Tracing the History of Skagen

Michael Ax came to Skagen in 1994, became museum manager at the Museum of Local History in 1999 and museum curator at the North Jutland Coastal Museum in 2012.

Slides attached at the end of the document

Skagen Odde, landscape development and prehistory:

The sea has always been the main artery in Scandinavia. Skagen is located in the middle of it all and this central role has throughout history and also been more distinctive than the fringe role that some have assigned to Skagen, among others, in recent years.

Skagen Odde is a dynamic landscape that continues to evolve. It can often be difficult to distinguish between the Skagen Odde complex and the town of Skagen. The Odden as a landscape phenomenon is relatively young. It was formed after 10,000 BC. - i.e. after the last ice age. It is debated whether there was actually some kind of landscape formation before the last ice age. When the ice was gone, the pressure on the land also disappeared and this allowed for landscape levelling in conjunction with large material transports along the west coast to the north and down into Aalbæk Bay. Some geologists argue that north of the ice age edge there was a massive or clay island against which the first deposits could be laid down. The rhyme/doppe system - peat and humus, grass and small shrubs form in the hollows/doppes. The rims are formed as seawalls. The rime/dip systems can be dated as tree rings. When the dips silt up, peat is formed in them. If you date the peat formed behind the seawalls/rims, you can see when the land was formed. What makes Skagen Odde special is the composition of the sand deposits, the ridge/dip system and the land uplifts. Land uplift in Vendsyssel is 1mm per year.

At Frederikshavn and south of Skagen there are tilting lines or faults. It is discussed whether there is actually a small land subsidence in Skagen. Regardless, there is still a general land uplift in northern Denmark. GPS measurements are still being taken at Skagen regarding possible land subsidence - partly at Skagen and Hirtshals harbours and at Skagen Town and District Museum. These measurements indicate a tendency for land subsidence in the central part of Skagen town and at the harbour.

A brief history

The land has physically changed since the Hunter Stone Age, which is put at 7,000 BC, when there was a very high water level due to the after-effects of the Ice Age. Vendsyssel then consisted only of a large land mass in what is now central Vendsyssel. There were inhabitants - hunters and fishermen. At Lyngby, remains of hunters have been found as far back as 12,000 BC. - from the so-called Ærtebølle culture - on the kitchen carpets you can see that these were coastal people who lived along the then north and west coast. The north coast was then a line stretching from Frederikshavn to Hirtshals. Skagen Odde did not exist at that time.

Throughout prehistory, the east coast of Vendsyssel has been the most densely populated. In the Neolithic period, settlements were concentrated mainly around Frederikshavn.

There are Bronze Age stone mounds in many places in Vendsyssel, for example at Dronninglund and Frederikshavn. In the Iron Age, there was a local population in Vendsyssel, which differed from elsewhere in the country, as can be seen from the pottery left behind. It is believed that Jutland was populated by 3 tribes, one of which lived in Vendsyssel. At that time, the marginal lands were already being exploited, but it was not until around 1200 that the first permanent villages were established.

From the Viking Age we have Lindholm Hill and Viking burial sites near Sæby.

Odde development:

The basis for the development of Skagen Odde is material transport and land reclamation. The material was transported by the sea along the west coast and deposited. Carbon 14 samples in the peat layers along the west coast show that the Odden has developed at the same rate since 4,000 BC and until the present day on the northern side.

New survey methods have shown that as early as 7,200 BC there was some kind of lagoon system where materials could be deposited, starting the Odden. The Odden eroded on the west side and deposited on the north and partly on the east side. In recent years, a small burial site - Slåbakken - has been found that dates back to 7,500 BC. Bronze Age finds from the peat bog at Hulsig. Also found pottery from the beginning of 500 BC. - Roman Iron Age. Odden has been inhabited already quite early.

About 7,200 years before our era, it is believed that there has been a mild tzunami between Kandestederne and Studeli Rende. This is shown by the discovery of various species of mussels, which are not otherwise found here, and which can only have come ashore as a result of a strong wave.

