The map at the beginning of this post is of the country of Denmark. If you look carefully at the narrow peninsula at the very Northern tip of the country, that is where Skagen is located. The pronunciation of the town is Skain, as in plain, by the way.
We arrive at this most interesting community at 10am. Our excursion isn’t until 2:10pm, so we are determined to take advantage of the mid-afternoon time of our departure from the ship. While this leaves us plenty of time to take a walk through this beautiful town, we forego that opportunity because we did just that on our visit that was part of our 2019 Oceania cruise.
Breakfast in the Grand Dining Room and a couple of hours on Horizons and we are ready for lunch. The weather couldn’t be better, so we opt to have lunch at the Terrace Café so that we can sit at a table outdoors (a corner one out of the wind) on the stern. Then it’s back to the stateroom for an hour’s quiet time to prep for our excursion.
Out on to the dock to meet our bus and our guide, Svend. We leave and he immediately begins by telling us about the development of Skagen, which was very much determined by its location as the farthest north town in Denmark. Skagen is economically two very different communities.
First of all, it is Denmark’s largest fishing port and, ironically, it is also Sweden’s as well, measured by how many Swedish fishing vessels “land” their catch here. (A quick look at a map of the area will indicate why. Sweden is a very short sail from here – hundreds of miles shorter than a road trip from there to the primary European markets). 200 companies tied to the fishing, fish processing, shipping or fishing vessel construction or maintenance are located here.
While the busy port has operated since its construction in 1907, the town has been a vacationing and summer tourist destination even longer. Skagen’s location on a thin sandy peninsula gives it the distinction of being the sunniest place in Denmark. The establishment of the town as the home of an art colony in 1879 and the opening of a narrow-gauge railway in 1890 initiated the growth of Skagen as a tourist destination. Svend tells us that in June and July, 50,000 tourists a month flock to this town of 8,000, and even now, in late August, Skagen hosts around 20,000. [The town seems way larger than that, but that may be because of the number of summer homes here.]
As we are driven through the various neighborhoods, we notice the similarity of all the houses. There is a reason for this. In 1858, probably following a devastating fire because all the houses were built of wood, by-laws were established with strict building requirements, the primary one being that roofs had to be built of tile. The preferred building material was block covered with a cement coating. The lime used in this finish was generally yellow, which was less expensive than the white variety (this was still very much a working-class fishing community back then).
This look – yellow with red tile roof – took hold throughout the community. Svend adds that the yellow color isn’t required, mind you, “but who is it that wants to be the one to change the look of the town?” This conformity of design and color really adds to the beauty of the community.
We will make three stops on our tour, the first of which is nicknamed Sandworm, because we will travel along the four-kilometer beach named Glenen in a tractor-pulled trolley. We leave our bus and board for this unique experience. Off we go, and on to the beach. We quickly understand why it requires a tractor to pull the trolley. The ride is noisy, but Swend can be heard (Cathy and I wisely took the seats closest to him in the front for that very reason). It’s a twenty-minute ride and we all disembark, about 150 yards from the apex of the peninsula.
To properly describe this unique area, and for purposes of accuracy and expediency we now make liberal use of Wikipedia: “At the headland at Grenen, commonly but erroneously believed to be the northernmost point of Denmark, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea meet. Because of their different densities, a clear dividing line can be seen. As a result of turbulent seas, beachings and shipwrecks were common. These frequent losses combined with the town’s strategic location as the gateway to the Baltic led to Skagen being the site of one of Denmark’s earliest lighthouses, Vippefyr, a lever light constructed in 1627. A faithful copy has now been constructed on the site of the original.
“Grenen marks the junction between the strait of Skagerrak (part of the North Sea) and the Kattegat sea, and the turbulent colliding seas have created a 4-km long curved sandbar above and below the waves stretching east. The reef is still active and has grown about 1 km northeast towards Sweden over the last century, resulting in a mean annual growth rate of about 10 meters. Because of the very strong currents, swimming there can be fatal and is prohibited in the waters around Grenen.
“The area surrounding Grenen is the place with the greatest number of observed bird species in all of Denmark. Birdwatchers regard it as the best spot in Northern Europe, for observing birds of prey during their spring Migrations. Birds often gather here before crossing the seas to Bohusian in Sweden. There are more migratory birds near Grenen when the wind is from the south-east. If the wind is from the south-west, many birds choose a route across Funen and Zealand instead. The annual Skagen Birding Festival has been celebrated here since 2005, attracting more than a thousand visitors and participants
“Grenen is also one of the best places in Denmark to observe sea mammals. Porpoises and common seals are very common here, and grey seals can be spotted here year round as well. As the area attracts many birdwatchers with binoculars, Grenen has also offered many whale sightings. The species most often reported are dolphins (especially white-beaked dolphins), northern minke whale and orcas. There have been isolated reports from Grenen of more exotic animals such as the walrus, the hooded seal and others.
