Start fra Fiskerstatuen foran Havnemesterboligen, Vestre Strandvej 10, 9990 Skagen

• Skagen Havns Historie kort, Havnemesterboligen, Fiskerstatuen, Bindesbøll fiskepakhuse

• Rådhuset

• Sognehuset, Skagen Kirke udefra

• Skagen Kirkegård

• Sct. Laurentiivej, - Apoteket, Skagen Station, Det gamle Posthus

• Anchers hus udefra

• Mindestøtten

• Skagens Museum - kort

• Brøndums Hotel

• Østerbyvej - arkitektur - de tre perioder, m.v.

• Vippefyret - Fyrenes historie, Sønderstrand

• Østre Strandvej historien

• Finns Pension

• Admiralgården

• Søndervej - Holsts gård og Plesner

Skagen in general

Skagen is a fishing community and has always been. It is a very old town with a long history. The name Skagen comes from old Nordic word "Skaga" which means appendix. Skagen Odde, the name of this area, is a long narrow peninsula, like an appendix on the top of Jutland. We know for a fact that people have been living here since the 12th century.

In the 12th century a former king visited a farmer named Thorkild Skarpæ in Vendsyssel (probably in Vogn). In return for his hospitality, the king gave the farmer this area for his livestock and horses. Thorkild Skarpæ sent his shepherd Tronder, who settled here and started fishing.

In 1355 10 very old farmers testified to the court in Ålborg that this story was correct to prove that they own the land, and therefore shouldn’t work for a lord of manor, villeinage (hoveri). That meant that the farmers and the fishing men in Skagen could concentrate on their own business.

Skagen was known as a fishing village from the middle ages and received it minicipality charter from King Erik of Pomeranian i 1413.

At that time Skagen was the largest town in northern part of Jutland with considerable export of fish. However it was also an unusual royal borough, in that it had neither streets nor squares, but consisted of buildings scattered between the dunes, all situated in the direction east/west. Nor did Skagen have a road connecting to the outside world. It could be reached only by boat or travelling on the beach from Tversted and Ålbæk.

Skagen has been the biggest town in Vendsyssel with 2 – 2.500 people until 1600. In 1781 only 650 was left - mainly because of the migrating sand and harsh living conditions.

The railway came to Frederikshavn in 1871 and to Skagen in 1890. This ment prosperity for the town.

The harbour og Skagen Port was built in 1904-1907.

Electricity came to Skagen in 1918. The road to Skagen was made in the middle of the 18 hundreds, but was only a very bad dirt road in the sand.

It wasn't paved until 1932.

Today Skagen has around 8.200 inhabitants. The main occupation is still fishing and fish processing - about 50%, and tourism 25 %.

Around 2 million people visit Skagen every year and every summer the number of guest is approx. 50-60.000 each day.

Skagen Port (Harbour)

Skagen port was built 1904 - 1907. Until then the fishermen was fishing from the beach and had to haul their boats up onto the shore. The harbour has been enlarged (extended) a couples of times and today the harbour is the biggest fishing harbour in Denmark and Sweden too because of better prices for the landed fish. Skagen is centre for landing herrings and mackerel. Every year Danish and foreign vessels land more than 200.000 tons of industrial fish for the world’s biggest fish meal and fish oil factory - FF Skagen.

Other industries on the harbour are

• Danish Yachts who built supply ships and luxurious yachts for the international market.

• Karstensens Shipyard builds and repair fishing vessels and repair other ships too,

• Cosmos Trawl, and

• Electro Marine.

• Skagen Skipperskole inaugurated in 1921 and moved to a new building in2012 is the only school for marine certificate in Denmark.

• Fish Auction with auction every morning.

Jollehavnen (Dinghy port)

Today fishing is regulated by quota. Some fishermen sold their quota and stopped fishing and others bought a lot of quotas and built big fishing vessels to make fishing profitable. In 1980 there were more than 400 fishing vessels at Skagen Port. Today there are only 35 vessels left and some of them are very large. Those who have a small fishing vessel have their boats in this basin. They have their own organisation and they financed this basin themselves.

When first the railway and later the port came to Skagen it gave the fishing industry the opportunity to grow and together with the growing tourism form the foundation for the Skagen we see today.

14 – 16.000 pleasure boats (yachts) visit the marina every year. The record is 1000 boats in one day!

The Red warehouses (Fiskepakhusene)

Designed by architect Thorvald Bindesbøll, were built to store the fish. To keep the fish fresh it was stored between block of ice and heather. Today the houses are too small for the purpose, and with the machines of today, and in the 60ies it was discussed to pull them down. Luckily, they were saved and today they are under protection and are used as restaurants.

Harbour master’s office and residence

was built (1905) right opposite the port. The architect is Ulrik Plesner. The big house in the middle is where the harbour master lived and had his office. The two side wings were for his assistants.

The statue of the fisherman and lifesaver (rescuer)

was raised 1932 at the 25 years jubilee for the port. The artist is Anne Marie Carl Nielsen, wife of composer Carl Nielsen, who had a summerresidens in Skagen. The model who posed for the artist was a fisherman from Hanstholm. When people in Skagen learnt that fact, they were not happy at all. But when the community in Thy asked to get the statue to Thy, Skagen wanted to keep the statue.

The sea around Skagen Odde is very dangerous. From 1800 to 1850 one ship was wrecked per month. When a ship stranded and needed help, it was the fishermen who went out in the lifeboat to save the sailors. The most famous rescuer is Lars Kruse. He saved 465 sailors.

The Act for establishment of the life-saving Services comes into force in 1852. Two years earlier Skagen already had lifeboat and rescue equipment positioned on the outskirts of the town. In 1858 the rescue station on Skagen port was built. A rescue station was built in Højen in 1869. It turned out to be one of the most active in Denmark. For more than 60 years the lifeboats were rowed out by volunteer crews until in1914 the first motorized lifeboat arrived at the station at Skagen port. In 100 year from 1852 to 1952 the life-saving services saved 12.000 sailors and only lost 50 rescuer (life-saver) in the whole country

The Town Hall

Skagen Town hall built in 1962. The architect is Ejnar Borg. Skagen’s motto (1630) is: Our hope to God alone. The fish and grill-iron at the entrance are the town coat-of-arms. The grill is a symbol for Saint Lawrence, saint for Skagen.

