Damstederne

Damstederne er stranden og området vest for Skagen Havn. Oprindeligt, dvs. før havnen blev bygget, var hele stranden på sydsiden af Skagen betegnet Sønderstrand. I dag dækker betegnelsen "Sønderstrand" stranden øst for havnen.

Det var her, P.S. Krøyer malede "Aftentur på Skagen Sønderstrand".

Stranden fra Aalbæk var vejen ind til Skagen i gamle dage. Når ageposten nåede Damstederne drejede den ind mod land og kom til byfogedgården/ Toldergården/ Postgården i Vesterby.

Den kongelige sommerresidence, Klitgården ligger her. Den er dog ikke kongelig længere, men fungerer i dag som refugium for kunstnere og videnskabsfolk.

Tæt på ligger også Den Tilsandede Kirke.

Klitformationerne er op til 20-25 meter høje og her finder du Skagenrosen som er en deformation af gråris som følge af galmyggens larver.

Meget smuk strand, hvor der også er rig mulighed for strandfiskeri og badning.

Indtil 1854 gik vejen til Skagen på Kattegatsiden langs stranden – der var ingen vej over klitten – når stranden var ufarbar var man henvist til at køre opad damstederne.

Også på nordsiden måtte man køre langs stranden, nemlig fra Tversted til Skagen. Her kunne stranden kun passeres ved lavvande.

Skagens største problem var samfærdselsforholdene. Det var vanskeligt at komme til og fra Skagen. Man søgte om hjælp til grusvej eller bane til Skagen, hvilket blev afslået med begrundelsen: sandflugten ville dække vej og skinner igen og igen.

Eneste effektive mulighed var effektiv sandflugtsdæmpning. Ideen til klitplantagen opstod. Man søgte om at få staten til at overtage de af kommunens arealer, der lå omkring Den tilsandede Kirke og helt hen til grænsen til Landsognet og plante det til med træer.

Argumenterne var:

  1. at Skagens og navnlig Højens beboere ville få bedre arbejdsfortjeneste

  2. at klittens beplantning ville medføre ly for stormene og blidgøre det barske klima

  3. Skagens beboere ville få adgang til brændsel.

Der blev nedsat op til flere udvalg, som arbejdede med sagen, og den sidste med uindskrænket fuldmagt til at søge sagen ordnet.

På byrådsmødet den 4. juli 1888 fremlagdes en skrivelse fra Klitinspektøren om, at ministeriet havde approberet hele det tilbudte plantningsareals erhvervelse. Det tilføjes, at dem, der plejede at skære tørv havde ret til fortsat tørveskær.

Sådan gik det til, at Skagen fik sin plantage – som altså er en statsskov – og derved blev sandflugten så effektivt bremset, at det blev muligt både at anlægge en vej og en bane til byen. Skagens status som isoleret “ø” ophørte hermed.

Den såkaldte Ålbækvej var just ikke nogen ideel kørebane, når det f.eks. regnede. Da blev den til ét pløre.

Kilde: Minder fra Skagen især fra Midten af det nittende Aarhundrede.
Ved Kjøbmand L. Holst.

https://dis-danmark.dk/bibliotek/909371.pdf side 229 ff

Der var kun faa Rejsende med Posten, der var jo kun 3 Pladser paa Postvognen; det hørte til Sjældenhederne, at den var fuldt besat, ofte var der slet ingen. Paa Halvvejen hviledes en halv Times Tid i Aalbæk Kro, og om Vinteren drak Passagererne saa gjærne varmt øl eller Æggeøl. Kaffen var sjælden af første Klasse; det var dengang ikke saa ualmindeligt, at den blev lavet af havarerede Bønner. Turen fra Aalbæk til Skagen gik i Reglen Fod for Fod; var Vejen helt daarlig, søgte Kusken udenom over Grøfter og Vandløb, og naar Posten saa kom til Stranden og denne var daarlig, hvad der var det almindelige, stod Kusken af for at lette for Hestene, og var der Passagerer, gjorde de som oftest det samme, istedet for at sidde paa den hældende Vogn, der ofte var udsat for at komme i Kviksand ved »Stokrenden eller »Sandene. Naar man saa var kommet vel igjennem Damstederne og havde naaet Byen, ventede der den allerdaarligste Vej. Posthuset laa sommetider i den ene, til andre Tider i den anden Ende af Byen. Og saa skulde de fremmede Rejsende til at søge om Logis, thi i 1840 existerede der ingen Gjæstgivergaard i Skagen. Havde de rejsende ikke Venner eller Bekjendte i Byen, maatte de ved Byfogdens Hjælp indkvarteres hos Borgerne. Der var dog i Almindelighed stor Gjæstfrihed; man var jo vant til fra Strandinger at tage imod Fremmede. Savnet af en Gjæstgivergaard blev dog afhjulpet i Begyndelsen af Fyrrerne, da Enkemadam Brøndum byggede en Kjøbmands- og Gjæstgivergaard til sin Svigersøn, der drev den i nogle Aar, og efter hans Død blev den fort- sat deri til omkring 1860, da Gaarden blev solgt til Præstegaard. Gjæstgiveriet blev saa flyttet til Kjøbmand Brøndums Gaard i Østerby; men nogen lukrativ Forretning var det ikke, da der kun kom faa Rejsende, hvilket bedst illustreres ved, at da den gamle Gaard brændte, den 19. Jan. 1874, kunde Værten under Opførelsen af den nye Gaard drive Gjaestgiveri og Butikshandel samt have Privatbolig i det gamle > Simon Andersens Hus, som ligger i Haven Vest for det nuværende Hotel.

