18th-century bakery, which was then renovated because of new national sanitary standards, but still uses the original recipes.

<gallery>
File:Meno Haas - Christiansfeld 1780 - mp001409.jpg|Christiansfeld 1780
File:Gudsageren.jpg|The church cemetery
File:Haderslevvej 29, Christiansfeld 2011.jpg|House in Christiansfeld
</gallery>

== Notable people ==
[[File:Carl Fredrik Kiörboe - from Svenskt Porträttgalleri XX.png|140px|thumb|Carl Fredrik Kiörboe, 1901]]
* [[Christian David Gebauer]] (1777–1831) a German-born Danish animal and landscape painter, brought up in Christiansfeld
* [[Carl Fredrik Kiörboe]] (1799 in Christiansfeld – 1876) a Danish-born Swedish artist, painted animals
* [[Johann Christian Gebauer]] (1808–1884) a Danish composer, organist and music theorist, brought up in Christiansfeld
* [[Camilla Collett]] (1813–1895) a Norwegian writer, maybe the first Norwegian feminist, went to school in Christiansfeld
* [[Samuel Kleinschmidt]] (1814 in Greenland – 1886) a German/Danish missionary, teacher in Christiansfeld 1837–1841
* [[Theodor Brorsen]] (1819–1895) a Danish astronomer, discovered of five comets; went to school in Christiansfeld
* [[Carl Bock (explorer)|Carl Bock]] (1849–1932) a Norwegian government official, author, naturalist and explorer; went to school in Christiansfeld
* [[Hans Lunding]] (1899 in Stepping, near Christiansfeld – 1984) military officer and head of the combined army and naval intelligence services; also a bronze medallist in the [[1936 Summer Olympics]]
* [[Henrik Toft]] (born 1981 in Christiansfeld) a Danish professional footballer, who currently plays for [[Kolding BK]]
* Maya Olesen (born 1991 in Christiansfeld), competitor for Denmark <ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4763410/  IMDb Database] retrieved 2 May 2018</ref> in [[Miss World 2011]]  <ref>[http://www.missdanmark.dk/skoenhedsprofiler/maya-olesen/   Miss Denmark website (in Danish)] retrieved 2 May 2018</ref>

==See also==
* [[Christiansfeld Pharmacy]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.christiansfeldcentret.dk/?lang=uk Official website of the Christiansfeld Centre]

{{World Heritage Sites in the Kingdom of Denmark}}
{{Kolding Municipality}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cities and towns in the Region of Southern Denmark]]
[[Category:History of the Moravian Church]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Denmark]]
[[Category:Kolding Municipality]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Kolding Municipality]]