[edit]
Name[edit]
The name Aars first appears in 1345. The site name researcher Svend Aakjær's statement was that it originates from the Old Norse / Old English word árr or ármadr (Ar in old English). Which in Danish means the king's ombudsman or earl. Another explanation is that it comes from the man name Aar / Ar.
Aars stone[edit]
Aars stone
At the church in Aars there is a rune stone with the following inscription: (front) Asser put this stone after his lord Valtoke, (backside) The stone proclaims that it will stand here for a long time, it should mention Valtoke's varie. Valtoke full name was Valtoke Gormsson but he was also called Toke Gormsson, and he was son of Gorm the old (Danish: Gorm den gamle). He died in the Battle of Fýrisvellir and the stone was raised near Aars because he was Earl of Vendsyssel which is not too far from Aars, but how it ended up in Aars is not known. The rune stone was rediscovered in Aars in 1654. It is believed to have originally stood north-east of the church, probably as part of a memorial assemblage comparable to the Jelling stones.
Års Herred[edit]
Års Herred marked yellow
A herred is a form of district or county. Års herred is known to have existed in 1345 and is believed to have come out of Hornum herred and Slet herred. From 1660, it was a part of Aalborghus Amt, but from 1970 to 2007, it was a part of Aalborg Amt until Aalborg Amt melted together with Hjørring Amt and created Nordjyllands Amt (English: North Jutland amt).[citation needed]
Railway town[edit]
The decommissioned railway has now been repurposed as the pathway Himmerlandsstien
In 1875, there were 782 residents in Aars parish. In a description from around that time of the city is said "Aars with Church, Clergy house, School and Inn with Grocery Store, Bakery and Meltyard". In 1880 there was another grocery store. The end of the 18th century was there a post office.
In 1893, the city received a state railway station on the Himmerlandsbaner from Hobro / Viborg via Aalestrup to Løgstør. In 1899, Aars became Himmerland's railroad junction. The private railway Aars-Nibe-Svenstrup (-Aalborg) got a terminal here and was extended in 1910 from Aars to Hvalpsund. The Great Rail Act of 1918 even opened the possibility that there should also be a Himmelland crossroads Aars-Arden-Bælum-Øster Hurup, but this course was never brought, like most projects in this law.
Aalborg-Hvalpsund Railway was closed in 1969. As early as 1966, DSB's passenger traffic at Aars Station was terminated. The freight traffic Viborg-Løgstør continued with the expedition station in Aars, but ended in 1999. The station has been demolished, the track was taken up in 2006 and the former railway station is now shopstores. It will be used by the Himmerlands path to Viborg and Løgstør. Nature trail Nibe-Hvalpsund uses the railway line to Nibe, but follows Løgstørvej in the first 2 km towards Havbro.
Aars Municipality[edit]
Main article: Aars Municipality
Aars Municipality was formed by Kommunalreformen in 1970 which made the Parishes into municipalities and in the Aars municipality the town of Aars was the head city/capital/municipal seat of the municipality. The municipality covered an area of 223 km2 and had a total population of 13,284 in 2005. But in 2007, Aars Municipality ceased to exist and was merged with the former Farsø, Løgstør, and Aalestrup municipalities to form the new Vesthimmerland Municipality, with an area of 768.08 km2 (2013) and a total population of 38,277 (2008). The reason behind the merge was Kommunalreformen ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007) which merged many of the now former municipalities into bigger municipalities. Aars Municipality also had what is called a Municipality shield which was a Cimbrian bull (Danish:cimbrertyren) with a red background. The bull symbolized that the Cimbri were present in what was the area in Aars Municipality. Even though Aars Municipality is a thing of the past, the municipality shield can still be found around the city, for example in manhole covers and in the city entrance sign.
Excavation[edit]
The construction of a new bypass revealed 4000 year-old buildings. The archaeologists from Vesthimmerland Museum in Aars found a collection of houses they estimated to be around 4000 years old. However, there are only staggered tracks and other tracks, but overall, the findings show that the Aars area has been populated, and probably also densely populated for several thousands of years.
They have found traces of more houses. They assume that at least five of the houses are simultaneous. There is a trace of the plow type called an ard. Other things have also been found at the old houses. There have been found remains of an amber, ceramic cut, Flintafslags and two axes, a mountain axe and a single-grave axe.