Damstederne are the beach and the area west of Skagen Harbour. Originally, i.e. before the harbour was built, the entire beach on the south side of Skagen was designated Sønderstrand. Today the term "Sønderstrand" covers the beach east of the harbour.

It was here that P.S. Krøyer painted "Aftentur på Skagen Sønderstrand".

The beach from Aalbæk was the way into Skagen in the old days. When the ageposten reached Damstederne, it turned inland and came to the byfogedgården/ Toldergården/ Postgården in Vesterby. T

he royal summer residence, Klitgården is located here. However, it is no longer royal, but today serves as a refuge for artists and scientists.

Nearby is also the Sand Buried Church.

The dune formations are up to 20-25 metres high and here you will find the Skagen Rose, a deformation of grey ice caused by the larvae of gall midges. Very beautiful beach, where there is also ample opportunity for beach fishing and swimming.

Until 1854 the road to Skagen on the Kattegat side went along the beach - there was no way across the dune - when the beach was impassable you had to drive up to the dams.

On the north side, too, you had to drive along the beach from Tversted to Skagen. Here the beach could only be crossed at low tide.

Skagen's biggest problem was traffic. It was difficult to get to and from Skagen. A request was made for a gravel road or railway to Skagen, which was refused on the grounds that the sand drift would cover the road and rails again and again.

The only effective option was effective sand drift mitigation. The idea for the dune plantation was born. An application was made for the state to take over the land belonging to the municipality around the Silted Church and right up to the border with the Landognet and plant it with trees.

The arguments were:

  1. that the inhabitants of Skagen and especially Højen would get a better return on their labour

  2. the planting of the dune would provide shelter from storms and soften the harsh climate

  3. the inhabitants of Skagen would have access to fuel.

Up to several committees were set up to work on the matter, the last with full power to seek a settlement.

At the town council meeting on 4 July 1888, a letter was presented from the Klit Inspector stating that the Ministry had approved the acquisition of the entire planting area offered. It was added that those who used to cut peat were entitled to continued peat cutting.

This is how Skagen got its plantation - which is a state forest - and how the sand drift was so effectively slowed down that it was possible to build both a road and a railway to the town. Skagen's status as an isolated "island" thus ended.

The so-called Ålbækvej was not exactly an ideal road when it rained, for example. Then it became a mess.

Source: Memories of Skagen, especially from the middle of the nineteenth century. By merchant L. Holst.

https://dis-danmark.dk/bibliotek/909371.pdf page 229 ff

There were only a few travellers with the mail, there were only 3 places on the mail wagon; it was a rarity that it was fully occupied, often there was nobody at all. Half-way the passengers rested for half an hour at the Aalbæk inn, and in winter drank warm beer or egg-beer. Coffee was rare of the first class; it was not so uncommon in those days for it to be made from broken beans. The journey from Aalbæk to Skagen was generally made foot by foot; if the road was entirely bad, the coach sought a way round over ditches and streams, and then when the post came to the beach and it was bad, as was usual, the coach dismounted to relieve the horses, and if there were passengers, they usually did the same, instead of sitting on the sloping wagon, which was often liable to come into quicksand at the "Stokrenden" or "Sandene. When they had got well through the ponds, and had reached the town, the most extraordinary road awaited them. The post-office was sometimes at one end of the town, at other times at the other. And then the foreign travellers had to look for lodgings, for in 1840 there was no innkeeper's house in Skagen. If the travellers had no friends or acquaintances in the town, they had to be lodged with the citizens, with the help of the bailiff. In general, however, there was great freedom of hospitality, as people were accustomed to receive strangers from strandings. The want of a hostelry was, however, remedied in the early forties, when Enkemadam Brøndum built a merchant's and hostelry for his son-in-law, who kept it for some years, and after his death it was continued there till about 1860, when the farm was sold for a parsonage. The hostelry was then removed to the farm of the merchant Brøndum in Østerby; but it was not a lucrative business, as few travellers came, as is best illustrated by the fact that when the old farm burnt down, on the 19th Jan. 1874, the landlord was able, during the construction of the new farm, to carry on a hotel and shop business, and to have a private residence in the old house of > Simon Andersen, which is in the garden west of the present hotel.