It is assumed that there was a small island at Råbjerg Stene before the uplift after the last ice age. The dynamics of that time may be the reason why the deposition of material began.

Traces from the Hunter Stone Age (4,500 years BC) have been found on Skagen Odde. The largest hunting site has been found at Slåbakke near Skiveren.

The young land has attracted people. This can be seen, among other things, from the discovery of arrowheads 1 km north of Skiveren. The arrowheads are believed to date from 5,500 BC and were probably used for hunting. Their discovery suggests that there has been some kind of habitation - perhaps a small Yoldia island at Skiveren.

Odde development

Bronze Age man was also on Skagen Odde, indicating that the area had a wide range of resources that provided opportunities for hunting and fishing. There are also finds from the older part of the Iron Age - from Spirbakken at Hulsig Hede. From the finds it can be seen that people lived permanently on Odden both in the Bronze Age and in the Iron Age (500 BC-700 BC) Bronze Age jewellery found at Hulsig and Kandestederne is some of the richest finds in Denmark from that time - Early Bronze Age = 1800-800 BC. Researchers believe that Skagen Odde in the Bronze Age can be seen religiously in connection with Western Sweden. The Bronze Age finds on Skagen Odde differ from other finds from that time in Denmark in that there are typically many burial mounds and burial sites. This has not been found on Skagen Odde.

The basis of existence was marine resources and hunting. Recent research from elsewhere in Denmark shows that fishing was much more important than previously thought. Fish bones from Zealand show that cod could be caught as deep as 1.5 metres, and as cod live in deep water, the Danes must have been good sailors at the time. At the end of the 1940s, an excavation at Gaardbo Sø found the remains of a fish storage facility - a kind of hut - from the Early Bronze Age - evidence of commercial fishing.

Pottery shards have been found at Hulsig, dating to 500 BC - the period between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Odden was thus inhabited for most of prehistoric times.

Bog soil samples also show that there have been both freshwater lakes and deciduous trees on Skagen Odde.

Prehistoric era ends in 700 AD

The discovery of a Thor's hammer in amber and shards of soapstone from a cooking pot testify to habitation in the Viking Age. The pot shards are from a cooking vessel imported from Norway. Iron nails have also been found - rivets from smaller boats from the Viking Age. It may have been a lookout post for a small army.

Vendsyssel in Danish History

Historical time means time from which historical sources originate.

The first time Vendsyssel appears as a locality is in the Viking Age c. Year 1,000. Here a bishop is appointed in Vendsyssel, which is therefore assumed to have been regarded as a special province. There was a royal farm in Vendsyssel near Børglum Kloster. At that time the king travelled around the country constantly to oversee his kingdom. Canute the Holy was said to have stayed there at one time in connection with his war plans against England, but the people of Vendsyssel chased him out of Vendsyssel.

Vendsyssel appears in Saga literature as Vendila Skaga = Vendsyssel's branch.

Sources from the 1200s written by an Arab historian also mention the tip of Vendsyssel. From here was one of the country's best ports for sailing to Norway - exchange of goods etc. this port may have been close to the present Skagen. there was no question of a built port, but natural lee conditions or possibilities to pull the ships up on the beach.

Seafaring and sailing:

In the 1500s there was intensive sailing. There was trade between the Baltic States and the rest of the world. Lighthouses had to be erected. In the middle of the 1500s a lighthouse was erected on Skagen Odde - the Vippefyret. For many sailors, sailing around Skagen Reef was a life-threatening venture - it was a very difficult navigable waterway.

Beachings at Skagen have been known since the Stone Age, and there are many myths about people's greed in this connection - false lighthouses, the murder of sailors and thieving bishops.

As early as the 13th century, legislation was passed concerning the ownership of beached goods. The throne belongs to the stranded. It is the same as Danefæ - what nobody owns, the king owns.

Later, the strandings become an important source of income for the local population.

Skagen on the map

We need to go to the end of the Viking Age and the beginning of the Middle Ages before we can date activity in the Skagen area. Good sources are for example maps from 1508, sea maps from 1585. Reesen's map from 1677 shows town formation - settlement structure with Østerby and Vesterby. Skagen was one town but consisted of several towns within the town. This is peculiar compared to other places.

