KOLDING  , a

town of Denmark in the amt (county) of Vejle, on the east coast of Jutland, on the Koldingfjord, an inlet of the Little Belt, 9 M . N. of the German frontier . Pop . (Igor), 12,516 . It is on the Eastern railway of Jutland . The harbour throughout has a depth of over 20 ft . A little to the north-west is the splendid remnant of the royal castle Koldinghuus, formerly called Oernsborg or Arensborg . It was begun by Duke Abel in 1248; in 18o8 it was burned . The large square tower was built by Christian IV . (1588-1648), and was surmounted by colossal statues, of which one is still standing . It contains an antiquarian and historical museum (1892) . The name of Kolding occurs in the loth century, but its earliest known town-rights date from 1321 .

In 1644 it was the

scene of a Danish victory over the Swedes, and on the 22nd of April 1849 of a Danish defeat by the troops of Schleswig-Holstein . A comprehensive view of the Little Belt with its islands, and over the mainland, is obtained from the Skamlingsbank, a slight elevation 82 m . S.E., where an obelisk (1863) commemorates the effort made to preserve the Danish language in Schleswig .