Ribe town in 825 AD

When then our venerable pastor came into the presence of the king, having as his helper the most noble Burghard, he was very graciously received by the young Haarik. Moreover, he agreed that there should be a bell in the church, the use of which the pagans regarded as unlawful. In another village called RIBE, situated within his kingdom, he likewise gave a site for the erection of a church and granted permission for a priest to be there.

“Ribe” as a place name is first found in the Life of Ansgar, put in writing around 870 AD, but we know that the settlement of the area at this time had been around for more than 150 years.

Around the year 800 there was a denser settlement north of the river, in connection with the market place, which had been used seasonally for 100 years. In the Ribe of the Viking Age you find – in contrast to the self-sufficient farming communities of the Iron Age – professional artisans who are able to subsist to a large extent on the value of their crafts alone.

To the west, Ribe was bordered naturally by the small river and in the first half of the 9^th century a 2-meter wide ditch and low wall was built in a half circle to the east. This would have been a symbolic demarcation, showing that within the walls, the laws, rights and obligations of the town community were enforced. At this time there would have been no real military significance in the building of the wall, however in the middle of the 12^th century it appears that a fortification of Ribe becomes necessary and the ditch is expanded to form a proper moat.
North of Ribe Å, the present day town is located in the same spot as it was in the Viking Age. New fragments of history appear every time the modern town digs into the ground to make room for basements, piping, etc., but archeological excavations are made more difficult by the surrounding buildings. As you walk through the reconstruction of Ribe Town, 825 AD, at Ribe VikingeCenter, you can form your own impression of how  the Inn, the Ribe house (Silversmiths), cobbler's house, and the streets themselves would have appeared.