Naturen, Odden og Grenen

The City of Skagen

Skagen (The Skaw) did not have any trading links with the surrounding hinterland as was the case with the other market towns, but was a fishing settlement that can trace its roots back to the 13th century. At that time the area was completely desolate because the spit and the area around it was not suited for agriculture. Already in the 12th century, however, horses grazed in Højen (the old part of Skagen) and the shepherd fished a little.

Fact: In 1561, following pressure from the great seafaring nations, the town became one of the first places in Denmark to profit from the expansion of the lighthouse authority. Today, a reconstruction can be seen of the bascule light from 1627 as well as Denmark’s oldest brick-built lighthouse from 1747.

This land is no more than 8.-10.000 years old. After the iceage, the ice retracted and the sea bed began to rise. 

All of Skagen spit originally consisted of raised sea bed and sand washed up by the sea. The first 20 km mostly raised sea bed and a little sand, the last 20 km a littel raised sea bed and a lot of sand. 

In around 1100 king Eric Klipping gave a farmer Thorkel Skarpae permission to use the land for his horses, and he sent his shepherd Thronder to the area. He settled and began fishing, and other followed him. 

In the Middle Ages, Skagen was a flourishing commercial town, and in 1413 it was given its municipal charter and the rights of a market town by Erik of Pomerania. At that time the population was about 4.000 people living in the area. 

Climatic deterioration in the 16th century made life much more difficult for the farmers. Livestock was forced to make do with dune vegatation and the rootsystem that held the sand together was trampled under foot. Wood was needed for the lighthouses, for warming houses, building boats and much more. 

All this caused the sand to migrate, and once the sand was on the move, it chocked what was left of the vegetation. 

This cause a drastic decline in population, and in 1787 there were only about 600 inhabitants left. 

In the years 1810 to 1820 the town recorder and sand-drift commissioner Ole Chr. Lund started a succesful project to stop the sand-drift by planting different kind of trees. The struggle against sand-drifting goes on even today. 

The only place left untouched is Råbjerg Mile