Sct. Laurentius, Saint Lawrence in English, was a treasurer in the ancient Rom. When the pope Sixtus II was executed, he gave the taxes (values) from the church to the poor people to avoid the Emperor Valerian the 1st to steel them. Of cause the emperor was displeased and Laurentius was executed in a special way. He got roasted on a grill. The story tells that he was very tuff. After a little while on the grill he called and told the tormentor to turn him around, because he was well done on the first side. Sct. Laurentius became a saint for the poor, fire workers and sailors, and is always shown with a grill in his hand.

Skagen Church

From 1795 to 1841 the services were held in a chapel in the settlements. Skagen Church was built 1839 - 1841. The architect was C. F. Hansen. He was also the architect of Vor frue Kirke, the cathedral in Copenhagen.

• 1909 – 1910 the church was rebuild, enlarged and got a big tower by the architects Ulrik Plesner and Thorvald Bindesbøll (interior). That’s the church we see today.

• The 2 candlesticks on the communion table and the communion cup are the only left over from Saint Lawrence Church.

• The altar piece is made by Joakim Skovgaard.

• Bindesbøll died in 1908 but the interior decoration of the church is made after his drawings.

• The pillars are made of marble in Switzerland (Italy). When they ordered the pillar they forgot the difference between Danish and English inches. That’s why the square boxes are on top.

• 1989 Arne L. Hansen decorated the front of the communion table and the church was painted in the colours we see today.

• 1994 Niels Helledie made the work of art of Jesus on the cross.

The Home Mission

mangler

Skagen Assistants Cemetery (graveyard).

• Kunstnergravene. Some of the famous artists from the artist colony in Skagen are buried at this cemetery together with the Brøndum family.

• "De blev derude" There is a memorial (1948) for the people from Skagen who drowned at sea and never was found made of the sculptor Sven Bovin. The first name on that memorial is one of the crew on the lifeboat that turned around in saving the sailors from Daphne on the 27th of December 1862.

• The chapel is built 1923 of architect Ulrik Plesner.

• There is a memorial for Germans mariners and another grave for British mariners, who were found on the beach under the Great War (1st world war). A short distance from the German memorial along one of the wide alleys is the grave of an allied flight crew of 4 and a merchant seaman, who all died during World War 2 and have been found dead at sea around Skagen. This grave is decorated with a ruined propeller from an aircraft.

Kulturhus Kappelborg og Vandkunst

Skagen Apotek

Skagen Station / Det gamle Posthus

Fru Baumanns hus og Strygejernet

Anchers Hus - udefra

Anna Ancher (Brøndum) (1859 – 1935). Married Michael 1880 and gave birth to Helga 1883.

Michael Ancher (1849 – 1927) born on the island of Bornholm. 1874 first time in Skagen and stayed at Brøndums Hotel, where he met Anna and was invited to her confimation. Married Anna 1880 and the couples moved into the Garden House (Brøndums Hotel). 1884 they bought a house (Madam Melsens hus) at Markvej and their home became the centre of the artist’s colony. Architect Ulrik Plesner in 1913 – 14, enlarged the house with a studio to both Anna and Michael. When Helga died (1964) the house is turned into a museum (opened 1967) and it is furnished just like it was, when Anna and Michael lived in the house

Statue of Anna Ancher by Astrid Noack

Mindestøtten, Memorial column (1883)

Disaster in rescue operation was seldom but the 27th of December 1862 the lifeboat went upside down and the crew except two drowned. The Swedish brig Daphne stranded on the north shore. 8 wives were widowed and 25 kids lost their father. It was very bad for the families and for the community too, because it was very skilled men, with lot of experience who died. A young fisherman named Lars A Cruse saw the accident from the beach and went out in his own rowing boat and saved the stranded sailors. Only one of the crew of Daphne drowned together with crew of the lifeboat. The lifeboat was found in Sweden. This monument is set up to remember these brave men, who gave their lives in trying to save others.

Brøndums Hotel and Admiralgaarden

Brøndums Hotel (got permission in 1859) was owned by Erik and Ane Hedvig Brøndum and was the first hotel in Skagen. When the artist first came to Skagen this was the place they stayed, and the hotel became the centre for their gatherings and parties.

In 1877 the son Degn came home from Copenhagen to help his parents. Ane Hedvig and Erik Brøndum had 6 children and only one got married. Erik Brøndum died in 1890. Degn Brøndum was the head of the family business, his sister Hulda worked in the kitchen and Marie, another sister took care of the guestrooms and his mother Ane was chef in the kitchen and had the general view. Ane Hedvig, who was called the mother of Skagen, died in 1916.

1891 Ulrik Plesner came to Skagen and stayed at Brøndum Hotel. He was the architect on the 2-storey house with the dining room in the ground floor, 6 rooms at the first floor and 4 rooms under the roof. Later the old part was rebuilt into 14 rooms.

The dining room at the hotel is decorated with the paintings Degn Brøndum got from the painters, who came to Skagen and stayed at the hotel either as gift or as payment for a stay. Krøyer and Michael Ancher made portraits of all the painters and other artists who formed the artist colony (community) in Skagen (1870 to 1935). The dining room is now part of Skagen Museum.

Hans Christian Andersen visited Skagen on the 17th august 1859. He had had a long and troublesome journey and was very tired and hungry when he arrived at Brøndum’s hotel. A girl was sent to the shore to get some fresh fish, it took some time and Hans Christian Andersen grew impatient. In the end he got a wonderful meal of fried plaice with cranberry jam and was satisfied. He stayed at the hotel for one night, the night Anna Brøndum was born. Anna married Michael Ancher. Afterwards Hans Christian Andersen wrote Story from the Sand Dunes and a poem: Jylland Mellem Tvende Have.

