Hvidovre Municipality


Hvidovre Kommune is a municipality in Region Hovedstaden near Copenhagen on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 22 km², and has a total population of 53,416. Its mayor is Helle Moesgaard Adelborg, a member of the Social Democrats political party.
The main town and the site of its municipal council is the town of Hvidovre. Other towns in the municipality are Avedøre and Friheden.
Neighboring municipalities are Copenhagen to the east, Rødovre to the north, and Brøndby to the west. Part of its eastern border are the waters of Kalveboderne, and to the south is Køge Bay. The southern-most section of the municipality, known as Avedøre Holme, juts out into Køge Bay and forms part of the entryway into Kalveboderne, the waters of which separate the island of Zealand from neighboring Amager. Avedøre Holme houses two harbours.

History

The parish of Hvidovre originally covered the villages of Hvidovre, Valby, and Vigerslev. The civil parish of Hvidovre was formed in 1803. In 1841, it was merged with Frederiksberg under the name Hvidovre-Frederiksberg Sognekommune but the two were again split in 1858 and Valby and Vigerslev were transferred to Copenhagen in 1901.
Hvidovre Municipality was established with the 1970 Danish Municipal Reform, covering the parishes of Hvidovre, Risbjerg Parish, Strandmark. Avedøre was transferred from Glostrup to Hvidovre in 1974.
Hvidovre municipality was not merged with other municipalities by January 1, 2007 as the result of nationwide Kommunalreformen.

Parks and green spaces

follows the western border of Hvidovre Municipality. Avedøre Airfield from 1917 is Denmark's oldest preserved airfield. Strandengen is grazed by cattle and sheep in the summer time. Other green spaces include Kystagerparken, Lodsparken, Mågeparken and Rebæk Søpark.

The town of Hvidovre

The town is a suburb to Copenhagen, located ca. 10 km. southwest of central Copenhagen. It got its name from the fact that a white church could be seen in Hvidovre— hvid means "white" in Danish. This same naming principle also applies to neighboring Rødovre municipality where a red church could be seen— rød means "red" in Danish.
The city is well known for its football team, Hvidovre IF, where famous Danish football players such as Peter Schmeichel, Kenneth Brylle, and Michael Manniche have played. Stephan Andersen with a past in Charlton, has played for the club too. It is also the birthplace of young Liverpool defender Daniel Agger and Thomas Kahlenberg.
Film production camp Filmbyen is located in Hvidovre.

Trivia

The longest office building in Denmark, Copenhagen Business Park, is located in the municipality at the address Stamholmen 143–161. As one of the largest office buildings in Denmark it consists of 67,000 square meters rented space. It dates from 1982 and was built by :da:Bøje Nielsen|Bøje Nielsen.

Twin towns — sister cities

The municipality is twinned with:

  • Sollentuna in Sweden
  • Tuusula in Finland