Valby

Valby
District of Copenhagen
Single family detached homes south of Valby Langgade
Coordinates: 55°39′39″N 12°30′13″E / 55.66083°N 12.50361°E / 55.66083; 12.50361
Country	Denmark
Region	Capital Region of Denmark
Municipality	Copenhagen Municipality
Postal code	2500

Valby ([vælpyˀ] ^ⓘ) is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It is in the southwestern corner of Copenhagen Municipality, and has a mixture of different types of housing. This includes apartment blocks, terraced housing, areas with single-family houses and allotments, plus the remaining part of the old Valby village, around which the district has formed, intermingled with past and present industrial sites.

Valby covers an area of 9.23 km² and has a population of 46,161, giving a population density of 5,002 per km².^[1] The district is bounded by Kongens Enghave and Vesterbro to the east, Frederiksberg to the north, Vanløse to the north-east and Hvidovre Municipality to the west, while Kalvebod Beach, the shallow-watered area just south of Copenhagen Harbour, separates it from the island of Amager to the south.

The most distinctive geographical features of the district are

History

Origins

The Danshøj tumulus, along with many other archeological finds in the area, provides evidence that the Valby area has been inhabited since ancient times.^[2] Modern Valby has developed around the two villages of Valby and Vigerslev. The first recorded mention of the name Valby is from 1186, as Walbu,^[3] but the history of both settlements probably goes back considerably longer. Valby means "village/house on the plain". In the early Middle Ages both villages came under Utterslev,^[4] a Crown estate which included most of the area around Havn, the small market town which later became Copenhagen.

In 1167,

Both during the civil war leading up to the Reformation (1533–1536) and during the Assault on Copenhagen in the Second Northern War, Valby was faced with almost complete destruction (1658–60), leading to deep poverty for the communities.

In 1682, Valby had 13 farms and 25 houses with no more land than a modest garden. The produce from this intensely cultivated area was, in fierce competition with the Amager farmers, sold on the market at Amagertorv in Copenhagen, where King Christian IV had granted the Valby farmers trading privileges.^[4]

At the time, the Valby community did not have its own church but instead, since 1628, belonged to Hvidovre Parish.^[6] In 1675, Hvidovre Church was extended with a Valby nave, both to bring symmetry into the design and to accommodate a wish among the citizens of Valby not to mingle with the Hvidovre farmers.^[7]

18th century: better times

In the 17th century, the road to Roskilde was taken through Valby and an inn opened. The first holder of the license was Hans Pedersen Bladt, a skillful merchant who was elected mayor of Copenhagen in 1675.

Valby also profited from the proximity of

In 1776, the road to Roskilde was given a new course, a direct continuation of Vesterbrogade across Valby Hill, with the effect that it passed Valby by to the detriment of the inn and other businesses.

Instead Valby began to develop into an area where members of the bourgeoisie took up summer residency, a practice which spread from adjoining Frederiksberg. One of the first to arrive in Valby proper was the actor James Price who spent his first summer there in 1795, shortly after his arrival in Denmark. He was followed by other members of the bourgeoisie.

When the first railway out of Copenhagen opened in 1847, a 30 km rail line to Roskilde, it had an intermediate station slightly east of where Valby station lies today. The station was originally meant to serve mostly leisure trips to nearby Frederiksberg; it had a booming traffic in the railway's first years, which however dwindled as the novelty wore off. The station was closed in 1864 when the second main station in Copenhagen opened and the railway was rerouted through Frederiksberg station instead.

Carlsberg arrives

During the construction of the new railway, when the tracks were dug through Valby Hill, a natural spring was discovered. This attracted the brew master J. C. Jacobsen to the site and he founded his Carlsberg Brewery in 1847 on the eastern slopes of the hill. In 1882, Carl Jacobsen, J. C. Jacobsen's son, opened his own brewery at a neighbouring site after a controversy with his father. Over the following decades both breweries grew and were later merged.

Carl Jacobsen also became the driving force behind Valby's first church, the large

The remains of Old Valby are located in the northern part of the district on

City centre

The centre of modern-day Valby is the area around

The White Houses in Valby (Danish: Den Hvide By i Valby), also known as Trekanten (lit. "The Triangle"), is one of several developments of building society houses in the Valby district of Copenhagen, Denmark and are located on the south side of Valby Langgade and the streets Søndre Allé, Nordre Allé and Østre Allé. They are similar to another development of white houses in Frederiksberg.

Valby Arbejderes Byggeforening (English: Valby Workers' Building Society) was founded on 17 May 1898 and quickly acquired an approximately five-hectare, triangular site from a local farmer for DKK 47,000. The 34-year-old architect Christian Mandrup-Poulsen was commissioned to design the development and the foundation stone for the first house was set on 26 November 1899.^[10] All of the development's original houses were then built between 1899 and 1903.

Mandrup-Poulsen's plan created three tree-lined avenues—Søndre Allé, Nordre Allé and Østre Allé—which form a large "A" off the south side of Valby Langgade. The development consists of a total of 81 houses of which 77 are double houses and four are single houses. Each house contained originally two apartments, one for the owner and one for a tenant. Mandrup-Poulsen created seven different house types but all were white with red tile roofs and green window frames and fences. Most have details in red brick.

Government

The Danish Maritime Authority and the Danish Maritime Accident Investigation Board have their head offices in Valby.^[11][12]

Amenities

Located off Gammel Køge Landevej, Valby Sports Park contains a multi-purpose stadium which is mainly used for football. A new aquatics centre is currently under construction and will open on February 2+12.^{[clarification needed][needs update}