Skagen
Encyclopedia
Skagen is a projection of land and a town, with a population of 8,515 (1 January 2011), in Region Nordjylland
on the northernmost tip
of Vendsyssel-Thy
, a part of the Jutland
peninsula in northern Denmark
. Skagen is located in Frederikshavn municipality
.
Skagen takes its name from the region, which projects into the waters between the North Sea and the straits of Denmark. Skagen is considered the boundary between the Skagerrak
(named after Skagen) and the Kattegat
. At its very tip is a sandy, shifting headland known as Grenen
. Here it's possible to experience the sight of waves clashing together from each side of the tip.
Danish national road 40
also passes through Skagen.
Skagen stretches out to the northeast surrounded by the following waters:
areas. The impressive and wild landscape was largely formed by a severe process of desertification
that hit the area in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Problems with moving dune
s and desertification were brought under control in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries by large-scale plantations of grasses, bushes and fir trees. Two significant migratory dunes remain in the area, including the enormous Råbjerg Mile
.
The area continues to be a popular tourist destination visited by many people each year. A highlight of the year is the celebration of Midsummer Eve
or St. John
's Evening (Sankt Hans Aften) on the beach with blazing bonfire and song.
Skagen is the setting for small but important parts of Jonathan Coe's novels The Rotters Club and The Closed Circle
.
Always sparsely populated, until recently Skagen has been of interest mainly to mariners. Of the region now known as Skagen, Pliny the Elder
says (Book IV.97):
The name Tastris is a hapax legomenon
, recorded only once in all of history. Its meaning is not known: it may be the name assigned by the pre-Indo-European
Mesolithic
culture that once dwelled in the region, or by the subsequent agriculturalists.
Skagen, on the other hand, seems to follow Pliny's description of a projection running out into the "seas" (maria). There is a set of obscure words in modern Germanic languages
that seem relevant: English skeg
, a projection of a ship's keel
, shag, a surface with projections, Swedish skägg , "beard". The root remains as yet unidentified.
Once a remote fishing area, it become considerably easier to travel to Skagen after it became connected to the rest of the country via a railroad
line in 1890. A paved road followed in the 1940s.
The headland at Grenen
, the northernmost point of Denmark, is a spectacular setting where two parts of the North Sea, the Kattegat and the Skagerrak, meet. This makes for turbulent seas and strandings — beachings and shipwrecks are common. The frequent shipping losses and the strategic location as the gateway to the Baltic led to Skagen being the site of one of Denmark's earliest lighthouses, the Vippefyr
, constructed in the 17th century. A reconstruction of the lighthouse is located to the north of the town of Skagen.
The lighthouse was originally built and funded by the late Medieval
Danish state with the proceeds of the "sound dues
", and was superseded by the "white lighthouse" or hvidefyr in the 17th century, and then the far taller "grey lighthouse" or gråfyr of the 1850s.
The desertification that hit the area in the 18th and 19th centuries led to the abandonment of the old parish church to the migrating sands — the famous Buried Church (Den tilsandende Kirke). The tower of the church remains protruding from the dune
s, as it was left as a sea marker when the church was abandoned at the close of the 18th century.
In central Skagen there is a teddy bear museum called Skagen Bamsemuseum. The teddy bears on display belong to the private collection of the owner Jonna Thygesen. To the north of the town, the Skagen Odde Nature Centre
, open from May to late October, documents the natural elements.
, a community of artists (artist colony), who flocked to this picturesque, and then unspoiled, area in the late 19th century to escape the city and to record artistically a way of life they realized was soon to disappear.
Skagens Museum was founded in the dining room at Brøndum’s Hotel during October 1908. Chemist, Victor Chr. Klæbel, hotel proprietor, Degn Brøndum, and artists, Michael Ancher, P.S. Krøyer and Laurits Tuxen
were elected to form the first board of governors. After P.S. Krøyer’s death in 1909, his house in Skagen Plantation was used as a museum. In 1919, Degn Brøndum donated the hotel’s old garden to Skagens Museum. The building of the museum was commenced in 1926. The new museum was inaugurated during September 1928.
In 1982 the exhibition rooms were extended with an annex drafted by the Royal Surveyor, architect Jacob Blegvad. The same architect also designed the later extension to the museum that was inaugurated in 1989. In 1997 the museum administration moved into the Technical School. Today Skagens Museum has more than 1800 works of art at its disposal.
The Skagen Painters
, who enjoyed the reputation of a bohemian lifestyle, encompassed not only painters, but also writers, and other influential people as well. While only a few were fulltime residents of the area, they were often joined by friends, especially during the summer months. Among these notable visitors and residents of the time were writers Holger Drachmann
, Georg Brandes
, Hans Christian Andersen
, and Henrik Pontoppidan
, artists Peder Severin Krøyer
, Marie Triepcke Krøyer Alfvén
, Christian Krohg
, Michael Ancher and Anna Ancher
, and composers Carl Nielsen
and Hugo Alfvén
. They were often gathered at the area's Brøndum's Hotel, which is still in operation today.