Degn Brøndum wanted a place close to the beach and (architect Ulrik Plesner) built Admiralgaarden on Østre Strandvej in 1918. The house was built almost like Klitgaarden a summer residence Plesner had designed for the king Christian the 10th and the Royal family. On the seaside of the house up under the roof there is a terrace, where Degns brother John could keep an eye on all the ships in and out of the harbour. John was chief officer and sailed until he had an accident. After that he came home to stay. That’s why it was called Admiralgaarden. It was the high society who visited the place. Look around, the houses here are small and poor. The neighbours were the poor fishermen.

Degn Brøndum was primus motor in starting Skagen museum and when he died. The museum inherited Brøndums hotel and the dining room with all the paintings was moved to the museum in 1946 when the last of his sisters died.

The painters P. S. Krøyer, Michael Anker and Laurits Tuxen founded Skagen Museum in October 1908 with the purpose to collect and save some of the Skagen Painters work of art and make it available for everybody to see. It is unique to be able to see the paintings on the location where they were painted. 1919 Degn Brøndum gave the hotel garden to the museum, the architect was Ulrik Plesner and in 1928 the King Christian the 10th and queen Alexandrine inaugurated the museum.

Garden house.

The garden house used to belong to Brøndums Hotel. When Anna and Michael Ancher married (1880) they moved in and lived at the house until 1884. Their daughter Helga (1883) is born here. When Michael Ancher first came to Skagen he stayed with the Brøndum family in the garden house. There has been a fire in the hotel (1874) and the family with 6 children lived in the house, rented out rooms and had their grocery shop as well.

Krøyer's Studio.

Krøyer rented the house behind the garden house and used it as a studio (1884). The house was built in 1850 (Søren Møllebygger, the maternal grandfather to Anna Ancher) and has been used for drying the stranding goods, mostly grain and coffee. It was also used as mortuary during the cholera epidemic (1853). Krøyer painted one of his most famous paintings “Hip Hip Hurray” in the studio. The painting is now in Sweden, but the exhibition shows the story about the painting.

The houses in Skagen.

The black, the yellow and the red period.

The black period

Until about 1875 most houses in Skagen was made of wood tarred black and with thatched roofs, placed east west because of the westerly wind and lay between the sand dunes out of the wind. When the sand drifting made problems it was easy to move the house to a new place.

The yellow period -

There is no clay in the ground here so bricks was expensive and had to be sailed to Skagen. The bricks were porous and needed to be plastered and whitewashed. The lime was mixed with ochre to make the yellow colour or with peroxide to make the pink colour. It’s called the yellow period even thou the houses could be pink or white as well. Because of the hard climate, the tiled roofs had to be plastered (pointed) from the inside. That’s impossible at the ridge and at the gable where it was done from outside and whitewashed to make it stronger.

The red period -

After 1900 the quality of bricks got better and the houses didn’t have to be plastered. It was the start of the red period.

Hollow stone. It’s easy to find a lot of hollow stone around Skagen. You see them all around the city put on a string on the house. It’s supposed to bring you luck. In old days the hollow stone was tired to the fishing net to keep it down. With cork at the top and hollow stones at the bottom the net was drawn thru the water to catch fish.

The history of the Skagen lighthouses

The history of the lighthouses is also the history of the power of the nature here. The land keeps on growing on the north shore and there is heavy erosion on the south shore. An example of the changes is that ships stranded on the north shore can now be found on the south coast. The grey lighthouse has to be protected by coast protection.

The sea around Skagen has always been a ship highway. 100.000 ships pass by every year and that figure does not count the fishing vessels. The sea around Skagen is dangerous because of the strong currents from south along the west and the east coasts, and stranding was very common in older days. On average one stranding per month. No wonder that Skagen was one of the first places in Denmark to get a lighthouse.

In 1560 King Frederik the 2nd commanded lighthouses to be built in Skagen, Anholt and Kullen. Places with lots of shipwrecks. Things take time and in 1580, 20 years later, the lighthouse authority had to write twice to the Vassal in Aalborg to give him the instruction to build a lighthouse in Skagen immediately. The first lighthouse was a bascule (barrel drum) hung up in a construction of wood. They used firewood to burn in the barrel. It was a hard job to keep the fire all night in a storm! And it was hard on the woods around Skagen. Later they used coal.

The bascule light, (Vippefyret)

was a new construction made for the first time in 1627 on a small hill close to the tip of the spit. It was possible to see it from both seas. The erosion from the sea on the south cost was hard and in 1747 the shore was too close and they had to tear down the bascule light and build a new lighthouse. The bascule light we see today is a reconstruction. Every year at Midsummer Eve a fire is lit in the barrel. The light can be seen 25 kilometres out on the sea. At the beach close to the bascule light a big bonfire is lit Midsummer Eve, and about 1000 people get together celebrating the evening.

The white lighthouse

was built east of Østerby in 1747 and was the very first brick-built lighthouse in the whole country. They lit a fire on top of the building, using coal or train oil produced at the port. It was still a very hard job to keep the fire burning all night. The builder was Phillip de Lange. The white lighthouse was octagonal, (27 alen,) 22 meter, 54 feet high and had 6 feet (3 alen) in the ground. It was visible from both Skagerak (North Sea) and Kattegat (Baltic Sea); today it is only visible from Kattegat. Close to the lighthouse they built a home for the lighthouse keeper. The land was growing and in 1816 the tower was made higher to let it be seen from both seas.

In 1858 the grey lighthouse

(architect N: S: Nebelong) was built close to the tip of the spit and visible from both the North Sea (Skagerak) and the Baltic Sea (Kattegat). It is 46 meters high and is one of the highest in Denmark. Today it is only visible from Kattegat. In 1956 Skagen Vest was built on the north shore to warn the ships in Skagerak. The lighthouse keeper moved to a new home close to the grey lighthouse and the old building was sold, torn down and the material was used for other buildings in Skagen. Some of it was used when they built a new school in Vesterby in 1866. The grey lighthouse was electrified in 1948.

Højen lighthouse

was built in 1892 and torn down 1956 because it was too close to the shore.