Scientists view Grenen as a laboratory on both land formation and botany, as new land is continuously being formed and shaped here, soon to be colonized by pioneering flora.” [Please excuse the inoperative links]
We walk from the trolley on the sandy beach all the way to the tip of the peninsula. The Baltic Sea is on our right and the North Sea is on our left. Svend points to the waves close to shore on the North Sea, and points out that there are dangerous rip tides, owing to the shallow depth, making it illegal (not to mention foolhardy) to swim there.
He also mentions that 100,000 vessels pass by this location every year.
As we get closer and closer, we see that there are many, many people there for the same reason as us: selfies and photos of smiling faces abound. It’s a very festive atmosphere. We do make our way to the very tip, take in the beauty and uniqueness for a few minutes, and head back.
On our way, we see a young seal lying in the sand on the Baltic Sea side. Our guide explains that this is a common sight on the Baltic side of the beach. Mother seals come to fish for herring for their young, and leave them unattended on the beach while they go about feeding. But, he warns, do not get between the water and the baby seal. A mother seal would see this as a threat to her offspring, and would come to protect him/her. The baby seal does not at all feel threatened, and we gather around to take photos of him/her – from a respectful distance, of course. (Steve is using his long lease for these shots)
After an enjoyable half hour or so, we board the trolley for the twenty-minute bouncing ride back to our bus. What a wonderful experience on such a beautiful day. As we head back, Svend provides some more information about this area:
- The severity of the winter weather is dictated by the strong winds. If nit is from the east, where the winds cross over the Baltic Sea, they call it a “Russian Winter.” The winds will blow hard for an entire month.
- Off the shore you will see empty ships at anchor waiting for a charter. During the pandemic, there were also dozens of cruise ships there, shut down because of Covid.
- In WWII, Germany’s General Rommel worried about a possible invasion of Denmark by the Allies. For that reason, dozens of concrete bunkers were built and some can still be seen. After the end of the war, the Danes wished to eliminate as much of the items reminding them of the occupation of their country, so they destroyed most of them.
- Today, of course, the threat is the Russians. The military is keeping count of how many Russian vessels are passing to and from the Baltic for that reason.
- The same attention was being paid to Russian freighter traffic back in 1962, and the unusual nature of some of the shipping activity was the first indication of the problem that would become the Cuban Missile crisis.
- Denmark has had wind turbines for fifty years. Half the electric power in Denmark is presently produced by wind turbines, mostly built by a large Danish company. The problem is, of course, how to store the power produced.
Then we are on our way to our next stop: Den Tilsandede Kirke, a symbol of Skagen’s geography, its history, and the geology of this peninsula. Again, we will use Wikipedia to best explain the significance of this attraction:
“St Lawrence’s Church dating from the 14th century, is now known as The Sand-Covered Church as only its tower can still be seen. Sand began drifting in from Råbjerg Mile around 1600 and the area surrounding the church became affected by the desertification that destroyed the fields. In 1775, the church door had to be dug free for the congregation to be able to attend the service, and for the following 20 years, the Skageners struggled to keep the church free from sand, without being allowed to close it down. In 1795 the church was closed by royal decree and the body of the church demolished.[55] [56] A new church was built in 1841 to the design of Christian Frederik Hansen.
“The Sand-Covered Church (Danish: Den Tilsandede Kirke, also translated as The Buried Church, and also known as Old Skagen Church) is the name given to a late 14th-century church dedicated to Saint Lawrence of Rome. It was a brick church of considerable size, located 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) southwest of the town centre of Skagen, Denmark. During the last half of the 18th century the church was partially buried by sand from nearby dunes; the congregation had to dig out the entrance each time a service was to be held. The struggle to keep the church free of sand lasted until 1795, when it was abandoned. The church was demolished, leaving the tower with crow-stepped gable as the only part of the original structure still standing.
