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The history of Rønne, part 1.

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Rønne harbour entrance – Photo: Infobornholm

The largest town on Bornholm is Rønne. It is the city most people get to know when they arrive on the island. But what does Rønne actually mean. Long back in history, the area was called Rotna or Rødne, which means rotten, referring to the fact that the old settlement was built on a low-lying and marshy area where the harbour is today. There has been a stench from rotting seaweed. Fortunately, you hardly ever experience that stench from the area anymore, as they remove most of the seaweed from areas where it gets washed up into the sea.

How far back in history there have been settlements in the area has not been found, but it is known that from ca. 1000 has been a small settlement of fishermen’s houses and farms. Because there are two underwater reefs extending from the shore, these reefs together form a natural harbour with deep water within these reefs. Here the fishermen had the opportunity to anchor with the larger boat, while lying almost sheltered, the small vessels were pulled up on the beach. The houses were located in the area from the church square to Nørrekås boat harbour.

During the 13th century, the population grew and Rønne gradually became a large town. In 1327 the town was granted the status of a market town, which meant that it had its own government with a mayor, council and its own jurisdiction, as well as royal privileges for merchants and craftsmen. Rønne also became a very important post for merchant travellers on the Baltic Sea, who used the city as a stopover on their journey from Germany to Visby on Gotland. Some merchants from Greifswald even settled in Rønne, where before 1400 they had a “guild” that could provide them with protection when they had their trading stalls in the city during the summer. In 1378 the Greifswalders secured certain rights from Archbishop Niels Jonsøn. They were allowed to buy a piece of land and built a “company house” For this “company house” they had to pay a small annual fee. In 1433 they got a chapel which was probably part of Rønne church. From here both masses and funerals of their “guild brothers” from near and far were to take place.

Now that Rønne had become a larger city, it also had a certain interest in the trading towns in the Baltic Sea area. When it was peacetime, it meant a lively trade and an increased turnover in the town, but during the periods of unrest, it meant that Bornholm was invaded by people who had only one purpose, which was to loot everything they came near and set fire to people’s houses, unless they would pay fire tax to avoid their houses being looted and burned. Especially in the 16th century the island was invaded several times by the Lübeckers who plundered, ravaged and demanded large taxes from the population.

In 1525 Borholm was given to Lübeck as a mortgage for 50 years, because the Danish crown owed large sums that it could not pay. The Danish lord of Hammershus was replaced by a German, to whom the island instead had to pay taxes and duties. The Lubelian merchants were given the right to settle in the towns on the island and trade on the same terms as the local merchants.

However, the Lübeck presence in Rønne had a positive effect. Trade, fishing and agriculture flourished. But as the 50 years as a mortgage came to an end, the local merchants tried to increase their turnover at the expense of the local merchants, but it did not go very well. The local merchants and citizens simply threw the Lübeckers out of their stalls, while those from Greifswald, Stralsund and other North German merchants were allowed to stay.

After the Lübeck period, Rønne apparently came to a virtual standstill. This is because during the 1500s, trade routes were re-routed due to America’s discovery and knowledge of the sea route to the Far East south of Africa. At the same time, Baltic herring stocks declined sharply.

From about 1576 and 300 years onwards the population increased very slowly, also because the plague came to the island 5 times during that period and many people lost their lives.

At the end of the 17th century, the town was still concentrated in the area from the church and to the north, where today we find Storegade and Grønnegade, the large merchants’ farms and the houses were well built and arranged in continuation of each other towards the road. South of the church, there were very few houses and they were more pointed. At that time there were probably already plans to build squares in the city, as old drawings from 1676 show large bare areas where today we have St. Torv and Lille Torv located, moreover, the drawing shows areas for a road network. In 1684 there was a trading post located where Snellemark is today. On the outskirts of the town there were 3 mills located on the site of today’s Laxegade. The few streets that existed in Rønne at that time – and on the rest of the island – did not have a street name, the houses had a name such as the corner or the view, this way you could find the house or person you were looking for. Road names first came to the island in 1761.

All towns on Bornholm have always had the opportunity to develop and grow, as there have never been fortifications, ditches or ramparts to restrict building in the towns. That is why the vast majority of houses you see today in e.g. Rønne town centre has a garden or a courtyard. The streets in the old towns are therefore narrow and crooked, due to the fact that people walked or drove horse-drawn carts between all the pieces of land, thus creating a road system.

In 1687, however, there were plans to build a fortress in Rønne. The old town south of the church was to be outside the fortress wall, and where an earlier drawing had open spaces – St. Torv (Leergaards Plads) and Lille Torv – the fortress wall was to be. However, Peter Povlsen Arboe’s project was interrupted when the fortifications on Christiansø were built instead. However, some ditches and ramparts were made, but after a few years they were gone. The only building to be completed was the fort to the south of the city, which today serves as a museum. Peter Povlsen Arboe chose to stay on Bornholm even though his assignment was over. He settled in the place now called St. Torv. The house where he lived was where Nordea Bank is today. Peder Povlsen Arboe became the progenitor of a generation of watchmakers, the very famous Bornholmer watches.

In the mid-17th century, however, there was again talk of building a fortification. The reason was that the facility on Christiansø was inadequate. However, the plans were quickly shelved.

[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ layout=”1_3″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” link=”” target=”_self” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” hover_type=”none” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” border_radius=”” box_shadow=”no” dimension_box_shadow=”” box_shadow_blur=”0″ box_shadow_spread=”0″ box_shadow_color=”” box_shadow_style=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” background_type=”single” gradient_start_color=”” gradient_end_color=”” gradient_start_position=”0″ gradient_end_position=”100″ gradient_type=”linear” radial_direction=”center center” linear_angle=”180″ background_color=”” background_image=”” background_image_id=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_blend_mode=”none” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” filter_type=”regular” filter_hue=”0″ filter_saturation=”100″ filter_brightness=”100″ filter_contrast=”100″ filter_invert=”0″ filter_sepia=”0″ filter_opacity=”100″ filter_blur=”0″ filter_hue_hover=”0″ filter_saturation_hover=”100″ filter_brightness_hover=”100″ filter_contrast_hover=”100″ filter_invert_hover=”0″ filter_sepia_hover=”0″ filter_opacity_hover=”100″ filter_blur_hover=”0″ last=”no”][fusion_title title_type=”text” rotation_effect=”bounceIn” display_time=”1200″ highlight_effect=”circle” loop_animation=”off” highlight_width=”9″ highlight_top_margin=”0″ before_text=”” rotation_text=”” highlight_text=”” after_text=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”backgroundTitle” id=”” content_align=”left” size=”2″ font_size=”” animated_font_size=”” fusion_font_family_title_font=”” fusion_font_subset_title_font=”” fusion_font_variant_title_font=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_top_mobile=”” margin_bottom_mobile=”” text_color=”” animated_text_color=”” highlight_color=”” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

[fusion_fontawesome icon=”fa-map-marker” size=”22px” flip=”” rotate=”” spin=”no” alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” circle=”yes” iconcolor=”#3d4c54″ circlecolor=”#ffffff” circlebordercolor=”#ffffff” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=””][/fusion_fontawesome] Where is Rønne

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