From prison town to cultural pearl

by Ms Maia Lindstroem Sejersen and Mr Ole Wolf

Only 7 years ago the Danish provincial town Horsens, was a dark spot on the map. Horsens was known for the large state prison and a high crime rate. Its bad reputation caused problems for the local businesses, which had problems in attracting skilled labour. Nobody wanted to move here. Today Horsens has turned into a blooming cultural town with international performers, exciting cultural events, newcomers and a booming business development.

In 2002, 52% of the Danish said, "State Prison" when asked about Horsens. In 2006, 53% replied "culture" when asked the same question. During the last couple of years the population has been growing with 1.000 new citizens each year. It has taken many years of hard, determined work and cooperation to turn the image around.

In the 90's, the town agreed to host three large sport and cultural events with only a few year interval. The events made thousands flock to Horsens. The preparation and processing of the events got the whole community involved. The local associations and clubs, emergency and security forces, the municipality, business community, retail trade and tourist association - everybody contributed to make the events run smoothly. This generated four annual festivals, Medieval Festival, Children's Theatre Festival, Crime Novels Festival and Classical Music Festival. 13 managing directors of local businesses agreed to form a sponsoring club with the purpose of attracting large, international artists to perform in Horsens. Bob Dylan was the first, later followed Joe Cocker, Tom Jones, Robbie Williams, Bryan Adams, David Bowie, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones, Madonna and Dolly Parton. Horsens became famous as a provincial town with great concerts.

"World of Crime" is the latest project that involves the old - now empty state prison. The plan is to convert the historic prison dating back to 1853 into an international tourist attraction. The town once famous for its prison will now be famous for a cultural attraction.