Skagen Rev fyrskib og Skagen Vest

Skagen reef is very dangerous. In 1878 a lightship was placed 8 kilometres northeast of Skagen. It could be seen 20 kilometres away. It was closed down when the lighthouse Skagen Vest was built in 1956.

Not all the people in Skagen were happy for the lighthouses. Shipwrecks and wreckage was a very good income for the citizens. In1823 23 ships were stranded (wrecked) on Skagen Sønderstrand and lots of goods came to the shore. Under the war 1807 – 14 between Napoleon and England the lighthouse was turned off to prevent the English ships to go down to Copenhagen. That was a profitable (lucrative) period for Skagen.

Østre Strandvej

When the railway and later the port came to Skagen the wealth of the town increased. The captains and the businessmen could afford to build big houses. They wanted to be close to the port and the sea and built their houses right on the shore in their own individual style. At that time nobody thought about planning, but the houses were all situated in the direction east/west to obtain most shelter from the west wind. The artist colony made Skagen famous and rich people came on holiday in Skagen and some of them even built summer residences here as well. The house of Carl Locher, artist in the colony, is built by an assistant to Ulrik Plesner. Ulrik Plesner designed the neighbour villa to Elna Jørgen-Jensen, ballet dancer from the royal ballet.

Finn’s pension “Dagalid”

is built of wood like they build houses in Norway. Count Knuth used to stay at Skagen Badehotel every summer, but liked Skagen so much that he decided to buy a site in order to build his own summerhouse. A storm had felled a big part of the trees in the wood at his manor house on Sjælland. He had been to Norway to visit the family of his son-in-law and liked the houses there. He had a Norwegian style house built in his courtyard and when everything was, as he wanted, he asked the craftsmen to tear it down and rebuild it in Skagen. When he stayed here he never brought his wife but his masseuse instead. He liked to bathe naked. Every morning he walked straight from the house as God created him to the shore and into the water, and back again for a treat by his masseuse.

Holst’s Gaard

Here the old Østerby begins. One of the oldest places in Skagen is Holst’s Gaard. It is a 4-wing grocer’s farm owned by Lars Kjeller Holst (1838 – 1927). He owned a lot of land in Skagen and did a lot for the city. When his son, Jens Holst, took over he built a 2-storey home (1909) just beside, with grocery shop at ground floor and residence at first floor. The architect was Ulrik Plesner.

Nedenfor flyttes til anden tur!

Saint Lawrence Church

The buried church, Saint Lawrence Church (nave) was built in red bricks from Lübeck in the late 1300 (1375), 50 years later the church was prolonged and the tower was built. It was a big church with a length of 45 meters altogether, and the fishermen called it Long Mary (Lange Maren). They could see it when they passed by at sea. The tower was 22 meter high. The church was one of the biggest in the northern part of the country and was built out in the open between the fishing settlements Højen and Skagen.

Sct. Laurentius, Saint Lawrence in English, was a treasurer in the ancient Rom. When the pope Sixtus II was executed, he gave the taxes (values) from the church to the poor people to avoid the Emperor Valerian the 1st to steel them. Of cause the emperor was displeased and Laurentius was executed in a special way. He got roasted on a grill. The story tells that he was very tuff. After a little while on the grill he called and told the tormentor to turn him around, because he was well done on the first side. Sct. Laurentius became a saint for the poor, fire workers and sailors, and is always shown with a grill in his hand.

In 1580 a woman gave birth to a child with 2 heads. The people in Skagen took it as a warning about bad times to come. And they did indeed. In the 16th century the climate turned colder and other coincidences led to vegetation becoming very sparse indeed and the wind causing the sand to migrate. Drifting sand finally became so big a problem that the church was threatened by sand drifting dune called Kirkemilen. In a storm in 1775 with a lot of sand drifting, the church was buried in sand and the congregations had to dig sand away from the entrance to get into the church to the service. The church was given up in 1795, but they used the churchyard for funerals until 1810. In 1810 they tore down the nave walls and sold the bricks on auction. The tower was whitewashed (1816) and left to be a landmark for the ships. Buried under the sand are still the font, the (alter table) communion table and the brick floor with the old tombstones.

The Swedish Seamen’s Church was built in 1925 by initiative from judge Styhr, Frederikshavn, and the Swedish seamen’s parson Carl Nordborg. The architects was Gustav Ljungman with help from Ulrik Plesner. The Swedish fishermen who landed their catch in Skagen needed a place to go between the fishing trips instead of fighting with the Skagen fishermen. The Swedish Church is a fashionable place to get married. There can be 4 or 5 weddings in one weekend.

Højen, Gl. Skagen was small fishing village on the west coast, where the fishermen was fishing in the North Sea. It is possibly the oldest part of Skagen and where Tronder settled. They teased the fishermen in Skagen by saying they were week, because the Baltic Sea was calmer and easier fishing water whereas the North Sea was really tough, but was far better fishing water. When the port came in 1907 the fishermen in Højen moved to the port. Luckily Højen didn’t depopulate. The tourism has started in Gl. Skagen and the guests took over and moved to Højen. It was very fashionable to go on holiday in Højen. Ruth’s Hotel (1891) is named after Hans Ruth, grocer and rescuer. Some of the hotels turned into timeshare in the 1960ies and they still are with success.

The seamark, beacon, was built to tell the sailors where they are. There have been lots of seamarks on the west coast along Jutland. They were all different, so if you knew the seamarks, you could tell the name of the place. There is only a few left and they are all protected.

Klitgaarden is built in 1914. Architect is Ulrik Plesner. Klitgaarden (700 m2) was King Christian the 10th and queen Alexandrine’s (the grandparents of our queen Margrethe) private summer residence. The Royal couple were in Skagen 4 – 5 weeks every summer. We know exactly when they were there, because the king wrote the dates on a window with his diamond ring. It was at Easter time, during the summer and in September, where the king participated in hunting in the area. The queen Alexandrine was very fond of the place, and after the king’s dead, she spent longer periods here. Prince Knud, their second son, and his wife princess Caroline-Mathilde inherited the house when she died in 1952. In 1995 Klitgaarden was sold to a foundation and is now a refuge (resort) where artists, authors and scientists can come and work for a period of time.

