Randers Municipality

Randers Municipality (Danish: Randers Kommune, pronounced [ˈʁɑnɐs kʰoˈmuːnə]) is a municipality (Danish, kommune) in Region Midtjylland on the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 748.21 km² (288.89 sq mi), and has a population of 100,356 (as of 1. January 2025). Its mayor, since 1 January 2018 is Torben Hansen, a member of the Social Democrats. The main town and the site of its municipal council is the city of Randers.

Randers Municipality Randers Kommune (Danish)
Municipality
The old Town Hall on the square in Randers with statue of Niels Ebbesen in front
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 56°27′35″N 10°02′10″E
Country	Denmark
Region	Central Denmark
Seat	Randers
Government
• Mayor	Torben Hansen
Area
• Total	748.21 km2 (288.89 sq mi)
Population  (1. January 2025)[1]
• Total	100,356
• Density	130/km2 (350/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC2 (CEST)
Website	www.randers.dk

Niels Ebbesen statue in front of the old Town Hall in Randers, Denmark.

The municipality is part of Business Region Aarhus and of the East Jutland metropolitan area, which had a total population of 1.378 million in 2016.^[2][3]

Overview

The Guden River (Gudenå), Denmark's longest river, runs from Randers Fjord in Nørhald municipality to the east, through the city of Randers, and splits in two ca. 5 kilometers west of the central city. The northern tributary is called Nørreå ("Northern River"), and it continues westward, defining part of the boundary between Århus and Viborg Counties, and terminates at Vedsø ("Lake Ved") near the town of Rindsholm in Viborg municipality. The 160 kilometer long Guden River continues to Tinnet Krat in Vejle County.

The city's nearly 3 kilometer long Guden River Park (Gudenåparken) stretches along the river's banks in the center of the town.

History

On 1 January 2007, Randers municipality was, as the result of Kommunalreformen ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007), merged with existing Nørhald, Purhus, and a portion of each of the following municipalities— Langå, Sønderhald, and Mariager— to form an enlarged Randers municipality.

Subdivisions

The municipality is composed by the city of Randers and 26 villages:

Nr	Place	Population (2023)[4]
1	Randers	64,057
2	Assentoft	3,822
3	Langå	2,879
4	Stevnstrup	2,522
5	Spentrup	2,316
6	Harridslev	1,219
7	Fårup	1,050
8	Øster Bjerregrav	1,010
9	Øster Tørslev	879
10	Havndal	812
11	Haslund	799
12	Asferg	667
13	Gjerlev	631
14	Mejlby	618
15	Mellerup	518
16	Gassum	417
17	Uggelhuse	415
18	Hald	364
19	Råsted	298
20	Hørning	296
21	Værum	290
22	Ålum	272
23	Albæk	268
24	Dalbyover	254
25	Gimming	231
26	Tånum	223
27	Lem	203

Politics

Municipal council

Randers' municipal council consists of 31 members, elected every four years.

Below are the municipal councils elected since the Municipal Reform of 2007.

Election	Party										Total seats	Turnout	Elected mayor
	A	B	C	F	L	O	R	V	Æ	Ø
2005	12	1	1		3	1	1	12			31	68.7%	Henning Jensen Nyhuus (A)
2009	13	1	2	2	2	2		9				65.1%
2013	10	1	1	1	3	3		11	1			72.7%	Claus O. Jensen (V)
2017	13	1	1	1	1	3		9	1	1		70.7%	Torben Hansen (A)
Data from Kmdvalg.dk 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017

Notable residents

Christopher Peter Jürgensen, 1880s

• Stygge Krumpen (ca.1485 in Skjøtterup – 1551) a Danish clergyman, secretary of king Christian II of Denmark and the last catholic bishop of the Diocese of Børglum from 1533 to 1536
• Pauline Worm (1825 in Hyllested – 1883) a Danish writer, poet, schoolteacher and feminist
• Christopher Peter Jürgensen (1838 in Gesing – 1911) a Danish precision mechanic and instrument maker
• Niels Lergaard (1893 in Vorup - 1982) a painter, member of the Bornholm school of painters
• Sven Dalsgaard (1914 in Vorup – 1999) a Danish painter, sculptor and writer

Sport

• Lars Elstrup (born 1963 in Råby) a Danish former professional footballer, with 340 club caps and 34 for Denmark
• Erik Bo Andersen (born 1970 in Dronningborg) a Danish former professional footballer with 200 club caps and 6 for Denmark
• Michael Gravgaard (born 1978 in Spentrup) a Danish former footballer with 317 club caps and 18 for Denmark
• Simone Böhme (born 1991 in Spentrup) a Danish female handballer

Sources

• Municipal statistics: NetBorger Kommunefakta, delivered from KMD aka Kommunedata (Municipal Data)
• Municipal mergers and neighbors: Eniro new municipalities map
• Searchable/printable municipal maps: Krak mapsearch Archived 2007-10-05 at the Wayback Machine (outline visible but doesn't print out!)