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Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ( kommune) and the Region of Southern Denmark. The city has a population of 62,011 (As of January 1. 2025), making it the ninth largest city in Denmark. Vejle Municipality has a population of 122,433 (), making it the fifth most populous municipality in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Fredericia. Vejle is located 110 kilometres (68 miles) north of Germany, 70 kilometres (43,5 miles) from Aarhus and 240 kilometres (149 miles) from the capital Copenhagen.
Vejle is most known for its forested hills, wetlands, Vejle fjord, harbour, shopping, pedestrian street, windmill, and newly built award winning architecture.
The name has also been through a lot of evolution in spelling since Wæthel, as seen on maps throughout history, and in documents referring to the town/city, some examples are such as:
During Viking times, the wetlands around Vejle had to be crossed at the Ravning Bridge, a 760 meter long wooden boardwalk, built around 980 ad, located west of the current city.
Archaeological digs near St. Nicolai Church in downtown Vejle have shown that there were residences in the area as far back as 1100. The first recorded mention of the town is from 1256, and the first known merchant town privileges were issued by King Valdemar III in 1327.
Vejle used to be protected by two castles:
Castrum Wæthel (Vejleborg) (Vejle castle)
The Vejle castle was constructed out of wood and lay just outside the city, where Vejle railway station is located today. It was constructed to protect the city and the Vejle River. The architecture of the castle indicates it was built in the 14th century, but by the year 1473 the castle had most likely been decommissioned. being turned into fields. The last remnants of the castle disappeared through the construction of the railway in the 19th century.
Rosborg was located in the of the Vejle valley, located a couple hundred meters west of the city. It sat atop a manmade hill around 1.75 meters high, 40 meters long, and 25 meters wide. There had been multiple buildings in the castle, the oldest of these being seemingly made of wood and possibly burning down; later another was made of stone. During an excavation in 1912, there were found multiple sets of pottery from the Rhine, one with a very distinctive face of a bearded man.
In a country where the highest natural elevation is only about 170 m (558 ft) above sea level, Vejle is known for the forested hills that rise to the north and south of the town and fjord.
The valleys of the two rivers that converge at Vejle are both unique in Denmark: Vejle River Valley ( Vejle Ådal) is the longest tunnel valley in Denmark, and the Grejs River ( Grejsdalen) is the largest ravine in Denmark.
Both empty into Vejle Fjord, which connects Vejle by water through the Little Belt strait to the Baltic Sea, and through the Kattegat and Skagerrak straits to the Atlantic Ocean.
Vejle's neighbourhoods include:
In 1975 United Trailer Factories was founded by brothers Niels and Jens Buhl. The company, now known as ‘Variant’ like its products, has grown in strength to become one of the biggest quality trailer manufacturers in Europe.
Later on, newer industries took root in Vejle. The city is home to one of the largest chewing gum factories in the world, producing Stimorol brand chewing gum.
The Tulip slaughterhouses were also an important employer in the city. Today, Tulip has closed its factory at the harbour, but still maintains production in northern Vejle.
Today, Vejle's economy is shifting out of the industrial sector and into the high-tech sector, with a number of software companies operating out of the city.
In addition to the shopping experiences in the city, Vejle also has its own shopping centre, the Bryggen shopping centre, located in the center of the city. It contains 38 stores and two restaurants and lies within the pedestrian street.
Street food concepts can also be experienced at the Paladspassagen Social Dining at the former Mary's Shoppingcenter.
Ever since Social Democrat Christian Jacobsen became Vejle's first elected mayor in 1919, the town has been a stronghold for the Social Democrats and trade unions. The longest serving Social Democratic mayor was Willy Sørensen, a union leader who joined the city council in 1937 and held the mayor's post for 31 years, from 1946 until his death in 1978.
In 1993, the Social Democratic dynasty was broken, when a candidate from a coalition of opposition parties, Flemming Christiansen, became mayor. In 2009, the Social Democrats were out of power again when Liberal candidate Arne Sigtenbjerggaard won the elections. Vejle får ny borgmester
Several natives of Vejle have also made a career in national politics, including former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (Liberal), the former Minister of the Treasury Troels Lund Poulsen (Liberal), former Minister of Health Torben Lund (Social Democrat), and former Minister of Transportation Flemming Hansen (Conservative).
The European route E45 motorway passes close to downtown Vejle on the Vejle Fjord Bridge. Vejle is also known for motorway exit 59, also called Exxit 59, where few fast food chains such as KFC, McDonald's Enzo & C are located here, and the motorway exit is also known for carpooling. The Exit 59 is also known to be called Gateaway E45, because of its huge cargo- and transportation center, called Denmarks Transport Center, DTC.
Vejle is also located on Primary Route 28, and the Mid-Jutland Highway ( Midjyske Motorvej, Primary Route 18) from Herning. Vejdirektoratets planlægning, Accessed June 29, 2008. ( in Danish)
Vejle railway station first opened in 1868,Jensen, Poul Ulrich: Byens plan - Vejles fysiske udvikling 1786-2007, pp. 54-56 and is today a central station in the Danish train network.
Vejle railway station is also a hub for merging two railway lines. The East Jutland railway, from Aarhus to Vejle, and The Central Jutland railway, from Struer to Vejle . From Vejle going south or east, the next main train station, is Fredericia station. Here the trains can depart to either Copenhagen through Odense station, to Esbjerg through Kolding railway station, or to Hamburg in Germany, also through Kolding railway station.
