3.4.6 Denmark: Jutland
Description
This article is from the Nordic countries FAQ, by Antti Lahelma and Johan Olofsson, with numerous contributions by others.
3.4.6 Denmark: Jutland
Compared to Sealand and Copenhagen, Jutland has not many castles etc.
to offer. Jutland's main asset is nature, which spans a wide spectrum
from lakes, hills, and forests (very like the landscape of Sealand and
Funen) to heaths, moors, marsh and dunes, unique to the Jutland
landscape. Some of Europe's finest beaches are found on Jutland's
North Sea coast.
Here is a brief description of some of the attractions in Jutland -
going from south to north.
* Sønderjylland:
This part of the country was the northern part of the duchy of
Schleswig - a Danish "dominion". It was ceded from 1864 to 1920
(see history section) and became re-unified with Denmark after a
referendum. Close to Sønderborg, the windmill and embankments of
Dybbøl is part of the national heritage. It was here that Denmark
was defeated in the 1864 war against Austria and Prussia. Further
west, the marshlands and dikes form a unique landscape with an
abundant bird life. The islands of Rømø and Fanø are popular
resorts.
* Vejle and the Jelling Stones:
In south-east Jutland the city of Vejle is a good starting point
for an excursion. On both sides of the Vejle Fjord there are
beautiful beech forests with some (for Danish conditions)
unusually steep hills. The train from Vejle to Jelling will take
you through the Grejs Valley; again with some unusually hilly
terrain and beautiful forests. In the village of Jelling the
"Birth Certificate" of Denmark can be studied: Two large stones
with runic inscriptions set by King Harald Blåtand for his father
Gorm den Gamle (Gorm the Old) and his mother Thyra. The
inscriptions on the stones are some of the oldest known writings
in "Danish" translating approximately as: "Harald had this stone
made, for his father Gorm and his mother Thyra; the Harald who
united all of Denmark and Norway and christianized the Danes". Two
large burial mounds adjacent to the stones are popularly believed
to be the graves of Gorm and Thyra.
* Billund:
About 28 km west of Vejle is the small (but world famous) town of
Billund - home to the Lego factories and Legoland. It's not just
for kids. The centerpiece is "Miniland", a great many models of
cities, palaces, and harbors, all made of Legos and constructed in
scale of 20-to-1. The Amalienborg Palace is there, and Bavaria's
Neuschwandstein Castle, and a Dutch town, and a Norwegian fishing
village, and an oil refinery, and trains, and Mount Rushmore, and
the U.S. Capitol, and zebras, and rabbits, and much more. Many of
the exhibits have moving parts: boats are drawn up into dry dock,
trucks pick up loads, bridges rise and fall, and so on. The DSB
(state railway) sells a very attractively priced ticket at the
central train station in Copenhagen: DKK 344 round trip (as of May
1994), including transfer to the Vejle-Billund bus and admission
to the park.
The town also has Denmark's second largest airport with many
European connections. "Museum Center Billund" houses a collection
of vintage cars and aircraft.
* "Lake District":
Further north-east you enter the "Jutland Highlands" and the "Lake
District" - the area between Horsens, Silkeborg, and Skanderborg.
The world's oldest still-operating paddle steamer will take you on
a sightseeing tour of the lakes. On the southern shore of one of
the lakes is "Sky Mountain" (Himmel-bjerget), so named for its
astonishing height -- 147 meters! There is a nice look-out from
the tower on top of Himmelbjerget.
* Århus:
North-east of the Lake District is Århus, Denmark's second city,
which offers a wide range of things worth seeing.
The Moesgaard Museum is located in a forest some 15 km south of
the city center (bus #6) and it gives a splendid display of
prehistoric Denmark. The museum's main attraction is the Grauballe
Man, a ~2000 year old body found in a bog in eastern Jutland in
1952. Also in the city center you will find museums, e.g. the
Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Art, both located in
the southern part of the university campus (which BTW is well
worth visiting in its own right). You will also find lots of
restaurants, cafes, places with live music etc. The concert hall
(Musikhuset) opposite the City Hall was completed in 1982 and is
home to the Jutland Opera and the Århus Symphony Orchestra.
The university campus is both a beautiful park and a good example
of Danish architecture (by Danish architect C.F.Møller). The
university is an architectural unity where there is no random
mixing of different styles as at many other campuses; the same
simple (some might say barren) design with yellow bricks has been
maintained right from the first buildings of the 1930's to
present-day new constructions.
Århus' main attraction, however, has to be the museum "The Old
Town" (Den Gamle By). This is a collection of old houses from all
over Denmark, carefully dismantled at their original sites and
re-erected at this open-air museum adjacent to the Botanical
Gardens, within walking distance from the city center.
* The "Mid West":
In the central and western parts of Jutland you find the infertile
moor which is probably the closest Denmark has to a "wilderness".
