Odense Odense River to the south and Naesbyhoved Lake (now dry) to the north. Nonnebakken, one of Denmark's former Viking ring fortresses, lay to the south of the river. Today, Odense's Møntergården Museum has many artefacts related to the early Viking history in the Odense area. The Vikings built numerous fortifications along the river banks to defend it against invaders coming in from the coast. The city celebrated its thousandth anniversary in 1988, commemorating the first mention of the town's name in a letter dated 18 March 988 from the German Emperor Otto III which granted rights to Odense and neighbouring
Odense Stadium plans were finally approved by the then-mayor of Odense, Hans Christian Petersen (Conservative People's Party), and Odense Idrætspark was founded on 27 December 1927, with the expectation that the municipality built the stadium, and the local sports clubs would run it. The building site for the city's first stadium was placed at Kildemosen, in an area located in the western section of the workshops for Sydfyenske Railways (SFJ) and 'Sukkerkogeriet Odense'. On 16 August 1931, the first edition of Odense Idrætspark, was inaugurated with an association football match marked by pouring rain – on the exhibition pitch without any grandstands