Send Gift Baskets to Frederiksberg, Denmark

Frederiksberg was originally called Tulehøj, a reference to the Danish word thul (thyle) and høj (hill) cross-referencing the ancient Viking who served as the ombudsman of pagan traditions. The name appears by Runestone Snoldelev, which tells of an ancient Viking who gave his name to this small. In Håvamål, Odin was referred to as “the old thul”. Thul comes from the Norwegian word for song. The name Tulehøj (“Tulleshøy”) came in 1443 and was considered Copenhagen’s line of defense to the west. The locals had lived there before that.

The history of Frederiksberg goes back to July 28, 1920, when King Frederik IX granted the Danish-Dutch peasants the rights to settle on Amagerland and establish themselves as a farming community; naming it for his father Christian IV. Farming not becoming profitable, and ratcheting up taxes was an issue for the peasants in 1697. In response, this eventually led to the majority of their lands reverting to Christian V by 1735.

In the late 1700s, King Frederik IV built a palace on top of the hill known as Valby Bakke. He named it Frederich’s Berg, and the rebuilt town at the foot of the hill subsequently changed its name to Frederiksberg. Many houses near Copenhagen were bought by citizens, who didn’t farm the land but rather used them like country houses.

Copenhagen is known for its fertile green countryside in the summer. It is a popular tourist stop with high-end restaurants and retirement homes. While there was once a time when people lived in cramped conditions, the skies opened up to the new urban space.

At first, the town grew slowly but in 1800, the population began to grow rapidly- from 1,000 people in 1770 to 1,200 people in 1800. By 1850 it had reached 3,000.

In 1852, Parliament lifted restrictions that prohibited new buildings outside of Copenhagen’s city walls. Soon afterward, settlements were built in the eastern part near Copenhagen and the western part. As the population grew, so too did the number of jobs. In 1900 the population reached 80,000 and in 1950 Frederiksberg peaked with a population of 120,000.

Today, Frederiksberg consists almost entirely of 3 to 5-story residential houses, large single-family homes, and large parks. Only a few areas with light industry remain.