In late summer the purple heather provides a nice setting for a
long hike. Last century large parts of the moor were converted
into plantations and farmland. This was a consequence of the
defeat in the war in 1864; the pioneer of moor plantation E. M.
Dalgas put it like this (approximately): "What was lost abroad
must be won at home".
West of Viborg there are two old chalk mines (Daugbjerg and
Mønsted) with guided tours. Further west there is an open-air
museum at Hjerl Hede with a display of iron age life. At the west
coast the large lagoon Ringkøbing Fjord is home to a bird
sanctuary - Tipperne. Also the tongue of land separating the Fjord
from the North Sea is a popular resort.
* The Limfjord and Himmerland:
The western part of the Limfjord is great for yachting. The island
of Mors in the Limfjord has many splendid landscapes, e.g., the
cliff of Hanklit at the northern part of the island. The porous
clay (called mo-ler) of this cliff consists of zillions of
fossilized diatomers, and this type of clay is not found anywhere
else in the World. Another large bird sanctuary can be found at
Bygholm Vejle 20 km east of the city of Thisted. This marshland is
a result of a failed draining project, and the would- have- been
farmland is now left in a "neither land nor fjord" state. Close to
the city Hobro between Århus and Ålborg you find the remains of a
circular Viking fort called "Fyrkat". A Viking house has been
rebuilt there as accurately as possible.
In the middle of Himmerland (the landscape between Hobro and
Ålborg) the Rold Forest and the Rebild Hills (Rebild Bakker) are
found. Every year, the beautiful hills at Rebild are home to what
is said to be the largest 4th of July celebration outside the USA.
There is also a small museum showing aspects of life of Danish
immigrants in the USA in the 19th century.
* Ålborg and Nørresundby:
Like Århus, the city of Ålborg at the eastern part of the Limfjord
provides lots of city entertainment like bars, restaurants,
museums, a zoo and an amusement park. On the northern side of the
Limfjord in Nørresundby is one of Scandinavia's largest Viking
burial sites, the "Lindholm Hills" (Lindholm Høje). The remains of
a big town from 600-1100 AD have been found.
For more information on Ålborg have a look at:
<http://www.tourist-aal.dk/aalbturi.nsf>.
* North of the Limfjord - Vendsyssel:
As mentioned, the west coast of Jutland is more or less one long
beach. Especially the beaches of northern Jutland - facing the
Skagerrak - are excellent. But treat the ocean with respect; each
year people unfamiliar with the North Sea do silly things like
drifting to sea on air mattresses etc. Also, the surf and current
can be strong some days. The resorts of Blokhus and Løkken are
among the most popular (and thus the most crowded) in Scandinavia.
Løkken offers a range of hotels and camp grounds as well as
restaurants and some night life.
Further north, the small hamlet of Lønstrup is a scaled-down
version of Løkken; however, the coast line is somewhat different
with rather steep slopes and cliffs. Just south of Lønstrup there
is an old light-house at Rubjerg Knude. The lighthouse was
abandoned in 1968 when the sand dunes grew taller than the
lighthouse itself. Some years ago it was converted into a museum
with displays on the problems of sand migration, but it will now
have to close because of ... yes, sand migration.
The city of Hirtshals is one of Denmark's most important fishing
ports and a gateway to Norway with ferries to Kristiansand and
Oslo. In 1981 a large North Sea research center was built, housing
a lot of Denmark's fishing research. The center also houses the
North Sea Museum - a nice exhibition and aquarium (including
seals), situated close to the highway leading to the ferry
terminal. The Hjørring-Hirtshals railway also stops at the North
Sea Center.
The coast line between Hirtshals and Skagen also has some
excellent beaches, which are generally much less crowded than the
ones in Blokhus or Løkken. Approaching Skagen, one passes the
migrating dune of "Råbjerg Mile". It is the largest of its kind in
northern Europe and gives you a small-scale Sahara feeling. The
dune migrates a distance of 8-10 m per year. Also, between Råbjerg
Mile and Skagen you will find "the buried church"; a church
abandoned due to problems with sand migration.
Skagen at the very top of Denmark was probably the first Danish
holiday resort. In the last century it became popular with a
school of Scandinavian painters, who were attracted to Skagen
because of the special light and reflections the two seas
(Skagerrak and Kattegat) give. (If the weather conditions are
right you can see waves from the two seas engage in a head-on
collision off the tip of Grenen.) The Museum of Skagen houses a
fine collection of the work of the Skagen painters. Another -
partly outdoor - museum "Skagens Fortidsminder" gives a good
impression of the local culture and history, which is almost 100%
based on fishing.
Approximately 40 km south of Skagen is the city of Frederikshavn,
naval base and home to Denmark's ice breakers. Frederikshavn has
ferry connections to Larvik, Oslo, and Moss (Norway) and to
Göteborg (Sweden).
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