Herning - The Capital Of The Heat

Herning is a Danish city of 45,470 inhabitants of Region Midtjylland. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality.

Herning has been called "The Capital of the Heath" and with good reason— it was established at the beginning of the 1800s during the period of heath reclamation. This period of time resulted in a growing population, and a demand for products and services to the new farmers in the area. Herning came into existence as a center of commerce for the area. Later on the town became known for the textile weaving industry that developed in and around the town. This industry was once Herning's principal economic activity, though today the town enjoys a diversified industrial base.

Herning has twice been awarded the title of Danish City of the Year: in 1965 and 2003.

Herning is home to Messecenter Herning, the largest exhibition centre in Scandinavia, which gives the town a reputation for its many trade fairs.

Carl-Henning Pedersen and Else Alfelt's museum of art aka Herning Art Museum is one of the major attractions.

The town is also home to sculptor Ingvar Cronhammar's unique monumental work Elia. It is a black-painted, 60 m dome with four 10 m wide stairways inset into its surface at the earth's cardinal points. These lead to an observation platform overlooking the surrounding heath, as well as to the sculpture's 30.000 cubic meter resonance chamber. Four steel columns rise to a height of 30m over the landscape; they are capped by red domes, lit from below and equipped to attract lightning. In the center of the sculpture, equidistant to the four columns, is a fifth column— a gas burner— about two meters below the viewing platform. The gas burner shoots a pillar of flame about one meter wide and 8.4m high up between the pillars at random intervals controlled by a computer. The sculpture is located in the town near the Herning Art Museum.

The old Herningsholm Estate in Herning is open to the public for touring. Classensborg Estate, now called Skarrildhus, is located 25 km south of the town, but is closed to the public because it is a private hotel and educational facility. The grounds, however, can be toured and are known for their beautiful rhododendron displays during the spring.