The king was a very tall man and he liked to cycle around in the Skagen to see how life went on. The story goes that one day the king met some fishermen having a bear at the port. The king stopped to talk and the fishermen offered him a beer. He asked them if they knew who he was, they said no and when he told them, the fishermen answered: then maybe you will need a glass.

The beach at Vesterby The beach was the workplace for the fishermen and their family. They landed the fish on the shore, and they hauled their boats up on the shore. The houses were placed just behind the dunes out of the wind but close to the beach. The men went out fishing and when they got back, the wives and kids transported the fish home to be salted and dried. Standing on the beach you can see the house, which was the last house in Vesterby. The summer residence of the king is where the mail coach from Frederikshavn left the beach to go by the sandy roads in Skagen. The trip of 40 km took about 8 or 9 hours. You can see all the way to Frederikshavn too.

The local History Museum. Skagen By og Egnsmuseum is a combined open-air museum and exhibition centre containing special collections featuring fishing, the lifeboat service and shipping.

The Memorial Hall. In the hall there is a rowing boat of the type the fishermen used until the late 18 hundreds. The crew was 5 or 6 fishermen, and gave living conditions for at least 20 persons (the crew and their families). The oars are very heavy; it takes two men at each oar to row the boat. When they were not out fishing, they hauled the boat up on the shore. On the walls there are nameplates and figureheads from wrecked ships, pictures, accounts of exploits and medals of the many Skagen rescue men. At the end wall all the names of the fishermen lost at sea and never found is mentioned. They stayed out there. Thomas Pedersen, one of the rescuers from the stranding of Daphne is the first man mentioned.

The lifeboat station is a copy. A map shows where ships have been stranded around the coast of Denmark. The lifeboat services were organized in 1852 after ideas of Christoffer Claudi. The lifeboat was in use at Kandestedernes life station. It is built in 1924 and was last in use in 1967. The lifeboat had a crew of 12 experienced fishermen, and it was a job of honour and low paid. The leader sat at the rudder (starboard), 10 rowers at the oars and a pligthugger in the front of the boat. His job was to throw a line out on the wrecked ship. The lifeboat was unsinkable and self-draining. The life west’s are filled with kapok. There is also a rocket devise and a breeches buoy (redningsstol).

Visit a poor fisherman’s home (25 m2) for a whole family of 9 with grandparents, parents and kids. The original house was built in 1808 in Vesterby. The living room was also used as a bedroom and the kitchen has an open fireplace. Notice that there is no chimney but only a hole in the roof. They couldn’t afford bricks for a chimney. There was no restroom, so when people should relieve themselves, they went to leeward at the eastern gable out of the wind. This small spot gave good growing conditions for vegetable and rhubarb.

The rich fisherman’s home shows living conditions around 1850 to 1875, the last years of the in-shore fishing period. The fishermen’s tools and the large brine tub for salting fish can be seen in the scullery. After salting the fish was dried outside on the frames (hjeldene). The kitchen has an open fireplace and the stoves in the living room and bedroom can be stoked from the kitchen fireplace. The west living room was used as a storeroom, a guest room for shipwrecked persons and for the Christmas parties the boat owner held for his crew. The room was also used for laying out the dead. The coffin was lifted out of the house thru the window to make sure the dead didn’t haunt the house. The people were very superstitious. Sheep were kept in the stable during the winter. Wealthy fishermen hired a cow from a farm nearby during the summer to get milk.

The shed outside both the rich and the poor fisherman’s house was used for storing rope and tools. The roof is made of an old dinghy (jolle).

The Nature Centre is both a gallery and a museum. The nature exhibition describes the creation of the Skagen spit and the other features, which make the nature in Skagen quite unique. The architect of the building is Jørn Utzon and his two sons Jan and Kim Utzon.

Skagen Odde is made of sand and land rising after the last ice age (10.000 – 13.000 years ago). The sand is transported by the sea up along the west coast of Jutland and the north coast at the spit grows 7 - 8 metres and get 1 million cubic metres of sand from the sea every year. The tip of the spit is one of the best places to watch birds, when they travel north every spring and south every autumn. Ornithologists from the whole of Denmark have designated Skagen as the most interesting bird watching site. Many migrating routes cross Skagen and around 250 different species can be observed during the year. Protected 1940.

The town bailiff and planter Ole Chr. Lund had the responsibility to moderate the sand drifting and planted Skagen old plantation (Byfogedskoven). (10 hectare) In 1810 – 1820 he planted hardwood (deciduous) trees as alder, willow and birch to the west to shelter for ash, lime, beech, oak and poplar.

Skagen Klitplantage. The people of Skagen exchanged the land to the state for getting a railway. They had to stop the sand from drifting before building the railway. First they planted lyme grass and marram grass on the sand dunes to stop the drifting. Later (1880 – 1890) they planted imported pine and spruce to keep the sand from drifting. The trees in the plantation are 100 – 120 years old.

Sandmilen is the second largest migrating sand dune in North Europe. It has come to the end of its journey, the Baltic Sea.

Hulsig Hede. The landscape between Klitplantagen and Kandestederne (2.159 hectare) is an overgrown sand drifting area, with lot of drifting sand dunes, which are prevented to move by the plants. The area is protected The dunes are cowered by Lyme grass and marram grass, and the low areas is moor, small ponds and marsh with heather, willow, cranberry and crowberry. The small ponds are made of peat (tørv) digging. Peat was used to heat the houses. The pines you see are self-sown and are not wanted. In order to keep the nature as it used to be, they are removed from time to time. Lots of birds (e.g. crane, small songbirds, hawks’, dugs) 65 different species breed in this area and fox, hare and roe deer live here too.

