Halmerhaven

Halmerhaven (Danish:Halmerhavn) is the capital of [[Thorway. It has a population of approx. 158.163 citizens (2008). It is the largest city in Thorway. It is also the administrative centre of Halmerhaven Kommune.

History
The city was founded in 1230 by the King of Denmark. It was given Market rights in 1327 making it the only market town on the island. In 1370 Nils the peaceful build a Nilsinborg Castle outside of Halmershaven. In 1370 the citylimits was expanded to give place to new buildings after the decleration of independence. The Fist city hall of Halmerhaven was build in 1379 and worked as a city hall untill 1690 when a new was build.

In July 3 [wikipedia:1643|1643]] a big fire started in the middle of Halmershaven. 67 buildings burned down and many families was left without a home. The fire started in an old house and quickly spread to the nearby houses. 21 people were killed in the flames incl. the major of the city Oluf Hulgardson.

In the beginning of the 19th century Halmershaven was a wealthy city with alot of trade. It had grown from beeing a small market town to beeing a big city with more than 9000 citizens. In the beginning of the 1840s liberalist people in Halmershaven started a movement for democracy, they wanted to give the people more rights. In 1850 the first constitution of a democratic Thorway was signed by the king and the first election was held. The Halmhaven Castle was turned in to the house of parliament.

Halmerhaven grew bigger and bigger through the years in the end of the 19th century more factories started to grow up in the city giving more workplaces to the citizens of Halmerhaven. Suburbs started growing and more and more people moved closer to the city in the beginning of the 20th century.

During world war II the city was bombed several times and many factories was destroyed.

After world war II new times came to Halmerhaven, the city was poor and many people lived on the streets. The government decided to build a whole new part of the city in the 1950s. South of Halmerhaven a new part grew up with cheap appartements to the poor families. New workplaces was founded and slowly the city got back on track.

In the end of the 20th century Halmershaven had become a modern city with many happy citizens.