Sønderborg is a Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Sønderborg Municipality (Kommune). The town has a population of 27,841 (1 January 2020), in a municipality of 74,561. In recent times, Sønderborg is a center for trade, tourism, industry, and education in the region of Southern Denmark. The town is the headquarters for several industrial companies.
The town of Sønderborg is home to Sønderborg Castle (Sønderborg Slot), the Royal Danish Army‘s Sergeant School (until 2013) and Sandbjerg Estate (Sandbjerg Gods). Sønderborg castle is in the centre of the town, and houses a museum focusing on the history and culture of the area. The museum is open all year. Sandbjerg Estate, which had belonged for many years to the Dukes of Sønderborg, and then to the Reventlow family, was donated to Aarhus University in 1954. In addition, Sønderborg has a castle-like barracks built by the German military in 1906, placed centrally by Als Fjord, opposite Alsion. The old part of Sønderborg is on the island of Als, but some of its western suburbs have spread onto the mainland of Jutland into what had been the interior of the fort of Dybbøl.
The city is served by Sønderborg Airport. The airline, Alsie Express provides flights directly to Copenhagen and seasonal flights to destinations such as Bornholm and Naples. The train station in Sønderborg, located next to Alsion, provides daily services to Fredericia and Copenhagen, as well as a direct service to Copenhagen Airport. Mols-linjen operates daily ferry services from Fynshav to Bøjden on the island of Funen , with roads connecting the town to Odense and further to Sjælland and Copenhagen.
Sønderborg is an economic hub in the region of Southern Denmark, with industries within electronics, manufacturing, food processing, Information Technology and telecommunications among others, with several companies headquartered in and around the town. The high-tech industry includes the manufacturing and development of electronics, machines, industrial equipment, and software. Companies of major importance in the high-tech sector headquartered in the region include Danfoss who employs around 1000 people in Sønderborg, and 25,000 people globally. Linak, headquartered in Nordborg 25km from Sønderborg, produces linear actuators for a variety of different applications, from agriculture to healthcare, and employs around 1,100 people in the region. AGRAMKOW Fluid Systems, is the world leading manufacturer of filling machines and test solutions within the Appliance refrigerants and airconditions industry. Maersk container industries(MCI), a part of the Maersk group, manufactures refrigerated and refrigeration machines shipping containers, has its headquarters in Sønderborg.
The food processing and meat packing group, Danish Crown has a slaughterhouse located in the town of Blans, outside of Sønderborg. The slaughterhouse produces pork and meat products for consumption, and employs around 940 people. BHJ is a leading supplier of animal proteins for the international food and pet food industries, with headquarters in Gråsten, outside of Sønderborg and more than 900 employees worldwide. In telecommunications, TDC A/S operates a callcenter employing roughly 370 employees. In August 2014, TDC planned to outsource around 700 full-time positions to American company Sitel, by 2015. Skyways technics, an aircraft service and repair company is headquartered at Sønderborg Airport and has 150 employees in Sønderborg and Billund. Saab AB also has offices in the town, mainly focused on sales and engineering.