Råbjerg Mile is the largest migrating sand dune in North Europe. The sand dune was formed at the west coast (Råbjerg Stene) in the 1500 and 1600 hundreds during the great sand migration. The dune is 1000 m wide and 1500 m long containing approximately 4 million cubic metres of sand with its highest point some 40 m above sea level. The dune continues to migrate east-northeast towards The Baltic Sea at a rate of about 15 m per year. Within 200 years it will reach the main road and cut the connection from Skagen to the rest of the world. The migrating dune and the land around is protected and so nothing will stop the dune on its way to the see. The mile is a parable, and behind the mile the ground is very low of nutrient, almost like a desert with small ponds with fresh water (groundwater). Only a few species live here, for example a rare toad the natter jack [Bufo calamita], a frog (løgfrøen) and sundew, which is a meat eating plant.

Råbjerg mile has been use as set piece in 2 films, 1920 and 1968.

Kandestederne, the little settlement you can see from the mile, was resort for actors as Skagen was for painters. Karen Blixen has been to Kandestederne when she wrote: Out of Africa.

Eagle World

Irene and Frank Wentzel started Eagle World 1980. Frank Wentzel has been interested in birds of prey since he was 8 years old. In shows they tell the story about their falcons, hawks and eagles and how they have been used for hunting. When the falcon is sitting on the hand it wears a hood to prevent the bird from being stressed. It is for the bird’s sake and it is not cruelty to the bird. They have a very special white tailed eagle called Margrethe. She got the name because her egg was laid on the birthday of our queen Margrethe.

There is an exhibition room with photos depicting the life of birds of prey and the history of falconry. It is worth seeing.

The view point, Drachmann’s grave and bunker

Southeast of the parking place at the top of the spit on top of a German bunker is a viewpoint. You can see the sand dunes, more bunkers, the tip of the spit, and the sea with all the ships waiting for new orders or fuel, Skagen and all the way to Frederikshavn, if the weather is clear. On the viewpoint is a wind rose. Usually people get surprised to notice the directions of north.

The Germans built the bunkers under the 2nd world war as a part of the German military’s Atlantic Wall.

Close to the viewpoint is the grave of Drachmann. Some people bring a flower, others put a small stone on top of the grave to honour him. Krøyer has designed the front; originally in wood (can be seen at Skagens Museum) later it was made in bronze.

The artists’ colony at Skagen (1870 – 1935)

The artists’ colony at Skagen is the best known in Denmark as well as being one of the oldest. In the best revolutionary manner, the Skagen painters, as they came to be known, sought to create a new way of painting, and it was their ambition to portray reality more truly than before. In practice they worked in front of their motifs, often in the open. The ideological foundations for their efforts were Naturalism and Realism in French art. Most of the artists came to Skagen at summertime to work and stayed at Brøndums Hotel or rented rooms or houses elsewhere in Skagen. At wintertime they worked in Copenhagen or elsewhere in Europe. A few ended up staying all year round.

Holger Drachmann (1846 – 1908) He was writer, poet and marine painter. 1872 First time in Skagen and kept coming back. 1902 Bought Villa Pax, he restored it and added a studio in the east end of the house. Married his 3rd wife, Soffi, 1903. He died in Hornbæk north of Copenhagen and his urn was escorted by a lot of people to Skagen to be buried in the sand dunes at the tip of the spit. He wanted his urn to be taken by the sea just as the coast. Villa Pax opened as museum in 1911.

Anna Ancher (Brøndum) (1859 – 1935). Married Michael 1880 and gave birth to Helga 1883.

Michael Ancher (1849 – 1927) born on the island of Bornholm. 1874 first time in Skagen and stayed at Brøndums Hotel, where he met Anna and was invited to her confimation. Married Anna 1880 and the couples moved into the Garden House (Brøndums Hotel). 1884 they bought a house (Madam Melsens hus) at Markvej and their home became the centre of the artist’s colony. Architect Ulrik Plesner in 1913 – 14, enlarged the house with a studio to both Anna and Michael. When Helga died (1964) the house is turned into a museum (opened 1967) and it is furnished just like it was, when Anna and Michael lived in the house.

Laurits Tuxen (1853 – 1927) 1879 first time in Skagen. He was wealthy; he had 4 daughters with his first wife, who died young. 2 daughters died too, one of them the day he buried his wife. He was a royal portrait painter and travelled round and stayed with the royal families he painted. (England, Russia and Denmark). Tuxen and his 2nd wife, Frederikke, bought madam Bendsens house in 1901. Architect Thorvald Jørgensen rebuilt it into a luxurious home with a great studio in 1902. The house was named Villa Dagminde. Queen Aleksandra of England visited the home and suggested they planted rhododendron in the garden. They still grow in the garden. Today the house is divided into 3 flats and is private.

Marie Krøyer (1867 – 1940) born in Frederiksberg. 1887 first time in Skagen. 1891 married Krøyer, gave birth to their daughter Vibeke 1895 and divorced 1905. She married Hugo Alfvén 1912. Marie didn’t paint very much in Skagen, but she was a skilled interior designer.

P.S. Krøyer (1851 – 1909) born in Stavanger, Norway. Travelled in France, Spain and Italy. 1889 married Marie Triepcke (1867 – 1940). 1882 first time in Skagen and became close friends with Anna and Michael Ancher. Rented a house in Skagen Plantation in 1894. The architect Ulrik Plesner restored the house and Marie furnished it. The couples use the house as a summerhouse from 1895. Krøyer had a darkroom besides his studio, because he was also a skilled photographer. They have a daughter called Vibeke (1895). Krøyer became mentally ill and that was hard on the marriage. Marie travelled to Italy to rest and met the Swedish composer Hugo Alfveen. They fell in love and Marie went home to ask for a divorce. Krøyer said no, but suggested that Hugo Alfveen came to Skagen. He hoped the love of the two would fade away. It didn’t and when Marie got pregnant with Hugo Alfveen, Krøyer accepted a divorce. Marie moved to Sweden. The last years of Krøyers life he stayed in Skagen and got good help from close friends. He died 1909 and is buried at Assistens kirkegården in Skagen.

