Many are the possibilities for tours in the city and
the region, only your imagination knows the limit.
Guided Walks
1. The District of ‘Our Lady’
The tour is named after the Church of Our Lady that was built in the early
twelfth century just east of town. Originally it was an abbey church to a
convent. Here nuns lived and maybe they had the time to study that which
to-day is considered the oldest and perhaps the most beautiful piece of
art in Aalborg, viz. the west portal of the church; this portal testifies
to the introduction of Christianity into Northern Jutland.
2. The Witches of Aalborg
The witches of Aalborg have their own history. Actually, many of them
confessed to their being witches. It is even thought that a witches’
school existed! We shall hear about the various sorcerers and witches, and
the punishments to which they were subjected after torture.
3. Aalborg Castle
The Aalborg Castle tells of the presence of royal power and influence in
town. The “War of the Count” and Capt Clement (sixteenth century Danish
civil war) are mentioned, and so is the banishment of ex-queens to a
humble existence. The Castle has also the story of a distinguished visitor
in 1859 when the author Hans Christian Andersen stayed twice on the Castle
during his grand and only tour of Northern Jutland.
4. Jakob Paludan
Many writers have visited or lived in Aalborg, one is Jakob Paludan. He
makes Jörgen Stein the protagonist in his great Bildungsroman by that name
which takes place partly during WWI. The tour brings into focus the time
“before the world went out of order”, and tells of the town in which
Jörgen Stein went about.
5. The District of St Botolph
This tour is named after the Cathedral, the Church of St Botolph. During
the stroll the story of Aalborg is told, and especially that of the gem of
the town, the Renaissance building, “Jens Bang´s House of Stone”. Also is
told the story of monks and nuns in the Monastery of the Holy Ghost, one
of the best preserved monasteries/convents of its kind north of the Alps.
Other topics might be:
6. The West Quarter of the Town.
7. Vesterbro, the street where the architecture of Functionalism is
prevailing.
8. The Harbour Front.
9. The Hangman’s Cave.
10. Look up –and see things unnoticed!
11. Distilleries.
12. The district of the garden city of Hasseris.
13. A Tour of Nörre Sundby, the town just across the Limfjord.
14. Aalborg during the time of Jens Bang and King Christian IV.
15. Aalborg during WWII.
16. Art and history in the District of Our Lady.
17. The Open Areas of Town.
18. Nibe: a tour of art and stories in the town of Nibe 22 km west of
Aalborg.
Indoor guided tours
1. The Aalborg Monastery of the Holy Ghost
A visit to one of the oldest and best preserved buildings in Aalborg, the
Monastery of the Holy Ghost, that lies well hidden in the city like an
oasis. The house has atmosphere and stories from the period when it was
home to monks and nuns. Among other things we see the Chapter Hall with
frescoes from AD 1510 approx. The cathedral school was here for some 300
years. The first resistance group of WWII in Denmark, the Churchill Club,
was founded here. To-day the Monastery is a housing complex for senior
citizens.
2. The Pharmacist’s Collection
Today in “Jens Bang’s Stonehouse” is collected a genuine treasure of
pharmacist’s tools, gallipots and ‘medicines’ from a period of more than
300 years. Tours are booked with the Nordjyllands Historiske Museum (the
North Jutland Historical Museum).
3. The Franciscan Friary in Algade
We take the lift down into the underground and visit the remnants of the
church and friary of the Grey Friars and hear about their life and deeds
among the people of Aalborg in those days.
4. The Aquavit Factory
The theory behind the production is described, we watch the production
proper, and at the end of the tour we sample one of the best schnappses in
the country.
Day tours in the Region of North Jutland
Some suggestions for all-day and half-day excursions:
Tour by coach in Aalborg and the surrounding
country
Tour by bus to the Lindholm Höje Viking Settlement Area, Denmark’s
greatest relic of Antiquity with 700 tombs from the period AD 400 – 1000.
Vorgaard Castle (north of the Limfjord) with unsuspected treasures
of French art.
Skagen ( the Skaw) with a visit to the Skagen Museum of Art, the
house of the artists Michael and Anna Anker; with “ the Sandworm” wagon to
the outmost tip of the peninsula, a visit to the great Raabjerg Dune.
The West Coast: the broad beach at Blokhus, Börglum Monastery/manor
house, the Rubjerg Knot, the Maarup Church . The North Sea Museum in
Hirtshals.
The Counties of West Himmerland and Han Herred with visits to the
ruins of Vitsköl Convent and the herb garden and the remnants of the
Viking fortress at Aggersborg, to the Tömmerby Church and other places.
Rold Forrest: the greatest forrest in Denmark; a visit to the
Rebild Hills (where July 4 is celebrated), the Springs and the Tingbaek
Lime Pit with models for the sculptures by Anders Bundgaard, the artist.
Kids’ Guided Tour
During the autumn holiday (in the middle of October, approx.) a special
Kids’ Guided Tour is arranged:
“Get caught by a captivating experience”: Come along into the
Executioner’s Cave and the dungeon of Aalborg Castle and see how roughly
thieves and culprits were treated.
‘The Executioner’s Cave’ is the remains of the prison that was below the
West Gate building in Aalborg. We go down 2.5 m below street level, so it
is recommended to wear suitable clothes as the access by the street cover
may cause soiling.
‘The Executioner’s Cave’ is the name given to the place by the people of
Aalborg. The hangman or executioner himself and his assistant lived
outside city limits, and the assistant came to the cave only to “clean”,
i.e. change the straw once or twice a year. For more than 150 years the
prison was used for the ‘dishonest’ or infamous prisoners. Later the
prison cell was established in the gate building itself. The West Gate was
used for more than 300 years, and was gradually demolished. In 1907 the
ruins were discovered and excavated during a street renovation. We shall
hear who was the hangman’s assistant and what happened in the prison
during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance period. Later we visit
the dungeon of the Castle, hear about the imprisonment of Maren Turis, the
death of prisoners and much more.
Other kids’ guided tours might be:
The Monastery of the Holy Ghost in Aalborg: we shall hear stories from the
period when the Monastery was home to monks, nuns and foundlings.
‘Look up!’: we shall bend back our heads, look up and see funny and odd
things, as we stroll through town.
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