Region Nordjylland
North Denmark Region or North Jutland Region is an administrative region of Denmark established on January 1, 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which replaced the traditional counties with five larger regions. At the same time, smaller municipalities were merged into larger...
on the northernmost tip
Spit (landform)
A spit or sandspit is a deposition landform found off coasts. At one end, spits connect to land, and extend into the sea. A spit is a type of bar or beach that develops where a re-entrant occurs, such as at cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift...
of Vendsyssel-Thy
Vendsyssel-Thy
The North Jutlandic Island , Vendsyssel-Thy, or simply Jutland north of the Limfjord are lesser-used names for the northernmost part of Denmark and of Jutland. It is more common to refer to the three traditional districts Vendsyssel, Hanherred and Thy...
, a part of the Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
peninsula in northern Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Skagen is located in Frederikshavn municipality
Frederikshavn municipality
Frederikshavn municipality is the northernmost Danish municipality, located in North Denmark Region.As a result of Kommunalreformen , it is a merger between the previous municipalities of Frederikshavn, Skagen and Sæby...
.
Geography
Skagerrak
The Skagerrak is a strait running between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area, which leads to the Baltic Sea.-Name:...
(named after Skagen) and the Kattegat
Kattegat
The Kattegat , or Kattegatt is a sea area bounded by the Jutland peninsula and the Straits islands of Denmark on the west and south, and the provinces of Västergötland, Scania, Halland and Bohuslän in Sweden on the east. The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Øresund and the Danish...
. At its very tip is a sandy, shifting headland known as Grenen
Grenen
Grenen, the northmost tip of Jutland, north of the town of Skagen, thereby the northmost point of Denmark. Grenen was given its name for its shape like a tree-branch . The Danish national road 40 passes through Grenen....
. Here it's possible to experience the sight of waves clashing together from each side of the tip.
Danish national road 40
Danish national road 40
Danish national road 40 , is a Danish national road in Vendsyssel in North Jutland between Skagen and Frederikshavn. The length of the road is 45 km .-Names of the road:...
also passes through Skagen.
Skagen stretches out to the northeast surrounded by the following waters:
- to the east is Ålbæk Bay (Ålbæk Bugt) and beyond that the waters of the KattegatKattegatThe Kattegat , or Kattegatt is a sea area bounded by the Jutland peninsula and the Straits islands of Denmark on the west and south, and the provinces of Västergötland, Scania, Halland and Bohuslän in Sweden on the east. The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Øresund and the Danish...
, the straitStraitA strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...
that separates Denmark from SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... - to the west is Tannis Bay (Tannis Bugt) and beyond that the waters of the SkagerrakSkagerrakThe Skagerrak is a strait running between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area, which leads to the Baltic Sea.-Name:...
, the straitStraitA strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...
that separates Denmark from NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
Description
The area is extremely picturesque, and distinguished by its low, yellow houses with red tile roofs nestled into the beachBeach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
areas. The impressive and wild landscape was largely formed by a severe process of desertification
Desertification
Desertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...
that hit the area in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Problems with moving dune
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
s and desertification were brought under control in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries by large-scale plantations of grasses, bushes and fir trees. Two significant migratory dunes remain in the area, including the enormous Råbjerg Mile
Råbjerg Mile
Råbjerg Mile is a migrating coastal dune between Skagen and Frederikshavn, Denmark. It is the largest moving dune in Northern Europe with an area of around 1 km² and a height of 40 m . The dune contains a total of 4 million m³ of sand.The wind moves it in a north-easterly direction up to...
.
The area continues to be a popular tourist destination visited by many people each year. A highlight of the year is the celebration of Midsummer Eve
Midsummer
Midsummer may simply refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, but more often refers to specific European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on a day between June 21 and June 24, and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different...
or St. John
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
's Evening (Sankt Hans Aften) on the beach with blazing bonfire and song.
Skagen is the setting for small but important parts of Jonathan Coe's novels The Rotters Club and The Closed Circle
The Closed Circle
The Closed Circle may refer to:*The Closed Circle , a novel by Jonathan Coe*The Closed Circle: An interpretation of the Arabs, a book by David Pryce-Jones...
.
History
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
says (Book IV.97):
- "Promenturium Cimbrorum excurrens in maria longe paeninsulam efficit quae Tastris appellatur."
- "The promontory of the Cimbri running far out into the seas makes a peninsula, which is called Tastris."
The name Tastris is a hapax legomenon
Hapax legomenon
A hapax legomenon is a word which occurs only once within a context, either in the written record of an entire language, in the works of an author, or just in a single text. The term is sometimes used incorrectly to describe a word that occurs in just one of an author's works, even though it...
