| Gladsaxe Municipality | |
| Settlement Type: | Municipality |
| Image Alt: | A redbrick church surrounded by trees |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Denmark |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Hovedstaden |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Seat Type: | Seat |
| Seat: | Gladsaxe |
| Leader Party: | S |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Trine Græse |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 25 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 70600 |
| Population As Of: | 1. January 2024 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | CET |
| Utc Offset1: | +1 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +2 |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Municipal code |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | 159 |
Gladsaxe Municipality (Danish: Gladsaxe Kommune) is a municipality (Danish, kommune) near Copenhagen in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (Sjælland) in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 25km2, and has a total population of 70,600 (2024). Its mayor is Trine Græse, a member of the Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterne) political party.
The site of its municipal council is the town of Buddinge. Other towns in the municipality are Gladsaxe, Bagsværd, Mørkhøj and Søborg —but town limits are not distinguishable because the towns have grown together in an urban sprawl. Mørkhøj, Værebro in Bagsværd and Høje-Gladsaxe are larger housing projects and home to many immigrants and being typical for many concrete highrise suburbs in Copenhagen. Picture of Gladsaxe Heights:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8b/Hojegladsaxe2.jpg
At Gladsaxe, there is a 206.5adj=midNaNadj=mid guyed TV mast, which was built in 1955. It was the first TV transmission site in Denmark.
Since 2014, Gladsaxe has been home to Copenhagen gem and mineral show, the largest gem and mineral show in Scandinavia. The show is an annual two-day event that attracts exhibitors from all around the world and an audience of thousands from Denmark and Sweden.
Gladsaxe municipality was not merged with other municipalities by 1 January 2007 as the result of nationwide Kommunalreformen ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007).
Gladsaxe municipality is home to many company headquarters, including those of Novo Nordisk, Novozymes and Scandinavian Tobacco Group and MT Højgaard.
According to Gladsaxe-bogen I (which focuses on then Gladsaxe-Herlev municipality up until 1909) by C.L.B. Cramer, humans first settled in Gladsaxe around 10.000 years ago.[2]
In 1670 the parishes of Gladsaxe and Herlev became "rider districts", and every farm had to house a rider/soldier or pay 48 rigsdales yearly. Cramer described "these years as probably some of the most uneasiest years in the parishes long history". In the 1720s the king built a school for riders in Gladsaxe, and his sister, Sophie Hedevig, built a school in Bagsværd. These were the first schools in Gladsaxe. In 1750, Gladsaxe Præstegaard burns down, along with some farms, with many people losing their lives.
In 1945, Søborg School was used to accommodate 500 German refugees, meaning students at that school instead were educated at Marielyst School. This caused the school hours to be reduced from 50 to 40 minutes, with half the students meeting from 8 to 13 o'clock and the other half from 13 to 18 o'clock. In November of that year the refugees could move in at a badminton hall by Gladsaxev Street due to renovations providing room division and heating.[3]
During the 1960's and up until the 2000's, the headquarters of Denmarks Radio, the national broadcaster of Denmark, were located in Gladsaxe.
In 1977-78, a 19-year-old student from Gladsaxe known as "Bombemanden" (The bomb man) was known for placing pipe bombs in public areas in Copenhagen, such as phoneboxes, hurting four although killing no one.[4]
In 1980, a library, Gladsaxe Hovedbibliotek, opened right by the town hall square, becoming the head library of Gladsaxe.[5]
In 1994, a McDonalds restaurant opened by the Buddinge Center.[6]
Park and green spaces in Gladsaxe Municipality include Aldershvile Slotspark, Bagsværd Fort Folkepark, Bagsværd Sø, Bagsværd Søpark, Gladsaxe Fort Gyngemosen og Høje Gladsaxe Park, Kagsåparken, Nybro Åmose, Radiomarken and Smør- og Fedtmosen.[7]
Almost every year, if not every year, there is a day called ''Gladsaxe Day'' (Gladsaxedagen in Danish), where people in Gladsaxe come together and celebrate.[8]
Gladsaxe's municipal council consists of 25 members, elected every four years.
Below are the municipal councils elected since the Municipal Reform of 2007.
| Election | Party | Total seats | Turnout | Elected mayor | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 66.3% | Karin Søjberg Holst (A) | ||||
| 2009 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 62.7% | ||||||
| 2013 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 68.4% | |||||
| 2017 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 65.7% | Trine Græse (A) | |||||
| 2021[9] | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 62.4% | ||||||
| Data from Kmdvalg.dk 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021 | ||||||||||||||
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Denmark. Gladsaxe is twinned with:[10]
Gagny, France
Haabersti (Tallinn), Estonia
Klagenfurt, Austria
Koszalin, Poland
Narsaq, Kujalleq, Greenland
Pirkkala, Finland
Ski, Norway
Solna, Sweden
Taitō (Tokyo), Tokyo, Japan
Veszprém, Hungary