SILKEBORG

city, rhus amtskommune (county), eastern Jutland, Denmark, on the Guden (river) and Langs, a small lake, west of rhus. An episcopal town of some importance in the Middle Ages, its castle became a royal hunting and fishing base after the Reformation. The present city, dating from 1845 (chartered 1900), grew up around a paper mill. Now a rail junction, its products in addition to paper include farm machinery, textiles, and beer. It is also a noted health resort and a centre for the Silkeborg Langs, a chain of lakes on the Guden. The surrounding well-wooded country, the heather, and the hills, including Himmelbjerget (Hill of Heaven; 482 ft ) and Yding Skovhj (Denmark's highest point, 568 ft ), make this one of the nations most scenic and popular resort districts. A few miles west of Silkeborg is a memorial to Denmark's distinguished dramatist Kaj Munk, murdered here by the Nazis in 1944. Pop. (1988 est.) city, 34,049; (1990 est.) mun., 48,280.