Krøyers house was built in 1810 as a residence for bailiff Ole Christian Lund. He was the kings authorized officer. One of his jobs was to take care of stranded goods and the sailors who survived a stranding. The fishermen accommodated the seamen and the captain was accommodated in the bailiff’s home. The story is that once an American ship stranded and the captain stayed all winter. Lund and the captain got on very well and told each other about life. Lund told about troubles to get peoples to do the planting and the captain told that in America slaves did the hard job. When the captain was about to leave at springtime he asked: how much do I owe you? Lund answered: nothing, it is my duty to take care of you, but you can send me one of your slaves. A couple of years later, a big ship passes by, dropped her anchor, launched a shore boat and rowed to the beach, landed a person and rowed back. The person was a black man with a letter on his chest. The local peoples was terrified, but escorted the man to bailiff Lund. He took care of the slave, Jan Leton. He lived the rest of his life in Skagen doing different kind of work. We don’t know if the story is true, but we know that Jan Leton has lived in Skagen. He is mentioned in the church book, when he was buried.

Lund died in 1928 and the house and plantation was taken over by the state. Skovriddergården is built in 1831. When Krøyer died the Skagen Museum rented Krøyers house from 1911 until 1928 when the new museum was inaugurated.

The architects:

Thorvald Bindesbøl (1846 – 1908) architect, designer and handicraftsman. The red warehouses 1907, rebuilding of Skagen Church (made drawings just before his dead) and decoration of the dining room at Brøndums Hotel.

Ulrik Plesner (1861 – 1933) architect. Harbour master’s office and residence 1907, Klitgården 1914, Admiralgården 1918, rebuilding of Skagen Church 1909 - 1910 and much more.

Thorvald Jørgensen (1867 – 1946) architect. Skagen Badehotel 1899 – 1900, rebuilding of Tuxens villa 1902 and restoring of Christiansborg Slot 1906 – 1928.

DK Halvø / Odde

EN Peninsula / Spit

DK Hoveri

EN Villeinage

DK Købstad

EN Borough

Skagen Byvandring - Vesterby

Guide Bent Ravnkilde (afløser for Rita)

Hurtige notater.

Start ved Fiskerstatuen

Rådhuset, 1968, prof. Einar Borg, Borgerservice og Jobcenter, kommunesammenlægning min. 60.000 indb.

Vendsyssels flag, vendelbrog, turistchef 1974

Hjørring - Frederikshavn - Gazastriben/Vestbredden

Vesterbyvej - original hovedvej, emaljeskilte, numre og vejnavne Vejen til Skagen, tilsandede kirke, sandflugt, befolkningstal. Gule huse, hvide striber

Vesterbyvej - have

Tinghuset - rådhus til 1968, købmandsgård 1850 - fallit. Retsbygning, fisker Christensen (betjent) dårligt gående. Fisker - fraskilt kone - 8 dage i brummen. Slagsmål svenskerne 650 danske fiskere, 1000 svenske. Værtshusene lukkede. Overvågning af gården. 5 kategorier (5 f'er) Fattige, fallenter, folkegruppen, fjollede, fruentimmere (ingen stemmeret) I dag lokalhistorisk samling.

Drachmans hus, maler, digter (midsommervisen) Sammen med Thaulow i 1872, skift i malerkunsten til realisme. Brøndums vinkælder, Pax, Soffi, Grundstensfesten Havnen, fest i haven, anonymt brev med check fra ministeriet for off. arbejder.

Sygehuset - Plesner fra Ringkøbing

Porsehuset - bolig for overlægen (åby) - gå af stien gennem plantagen til Krøyers Hus.

Krøyers hus - lidt om Marie, Ole Lund, sandflugt, Jan Leton

Byg - og Egnsmuseet - midtersprossen, 3 perioder huse

Skurbyen (via sti) - Klitgården og tilsandede Kirke, Skipperskolen og havneudvidelse

Besøg hos Erik Viborg i skuret. 70 + 30 skure. 2 x kr. 600 i pladsleje

Karstensens Skibsværft (Nuuk) Skrog fra Polen, tørdok 7000 tons,

Danish Yachts

Svensk præstebolig VEstre strandvej

Svenske Sømandskirke 1925 - nu frivillig basis. Besøg kirken.

Skagen Byvandring - I Digternes Fodspor

(Guide Hanne Aavang)

Turen starter ved Brøndums Hotel. Her fortælles om Steen Steensen Blicher, H.C. Andersen og Karen Blixen.

Derfra forbi Saxilds Gaard, som i sin tid ejedes af Ole Wivel, forbi Harald Bergsteds hus til den tidligere borgmestergaard, hvor Skagen-kronikøren Alba Schwartz boede.

Ad Kappelborgvej forbi instruktør og forfatter Eddie Thomas Petersens hus, videre til Drachmanns Hus, Alex Sechers hus, Steen Kaaløs hus, Jesper Ewalds hus og endelig den tidligere kongebolig Klitgården, hvor turen afsluttes på stranden.

Brøndums Hotel, Anchersvej 3

• Steen Steensen Blicher

• H.C.Andersen

• Karen Blixen

Anchers Hus, Markvej 2:

• George Brandes

• Henrik Pontoppidan

Saxilds Gård, Markvej 4

• Ole Vivel

Spliidsvej 19

• Harald Bergstedt

Sct. Laurentiivej 31

• Alba Schwartz

Kappelborgvej 24 "PREM"

• Eddie Thomas Petersen

Kappelborgvej/Havnevej (Firenze)

• Hanne Marie Svendsen (Bibliotekar Ingeborg Bruun)

Skagen Kirke

Skovvej 24, Villa Rose

• Carsten Mossing

• Lena Sewall

Drachmanns Hus, Hans Baghsvej 21

• Holger Drachmann

Sygehuset

Vesterbyvej 32

• billedhugger Gerda Thune Andersen

• Nu forfatter Jens Chr. Grøndahl

Svallerbakken 2

• Alex Secher

Svallerbakken 12

• Sten Kaalø

Skagen By- og Egnsmuseum/Hollandsk mølle

Søren Skomagersvej 3

• Jesper Ewald (Poul Henningsens halvbror)

Afslutning på klitten

• Klitgården,

• Den Tilsandede Kirke,

• Odden,

• Sort, gul, rød - Huse

Skagen by foot - Cruise Skagen Denmark

Tour description

1. Skagen Harbour and fishing

Skagen port was built in 1907. Until then the fishermen was fishing from the beach and had to haul their boats up onto the shore. The harbour has been extended several times and today the harbour is the biggest fishing harbour in Denmark measured by the amount and value of landings.

