Ribe

is situated in southern Denmark, only one and a half hours’ drive from where I live. Its history dates back to about year 700. You can easily walk around and enjoy the old buildings and sights. More than once, I have written about the Danish American Jacob Riis, who was born in Ribe, and luckily, there is a new museum about his life as an American immigrant. In another post, I will describe my experience with that museum.

Jacob Riis’ Birth Place and the Latin School

The Latin School where his father was a teacher and where he and his siblings got their schooling. The two photos with wall memorials are for fallen former pupils of the Latin School from both World Wars.

The inscription means “For Science and Art”.

The Cathedral

Ribe Cathedral from c. 1150 

Pictures from the Streets of Ribe

This post gives you an impression of the Medieval town close to the North Sea and vulnerable to floods. Since July this year, we have visited this place twice. In July, to sense the atmosphere of the centenary of reuniting a lost part of Denmark from German occupation. In early September we went for an annual music festival for a misunderstood Danish composer, Rued Langgaard, whose music is starting to become acknowledged. The photos are from the two different events and seasons.

For more on the loss of territory to the Germans in 1864, my husband, Henry, has a post on that subject. The German Emperor ‘kindly’ let us keep the important Royal town Ribe as the new border passed south of it and went north for the rest of the distance across Jutland. We regained half of the territory after WWI in 1920 after a vote. The Germans had made ethnic cleansing in the Southern part to dominate remaining in Germany.

Ribe is the oldest town in Scandinavia is a magnet for tourists from all over the world for the old cultural sights and listed houses

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