However, the station is currently the subject of political debate, due to a desire on the part of some politicians to reduce train travel time between Odense and Århus to one hour.Landex, Alex, and Otto Anker Nielsen. 6-by samarbejdet - om hurtigere tog mellem byerne . November 2006. Accessed October 26, 2008. ( in Danish) This may mean that a second bridge will be built over Vejle Fjord, bypassing Vejle Station.
The Port of Vejle, in its current location, was inaugurated in 1827.Sandbeck, Thorkild: "Vejle Havn 175 år" in Vejlebogen 2002 pp. 19-24 In the years following World War II, it grew to become the second largest port in Denmark after the Port of Copenhagen. Up until 1932, the Hvidbjerg (named after a local seaside community) and Jeppe Jensen (named after the harbour's founder) plied the waters between Vejle Harbour and Munkebjerg, Tirsbæk, Ulbækhus, and Fakkegrav.Jensen, Poul Ulrich: Byens plan - Vejles fysiske udvikling 1786-2007, p. 151 ( in Danish) The harbour is currently profitable, although there are plans to convert the northern section of the harbour into a park and residential area, which would reconnect the town with the fjord.
Vejle Municipality is part-owner of Denmark's second-largest airport, Billund Airport, located near the Lego Group's headquarters some from the centre of Vejle. Airport buses run regularly to Billund Airport from Vejle Transit Centre.
Vejle Municipality has also begun a range of nature restoration projects. The most ambitious of these has been the restoration of the Kongens Kær wetlands around the Vejle River just outside the city limits. The city has also undertaken a project to establish two new public beaches for swimming, Albuen and Tirsbæk Strand. Water and Nature Projects ( in Danish)
As Vejle is home to many international industrial companies and is also known to be called "the Silicon Valley of Denmark" due to a lot IT companies located in Vejle. The government, after a lot of negotiations back in 2021, came to an agreement in 2024 with Vejle Municipality, University of Southern Denmark that Vejle from 2026 will become a College town. The University of Southern Denmark,SDU, will establish a campus housing the faculty of IT and software. The Lego Group will also be one of among many companies to enter as cooperation partners with SDU, for the purpose of gaining a strong research and educational environment in Vejle.
It is expected that in 2026 the faculty of IT and software in Vejle, will house 400 students, and by 2032 more than 1200 students and 90 academic employees.
Adult and professional education is available in Vejle through the Region of Southern Denmark, the Folkeuniversitet (Adult Education Centre), the Vejle Idrætshøjskole (Athletics Professional College), and Skolen for Gastronomi, Musik & Design (School for Gastronomy, Music, and Design).
On the secondary education level, Vejle offers several options: Vejle Handelsskole (Vejle Business School) offers business and professional programs; Vejle Tekniske Gymnasium (Vejle Technical School) offers vocational and technical education; and Rødkilde Gymnasium (on the fjord) and Rosborg Gymnasium offer academic programs with concentrations in language and science.
On the primary level, Vejle has 11 regular primary schools ( folkeskoler), 2 independent schools ( friskoler), and 5 private schools ( privatskoler) – one secular, one Protestant, one Catholic, one and one Waldorf-Steiner method school – as well as 2 schools for special needs students. Unique to Vejle is a special program for athletically talented students starting in late primary school and continuing through Vejle Handelsskole.
Vejle's largest indoor sports facilities are mostly housed in the DGI-Huset recreational centre in western Vejle. In the past, the facility has housed several high-profile events, including the European Women's Handball Championship and the Denmark Open in badminton.
Former Swiss people cyclist Tony Rominger was born in Vejle, and cyclist Bjarne Riis has a house in Vejle. Denmark's answer to the Tour de France, Danmark Rundt, includes a stretch through Vejle which is known as the hardest stage in the race, including a loop that requires the riders to climb the hillsides of Vejle several times. The race's winner is usually determined in the Vejle stage. Stage 3 of the 2022 Tour de France started in Vejle.
In the early and mid-20th century, Vejle had several popular cultural destinations such as Trædballehus in the western part of town and the Munkebjerg Casino south of the fjord.
Trædballehus, an inn and music venue, which burned down in 1954, got its big breakthrough in the mid-1930s when it was featured on Danish National Radio in connection with the opening of the old Little Belt Bridge. 1933 Hotel Munkebjerg boasted Europe's longest wooden escalator, carrying guests from the fjord-side beach up to the hilltop casino. Munkebjerg still exists as a hotel, casino and conference centre.
Vejle Mill, located on top of the cliff at Søndermarken, is a well-known landmark because of its visibility, and is often used as a symbol of the city.
The Old Jail House in Vejle, which is connected to the Town Hall, was rebuilt in 1984 and received a prize for beautification.
Vejle's oldest extant building, St. Nicolai Church, was built in the mid-13th century. On display in the church is the Haraldskær bog woman, a body from the Iron Age that was preserved with its skin intact in a local peat bog. Another feature of the church are 23 spherical indentations on the north transept – legend says these are imprints of the skulls of executed robbers from the woods that surround Vejle.
Among the city's cultural institutions is the renovated and expanded Vejle Museum of Art. The museum features the Wörzner collection with several COBRA works as well as works by Rembrandt. Today, Vejle Town Museum is located in the renovated Spinning Mill.
The Socialists' former stronghold in Vejle, The Building, is today placed under glass in what used to be the shopping center "Mary's", and houses restaurants, cafés and two venues for e.g. jazz concerts. Økolariet is a free edutainment center for both children and adults, focusing on technology, ecology, recycling, etc.
Vejle is situated close to several Jutland attractions such as the Legoland Billund and the Viking Age royal capital of Jelling. Jelling's archaeological artifacts are considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and include two 10th century and two , as well as a new exhibition centre.
Vejle also cooperates with:
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