Brabrand Lake

Brabrand Lake (Danish: Brabrand-søen or Brabrand Sø) is a lake in the district of Brabrand (Gellerup), west of Aarhus city, Denmark. The Aarhus River passes through Brabrand Lake and it is possible to canoe all the way to the inner city from here. The lake is oblong-shaped.

Within the last decade, Brabrand Lake has steadily been extended 3–4 km further west, with the new lake of Årslev Engsø (lit.: meadow lake of Årslev). It was politically decided, to abandon the artificial draining of the meadows and as of 2013, Årslev meadow lake has a surface area of around 100 hectares (250 acres). The total area including the adjoining meadows and reed beds sums up to 240 hectares (590 acres). It is expected that Eurasian bittern and otter, will find themselves a new home here with time. In everyday parlance, "Brabrand Lake" is a general term including the surroundings as well, indicating a total area of around 560 hectares (1,400 acres) with 253 hectares (630 acres) for the lake alone.

Brabrand

Brabrand (Danish pronunciation: [ˈbʀɑːbʀɑn]) is a postal district of Aarhus Municipality, Denmark. South of Brabrand, in the Aarhus river-valley, is the largest recreational area of Aarhus Municipality, comprising the Brabrand Lake and the meadow-lake of Årslev, with surrounding natural sites.

History

Brabrand was originally a village 6–9 km west of Aarhus, founded in the 18th century, by clearing the land by forest burning (the Danish name reflects this), and its economy was initially based on farming and associated trades. The village became a suburb of Aarhus in 1970 and has now completely merged with the city.

Description

The district of Brabrand is located outside the ring road of Ring 2 and comprise four distinct areas: The old town in the south by the lake, mainly made up of single-family houses. A modern housing area in the west, with a mix of single-family houses and low multi-family houses. An industrial park around the road of Edwin Rahrs Vej in the north, and finally the modernist suburban residential area of Gellerup in the east.