Hillerød

Hillerød is a Danish city with a population of 30,853 (1 January 2013) located in North Zealand. Hillerød is the capital of "Region Hovedstaden" (The Capital Region), one of the five regions in Denmark, and is also the third-largest city in this part of Zealand after Copenhagen and Helsingør.

Hillerød today


The city of Hillerød has a rich trade and cultural life. Hillerød is especially known for Frederiksborg Castle, in the center of the town. Another cultural institution is “Hillerød Viden- og Kulturpark” (Hillerød Knowledge and Culture Park); a library with surrounding culture workshops and game spots. This is the gathering spot for the cultural life of Hillerød - with exhibitions, music and theatre.

Business and education
Of the inhabitants in Hillerød, 60% are engaged in active employment: most of these people have high qualifications and a high level of education. The characteristics of the business life in Hillerød are the dominants of pharmaceutical companies, knowledge, production and education. The municipality has a number of education institutions that offer short-term or medium-term education. Among them are the Business Academy North Sealand, Hillerød Technical School, Hillerød Business School, Hillerød Tekniske Gymnasium, Frederiksborg Gymnasium og HF, VUC and Hillerød teacher training college.

Attractions and tourism
The best known monument is Frederiksborg Castle, which was long a seat of Danish kings. The castle is open to the public and houses the Frederiksborg Museum/The Museum of National History. It has a large baroque garden.

The Town Museum ("Bymuseet") contains a permanent exhibition on the history of Hillerød.

"The Boiler Room" ("Kedelhuset") has changing special exhibits. In 2005, the subject was the ancient and medieval history of Northern Zealand.

The ruins of Æbelholt Abbey (Æbelholt Klosterruin) are the remains of the largest Augustinian monastery in the northern countries. The site also contains a museum showing its history. The monastery was founded in 1175/76 by the French Augustinian, William of Æbelholt, later Saint William, for the reform of the already extant Eskilsø Abbey, which was moved here. He was summoned to the task by the Danish archbishop and statesman Absalon. After the Reformation in 1536, the monastery lands were appropriated by the state and the buildings were torn down. Some of the bricks were later used in the construction of Frederiksborg Castle.

Esrum Abbey ("Esrum Kloster") is a Cistercian monastery dating from 1151. The only remaining building of this once vast complex now houses a permanent exhibition about the Cistercians. There is a restaurant in the vaults. Next to the monastery is "Esrum Møllegaard", the Nature and Environmental Centre of Ecology.

Accomodation
Hillerød offers many different places to stay. One of the most popular place to stay in Hillerød is by the bed and breakfast "Sovdejligt" in the centre of Hillerød.

Nature
Hillerød is surrounded by some of the most extensive woodlands in Denmark, with Store Dyrehave to the south and the forests of Gribskov to the north. Gribskov is the second largest forest in the country, and is home to one of the largest lakes in Denmark, Esrum Sø. Fredensborg Palace Garden are next to Gribskov and Esrum Sø.

These forests are rich with wild game such as deer.

Pharmakon - Danish College of Pharmacy Practice
Situated in Hillerød, Pharmakon - Danish College of Pharmacy Practice (Farmakonomskolen Pharmakon) is a higher tertiary educational institution of pharmaceutical sciences with 602 pharmaconomist students.