On a map from 1787, you can see a relatively large Vesterby and a smaller Østerby. The white lighthouse is also visible.

Tangible evidence

We know that a rather large church existed, even if little remains of it. The Skagen cog was stranded at the white lighthouse near the then Nordstrand. The conch was found in the 1960s during drainage works.

The National Museum was contacted, but they did not show much interest, but they contacted the Vendsyssel Historical Museum in Hjørring and the legendary Holger Friis, but there is no record of Friis having been to Skagen to look at the wreck. The municipal engineers then asked that the frames be taken up before the sewer work continued. The cog is largely located on private land at Fyrvej. It was not until many years later that the wreck was found to be of interest in connection with work to explore the development of the Oden. In the mid-1990s, Lønstrup/Nielsen began a major search for the missing rafters, which were to be found in private homes etc. They were borrowed and samples taken from them, which showed that the timber had been felled no later than 1197. New research was therefore carried out in the area, which showed that the structure was a cog, which replaced the Viking ships as a type of transport in the 1300-1400s. Only three examples of the oldest type of cone have been found in Denmark - the Kollerup cone from c. 1157, the Kolding cone from Kolding Fjord from c. 1180 and finally the Skagen cone from 1197. It is possible to determine where the timber came from. It was originally believed that ship timbers came from northern Germany and Holland, but the conkers were more likely built from timber from southern Denmark - more specifically the forests near Åbenrå. The Skagen cone lies about 80cm below ground, sealed in sand. It's a bit of a mystery why it's there and why there's so much of it left, but maybe it was stranded during the Danish summer. during a heavy sand drift. However, this has not been proven. The timber is very well preserved, which may be due to the fact that it has been lying in sand. The discovery of the conch is also evidence that the Ommeland ship had sailed around Skagen. The fact that the ship is empty is evidence that there were people on land who could have taken care of what was in the ship.

Pottery from Reven - collected as surface finds at Fyrbakken and towards Betty Nansen's villa. The oldest finds date from the mid 1200s-1630s-1640s

Sand drift and crisis

From the mid-1600s to the 1700s, Skagen experienced a severe crisis. St. Laurentii Church silted up. Initiatives are taken to curb the sand drift in the form of planting, but it is difficult to control the elements. At the same time, there are biological declines in fishing, so that there are fewer fish in the seas. Furthermore, Danish fishermen cannot keep up with the sea-based fisheries, where the Dutch, for example, fish off Newfoundland. Skagen will also be affected in terms of trade rights, as Aalborg will be granted rights for foreign trade. This means that Skagen can no longer trade with Norway, Sweden, England and northern Germany.

Population

There is no reliable information about the population of Skagen before the 1600s. In 1587 there were about 3,000 inhabitants, so it was a large town all things considered, but not compared to Copenhagen which was considerably larger. The figure is uncertain, however, as it is based on the number of soldiers. It is possible that more soldiers were discharged from Skagen because of their qualifications in navigation and sailing.

But Skagen was one of the largest towns in Vendsyssel at the time. Over the next hundred years the population halved, so that in 1672 there were only about 1,000 inhabitants. The sand drift is blamed for everything, but that in itself is not enough. The disappearance of the haddock and the decline of fishing and other industries also played a part. The population reaches a plateau of 7-900 inhabitants during the 18th century, but at the end of the century there is a period of growth when things start to turn around again. There is a steady increase in the number of inhabitants up through the 1800s and a large increase from the beginning of the 1900s, which must be seen in the context of commercial development - the arrival of the Port of Skagen in 1907, etc.

Sand drift and crisis - part 2

Sand drift has always been known, even in prehistoric times. Sand flight is often attributed to the "Little Ice Age" from early 1500 - c. 1850, when climate change brought different vegetation. It was also a period of more human pressure on nature - there was more grazing, releasing material that could fly.

