Established in the first decade of the 8th century and first attested in a document dated 854 AD; Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark.
When Ansgar the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, set out on the "Mission to bring Christianity to the North", he made a request in 860, to the King of Denmark, that the first Scandinavian church be built in Ribe. This was not coincidental, since Ribe already at that point was one of the most important trade cities in Scandinavia. However the presence of a bishop, and thus a cathedral, in Ribe can only be confirmed from the year 948 AD.
The town has many well-preserved old buildings, Ribe Cathedral, and about 110 houses are under Heritage Protection. Denmark's oldest town hallis found on the town's Von Støckens Plads. The building was erected in 1496, and was purchased by the city for use as a town hall in 1709