“The church is one of the oldest buildings in Skagen. It was built of brick in the Gothic style between 1355 and 1387 (the date of its first mention). The church had a long vaulted nave, with exterior buttresses, and a tower with crow-stepped gable, added around 1475.[4] The vestry was on the north side, the porch on the south side, and the tower on the west end of the nave. The church was 45 metres (148 ft) long including the tower, which is a bit more than 22 metres (72 ft) high. The body of the church was built in red brick with a lead roof, and the tower raised in patterned yellow brick, which was whitewashed over after 1816. The bricks were imported from the Netherlands and Germany, especially from Lübeck. Approximately 18 metres (59 ft) of the tower is visible above the sand today.[1]
“Sand began drifting in from Råbjerg Mile around 1600, when the area surrounding the church was affected by the desertification which destroyed the fields;[1] it buried the nearby village (near Skagen)[7] and had reached the church by the end of the 18th century.[2] This sanding-over of land occurred in many coastal areas around the North Sea between 1400 and 1800, affecting Scotland, Denmark, and Holland; in the 1690s two such events took place in Scotland, and the desertification in the Skagen area happened over two centuries.[7] On Great Prayer Day (Danish religious holiday celebrated on the fourth Friday after Easter) in 1775, the church door had to be dug free for the congregation to be able to attend the service, and for the following 20 years, the Skageners struggled to keep the church free from sand, without being allowed to close it down. The furnishings and interior decorations were removed and some items were sold. In 1795 the church was closed by royal decree and the body of the church demolished.[1][8] The chalice, candlesticks, and a bell were used in the new Skagen Church built by C. F. Hansen in 1841. ‘[Again, please forgive all the inoperative links – and the repetition of some of the facts].
We disembark from the bus and walk for fifteen minutes to the church. Svend tells us some interesting things about the church and the Skagen peninsula:
- Over the centuries, the church had become an important navigation landmark for ships entering or leaving Skagen. The tower was left for that reason. We spend fifteen minutes there taking in the unusual history of this church, and the stark and simple architecture of the tower that’s left. Then it’s the pleasant walk though woods to the bus and onward to our third and last stop.
- When it was at its zenith, the church held 3,000 worshipers.
- When the main part of the church was taken down, much of the brick that was left behind was used by residents of the town to build chimneys. Again, he reminds us that, at this time, Skagen was a poor fishing village. Most houses had small fires for heating. Chimneys were a big advancement.
- Around the year 800, the Vikings brought Christianity to Denmark. The Roman Catholic Church was, of course, the only church at that time. The King of Denmark converted to Lutheran in 1535, and told all the bishops that they either had to convert of face prison (a familiar story we have been hearing elsewhere).
Surprisingly, it’s only a fifteen-minute drive because the church is deceivingly close to the town, which is only three kilometers away. We arrive at the Skagen Museum, a stop Steve and Cathy, as big fans of Impressionist artists, have been looking forward to all day. We stop right near the Brondum’s hotel, which Svend notes is a critical element in the establishment of the art colony in Skagen. It was the owner of this hotel that encouraged artists to visit here, and he offered his hotel to the regular summer complement of artists.
There’s much more to the story of how the Skagen Museum was established, but Wikipedia will serve as an introduction: “Thanks to its seascapes, fishermen and evening light, towards the end of the 19th century it became popular with a group of impressionist artists now known as the Skagen Painters.” … “The Skagen Painters were a group of Scandinavian artists who visited the area every summer from the late 1870s until the turn of the century. They were attracted by the scenery, the fishermen and the social community of their fellow artists who encouraged them to paint en plein air following the example of the French Impressionists while sometimes adopting the Realist approach of the Barbizon School. They broke away from the rigid traditions of the Danish and Swedish art academies, preferring the modern trends they had experienced in Paris.”
The Skagen Museum collection is very impressive for the size of the town and the museum itself. There is a special exhibition of the paintings of one of Skagen’s own, P. S. Kroyer, and the art he produced in the years he lived in Paris. Naturally, there are many of works by him and other members of the art colony that had Skagen and its inhabitants as the subject. Here is a small sampling of the paintings. [We will add a couple of more to this post when the internet service is stable enough to do so]
Regretfully, we have to head back to the ship, but very pleased about all that we learned on this visit. There truly is no substitute for taking excursions led by interesting, friendly and knowledgeable guides like Svend.
Back on the ship, we find a bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket, a welcome gift from Oceania because we are staying on for the next cruise. It’s warm out on our veranda, with practically no wind. We sit and chat about our day and watch the peaceful scenery. The empty ships at anchor awaiting their next assignment. Gulls flying about, fishing for their next meal. The beautiful construction of a picture-perfect breakwater.
For the next hour, we relax as we have not allowed ourselves to do for the past fifteen days. The perfect way to spend the last day of a wonderful cruise. We stay out there as the ship sails at 7pm for the 94 nautical-mile trip to Oslo, where, tomorrow, all but 120 guests on the ship will be disembarking. We feel very fortunate to be sailing for another 18 days of adventure on MS Sirena.