Skagen is centre for landing of pelagic fish - herrings and mackerel. Every year Danish and foreign vessels land more than 200.000 tons of industrial fish for the world’s biggest fish meal and fish oil factory - FF Skagen.

Other industries on the harbour are

• Danish Yachts who built supply ships and luxurious yachts for the international market.

• Karstensens Shipyard builds and repair fishing vessels and repair other ships too,

• A school for marine certification - the only one in Denmark - inaugurated in 1921.

• Fish Auction every morning at 6:30

2. The Houses on Østre Strandvej (from the harbour to the Bascule Light)

The houses on Østre Strandvej was built after the building of the harbour, and represent mostly the red period. We have the black period, the yellow period and the red period. I will get back to these periods later.

The Captains House (just beside Finns B&B)

Built as a the bridge of a ship

Finns Pension (Finn's Bed and Breakfast)

"Dagalid” is built of wood like they build houses in Norway. Count Knuth used to stay at a hotel every summer, but liked Skagen so much that he decided to buy a site in order to build his own summerhouse.

A storm had brougth down part of the wood at his manor, so he had a lot of timber.

He had been to Norway to visit the family of his son-in-law and liked the houses there. He had a Norwegian style house built here in Skagen

When he stayed here he never brought his wife but his masseuse instead. He liked to bathe naked. Every morning he walked straight from the house as God created him to the beach and into the water, and back again for a treat by his masseuse.

Admiralgården (The Admirals court)

An annex building to Brøndums Hotel.

Build as almost a copy of the royal summer residence Klitgården by arkitect Ulrik Plesner. Ulrik Plesner had already copied the royal residence once before, and the king, who used to ride around town on his bicycle, said to Plesner: "Now we have enough Klitgaards in Skagen, dont you think?"

John Brøndum, the youngest of the Brøndum siplings, a shipsmate, but called the Admiral. Built so he could see the ocean (and the girls on the beach)

Lands End -Henning Kjeldsen owns the biggest fishing vessel in Denmark - 220 mill kroner - 29 mill. Euro - Qoutas to land 10 percent of all fishing in Denmark.

3. Vippefyret (The Bascule Light)

From here we can see almost 400 years of Light House history. But the story starts more than 10.000 years ago when the ice age ended. This part of Denmark did not exsist. Denmark ended about 40 km from here. When the ice retracted, the pressure was release, and the land slowly started rising. At the same time a strong current along the west coast transported sand and gravel from the westcoast and deposited it here on the north coast - this is still happening. And due to coastal erosion on the south coast, this landscape is constantly changing.

This is why the lighthouses arent built in the same place - we had to build a new lighthouse every 100 year.

This Bascule Light is a replica of a light house dating back to 1627 - and was placed on a hill further west. It was replaces by the White Light House in 1747 - the first lighthouse in Denmark built with bricks. Notice that the White Light was places at the spit, so it could be seen from both sides.

In 1858 the white lighthouse was replaces by the Grey Lighthouse, which also was places to be seen from both the NorthSee (Skagerak) and the Baltic (Kattegat). Skagen Vest 1956 - remote controlled

4. Østerbyvej - the yellow houses, red tiled roofs and white edges

Notice the narrow and winding roads because the houses were built in between the dunes. At first the houses were built from wood - timber from shipswrecks and tarred - therefore the were all black. They had thatched roof and no chimney - just a hole in the roof. These houses could easyly be disassempled and moved when the sea got to close or the drifting sand treatened the house. Houses from the black periode can only be seen at Skagen museum of local history.

Later fire regulations demanded that the houses must have brickwalls and tiled roofs. There is no clay in this area, and bricks were expensive, so they had to buy second class bricks and to cover the poor quality they plastred the walls and whitewashed the house. We have a lot of ochre in the water, and they put in even more to get the yellow colour. Today the colour is known as Skagen Yellow.

To secure the roof from the strong wind, they would plaster the tiles from the inside, but you can't reach the two outer rows from inside, so this is done from the outside. To protect the plaster they paintet it white - and it is much more prettier when it is white.

After we got the railway i 1890 and the harbour in 1907, the quality of bricks improved and plastering was not nessecery. Thus the red period as we saw at Østre Strandvej.

5. Skagens Museum og Brøndums Hotel

In 1858 Erik Brøndum was granted the right to run an inn. Brøndums Inn. Shortly after in 1859 they had a visit from a very special guest. He had had a long and troublesome journey and was very tired and hungry when he arrived at Brøndum’s hotel. There was no road, so you had to got by mail carriage along the beach - it was hard, wet and took a long time.

To provide the best food for this special guest a girl was sent to the shore to get some fresh fish, it took some time and the guest grew impatient and left for a walk, but he did come back and in the end he got a wonderful meal of fried plaice with cranberry jam and was satisfied.

He stayed at the hotel for one night, the night the innkeepers wife gave birth to Anna Brøndum. Anna later married the painter Michael Ancher and became a artist herself. The special guest was the famous danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen.

Erik and Ane Brøndum had 6 children, the oldest Degn Brøndum came to play a very important roll in the establisment of the artist colony in Skagen around the turn of the last century - 1870 to 1930

Degn Brøndum was primus motor in starting Skagen museum and when he died. The museum inherited Brøndums hotel and the dining room with all the paintings was moved to the museum in 1946 when the last of his sisters died.

The painters P. S. Krøyer, Michael Anker and Laurits Tuxen founded Skagen Museum in October 1908 with the purpose to collect and save some of the Skagen Painters work of art and make it available for everybody to see. It is unique to be able to see the paintings on the location where they were painted. 1919 Degn Brøndum gave the hotel garden to the museum, the architect was Ulrik Plesner and in 1928 the King Christian the 10th and queen Alexandrine inaugurated the museum.