Søften (alternative spellings include Suten–1386, Suchten–1399, and Søwten–1489) is a small Danish town in Jutland, roughly three kilometers south of Hinnerup and just northwest of Aarhus. Søften has a population of 3,169 (1 January 2026). Archaeological surveys of the area indicate the earliest settlements dates to the Nordic Iron Age.

Søften is located within an area defined by a small river valley. The river valley, formed topographically due to Weichselian glaciation during the last ice age, and runs along the North and West sides of Søften city. The area is relatively hilly (by Danish standards), with slopes leading towards the river valley north of Søften. The narrow wetland of Damsbro Mose runs along the northeast and southwest sides of Søften Valley.

Damsbro Mose is a wetland area, with a very high water table, encompassing both banks of the river Lilleå between Søften and Hinnerup. The large marshland area is a mixture of rich fen, swamp forest, lakes in the form of old gravel pits and fertilized cultivated meadows.

In the southern part of the marsh, the vegetation consists of species such as lesser pond sedge, greater tussock sedge, tussock grass, common reed, reed canary grass, reed mace, willow and alder. In the middle of the marshland area is a section along the river with holy grass. In some of the finer parts of the marsh’s northern area can be found the wettest ground with a wide range of plant life such as obtuse-flowered rush, bottlesedge, two-ranked sedge, marsh bird’s-foot trefoil, European swamp thistle, lesser pond sedge, perennial sedge, meadowsweet, northern water hemlock, bog-bean, great water dock, great spearwort, ragged robin, globe-flower and St Peter’s wort. In the drier areas with small hillocks can be found an exciting lowflora such as star sedge and greater yellow-rattle. Flea sedge and salt marsh flat sedge are common. On and around the hillocks are hawkweed, quaking grass, marsh arrowgrass, marsh grass-of-Parnassus, western marsh-orchid as well as the rare valerian. The marsh is also a habitat for bird species such as the marsh warbler, common grasshopper warbler, nightingale, common snipe, common kestrel, lesser whitethroat, whitethroat, coal tit, willow warbler and the lesser redpoll.

The open marsh landscape was recreated during the Second World War due to the removal of peat on a large scale in the area. From these excavations, the remains of a woman and a young child were found in the marsh, dating to the Nordic Iron Age. Afterwards, remains of a settlement were discovered when building Engdalsvej. During these excavations, traces of dwellings were discovered with preserved stone pavings and pits from the pre-Roman Iron Age. A plan was drawn up for nature and countryside preservation by Naturplan APS for the Municipality of Hinnerup and the County of Aarhus in 1991. In 1992, the Municipality of Hinnerup and the County of Aarhus (which no longer exists) began implementing various initiatives to safeguard the natural values of the marsh. It is possible to walk the entire length of the marsh following paths between Hinnerup and Søften.

The Søften Church is one of the oldest Danish buildings and lies on a west-facing slope, where the terrain opens into the valley. The church was originally erected in the late 12th century with later additions over the centuries. Søften church consists of a Romanesque chancel and nave with two Late Gothic additions: a porch at the south door and to the west tower. The Romanesque section was built between 1500-1200 of rough, hewn travertine, split granite boulders as well as bryozoan limestone. Mainly clay seems to have been used as a binding agent. A cross-vault was constructed c. 1462 in the chancel as were three vaulting bays in the nave. During the church’s restoration by the architect M.B. Fritz in 1928, the tower gable and the windows from 1898 were reconstructed. The wall paintings in the vaulting of the church from the 1460s have the armorial bearings of the Bishop of Aarhus Jens Iversen Lange (1449–82). The nave decoration is from the end of the 15th century, while the tower is most likely came afterwards. Church furniture of note, aside from the Romanesque baptismal font, is a pulpit dating from 1572-88 bearing the arms of King Frederik II and his Queen, a bell from 1656, an altarpiece from 1859, a sepulchral tablet from 1663 potentially crafted by the Aarhus carver Rasmus Christensen. There was once a clear view over the fields and meadows into Nørreris Forest in the 1960s, but the view is now limited by modern-day houses.

After the Reformation, the patronage rights of the church belonged to King Frederik III until the 25.th of September 1661, when it was transferred to Morgens Friis Favrskov. In 1672, when Frijsenborg county was established, the church was incorporated into it. The church tithe, the maintenance obligation of the church, was sold at an auction on 5 April 1803, to Sejer Sommer at Haraldslund and to Erik Christian Muller at Møllerup. Sommer and Muller sold the tithe together with the individual farms to the parish’s citizens. On January 1.st 1910, the church became privately owned.

In the summer of 2008, there were excavations at Søften. The study, led by Moesgård Museum, was spread over an area of six fields just east of Søften. During the summer of 2013, there was a continuation of the study from five years prior. At the site, the sub soil varies greatly, from bold clay over sandy clay and clay-like sand to gravel and rocky sand.