Fishing played a crucial role in the well-being of the town. The economy here was and still is crucial for Skagen! What triggered the great disaster for Skagen in the late 1600s was the change in fishing opportunities - it may have been climatic, but you also see fluctuations in fish stocks, which have always changed back and forth.

Around 1600 there was a bourgeoisie in Skagen with a mayor and aldermen.

Hauerbach 1983-92

Hauerbach bases his theory of the development of the oodi on readings of the rhyme/dope system. On this basis he believes he can establish that the northern coastline in the Stone Age was at Råbjerg Stene. In the Bronze Age at Hulsig Hede and in the Iron Age at Højen.

Lønstrup/Nielsen 1995-99

They believe they can demonstrate that the coastline in the 120-1600s was nearest to Fyrbakken and later to Betty Nansen's Villa. Based on archaeological material, it can be seen that Østerby's predecessor was the area called Reven. The material shows extensive activity in the area. In the 1600s, the Reven settlement was moved into what is now Østerby. Presumably settlement in Vesterby in the same period.

Based on sources from the late 1500s and early 1900s. 1600s, it can be seen that what is referred to as Toldergården is the same as Holsts Gård. Coins have also been found at Fyrbakken, confirming the ceramic dates.

New investigations 2000-2004

Here, deeper investigations were carried out in the form of, for example, geo-radar surveys, in which an X-ray image of the sand layers is taken. These can show shifts between the sand and the seawall layers below the surface. Secondly, geotechnical drilling and OSL dating, which measures radioactivity in sand grains and rocks - showing when these were last exposed. These can very accurately date when a seawall formed.

Archaeological investigations

In the area of the Skagen Town and District Museum - on Svallerbakken - preserved cultural layers can be seen (dark layer). Findings from a test hole show medieval hard grey ware pottery from the 1300s. Westerwald stoneware from after c. 1575. Horn-painted pottery from Denmark from the period after 1575 and chalk pipes from Denmark from the period after 1610.

Survey of old odd core

Within the oldest parts of Skagen lies the remains of the old odd core, the precursor to the younger part of the Grenen, which has encamped on top of the old core. The old odd core can be dated to c. 650-750 in Østerby and near the church. Therefore, presumably human activity in Skagen already from around the 700s.

It's all about fish

From lordship accounts, it can be seen that Skagen was a quality designation already in 1566-57. A town like Skagen that makes its living from fishing has the clout to buy good things. Hence the presumed discovery of pottery of some value.

Contacts

Antiquities show contact with Sweden and Norway. Shipping and trade in Europe. The Tilsandede church required stones from Germany (Lübeck)Skagen was not isolated and far away from everything. There is a long tradition up here of cultural encounters and contact with the wider world. Far more so in fact than the rest of Denmark because of the shuttle trade. There was a tradition of trade and shipping in Skagen until the late 1600s, when Aalborg was given exclusive rights in North Jutland for foreign trade. This had a great impact on Skagen, which still traded with foreign countries to a certain extent. Aalborg's rights were perhaps also the reason why the people of Skåne did not seek new fishing grounds. There was thus a greater centralisation (does that sound familiar these days!!)

Strandings and "imports" - cultural encounters

One of the things that makes Skagen special is that it is not a single town, but different neighbourhoods that have made up the town since the Middle Ages - Højen, Vesterby and Østerby.

Højen - Gl. Skagen emerges at the same time as the other districts. That it has been called Gl. Skagen is probably due to a misreading from a Dutch nautical chart. The word "old" Skagen is associated with a landform and not a specific location.

All 3 districts are medieval and they have moved several times.

The hinterland

Although the farmland on the odden was poor, there were farms all around.

Guesthouses and cottages

In the Kandesteder several hotels and seaside guesthouses as well as summer cottages appeared. An expression that people wanted peace and quiet. Skagen has never had a hinterland, but it has had tourism and fishing exports.

Port, people and town

With the arrival of the port in 1907, fishing also flourished, which had a great impact on Skagen's development. New fishing techniques were developed and the engine was added. In the interwar period, fish reception facilities were established at the port.

Presentation Skagen - Local History 2014 Michael Ax