HORSENS

city, Vejle amtskommune (county commune), eastern Jutland, Denmark. It lies at the head of Horsens Fjord, southwest of rhus. Founded in the 11th or 12th century, Horsens was a fortified town with several monasteries. The port received its first market charter in 1442 and had become a commercial centre by the 18th century. Horsens is the birthplace of Vitus Bering (who discovered the Bering Strait in 1728). A Franciscan monastery chapel and the late Romanesque Vor Frelsers Kirke (Church of Our Saviour), dating from the late 13th century, have been restored. The city contains a museum and several 18th-century merchants' houses. It is also the site of a Danish prison (1853). Horsens is now a commercial, shipping, and industrial centre and a rail junction. Major products are textiles, machinery, tobacco, and dairy foods. Pop. (1992 est.) city, 47,085; (1994 est.) mun., 55,314.