, recorded only once in all of history. Its meaning is not known: it may be the name assigned by the pre-Indo-European
Neolithic Europe
Neolithic Europe refers to a prehistoric period in which Neolithic technology was present in Europe. This corresponds roughly to a time between 7000 BC and c. 1700 BC...
Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
culture that once dwelled in the region, or by the subsequent agriculturalists.
Skagen, on the other hand, seems to follow Pliny's description of a projection running out into the "seas" (maria). There is a set of obscure words in modern Germanic languages
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
that seem relevant: English skeg
Skeg
A skeg is a sternward extension of the keel of boats and ships which have a rudder mounted on the centre line. The term also applies to the lowest point on an outboard motor or the outdrive of an inboard/outboard...
, a projection of a ship's keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
, shag, a surface with projections, Swedish skägg , "beard". The root remains as yet unidentified.
Once a remote fishing area, it become considerably easier to travel to Skagen after it became connected to the rest of the country via a railroad
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
line in 1890. A paved road followed in the 1940s.
Attractions
Grenen
Grenen, the northmost tip of Jutland, north of the town of Skagen, thereby the northmost point of Denmark. Grenen was given its name for its shape like a tree-branch . The Danish national road 40 passes through Grenen....
, the northernmost point of Denmark, is a spectacular setting where two parts of the North Sea, the Kattegat and the Skagerrak, meet. This makes for turbulent seas and strandings — beachings and shipwrecks are common. The frequent shipping losses and the strategic location as the gateway to the Baltic led to Skagen being the site of one of Denmark's earliest lighthouses, the Vippefyr
Vippefyr
A vippefyr or bascule light or tipping lantern was a type of small navigational aid popular in Denmark in the 18th century and before. It consisted of a basket in which wood or coal was set; this was then burned. The basket was affixed to a lever that allowed it to be manipulated as required...
, constructed in the 17th century. A reconstruction of the lighthouse is located to the north of the town of Skagen.
The lighthouse was originally built and funded by the late Medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Danish state with the proceeds of the "sound dues
Oresund
The Sound , is the strait that separates the Danish island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of Scania. Its width is just at the narrowest point between Helsingør, Denmark, and Helsingborg, Sweden...
", and was superseded by the "white lighthouse" or hvidefyr in the 17th century, and then the far taller "grey lighthouse" or gråfyr of the 1850s.
The desertification that hit the area in the 18th and 19th centuries led to the abandonment of the old parish church to the migrating sands — the famous Buried Church (Den tilsandende Kirke). The tower of the church remains protruding from the dune
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
s, as it was left as a sea marker when the church was abandoned at the close of the 18th century.
In central Skagen there is a teddy bear museum called Skagen Bamsemuseum. The teddy bears on display belong to the private collection of the owner Jonna Thygesen. To the north of the town, the Skagen Odde Nature Centre
Skagen Odde Nature Centre
The Skagen Odde Nature Centre , on the northern tip of Denmark's Jutland, is a museum devoted to the effects of sand, water, wind and light. It was designed in 1989 by Jørn Utzon, the celebrated architect behind the Sydney Opera House...
, open from May to late October, documents the natural elements.
Skagens Museum
The area is closely associated with the Skagen PaintersSkagen Painters
The Skagen Painters were a group of Scandinavian artists who gathered in the area of Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark, from the late 1870s until the turn of the century...
, a community of artists (artist colony), who flocked to this picturesque, and then unspoiled, area in the late 19th century to escape the city and to record artistically a way of life they realized was soon to disappear.
Skagens Museum was founded in the dining room at Brøndum’s Hotel during October 1908. Chemist, Victor Chr. Klæbel, hotel proprietor, Degn Brøndum, and artists, Michael Ancher, P.S. Krøyer and Laurits Tuxen
Laurits Tuxen
Laurits Tuxen was a Danish painter and sculptor, sculptor, specialising in figure painting. He was also associated with the Skagen Painters...
were elected to form the first board of governors. After P.S. Krøyer’s death in 1909, his house in Skagen Plantation was used as a museum. In 1919, Degn Brøndum donated the hotel’s old garden to Skagens Museum. The building of the museum was commenced in 1926. The new museum was inaugurated during September 1928.
In 1982 the exhibition rooms were extended with an annex drafted by the Royal Surveyor, architect Jacob Blegvad. The same architect also designed the later extension to the museum that was inaugurated in 1989. In 1997 the museum administration moved into the Technical School. Today Skagens Museum has more than 1800 works of art at its disposal.
Famous residents of the town
Skagen Painters
The Skagen Painters were a group of Scandinavian artists who gathered in the area of Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark, from the late 1870s until the turn of the century...
, who enjoyed the reputation of a bohemian lifestyle, encompassed not only painters, but also writers, and other influential people as well. While only a few were fulltime residents of the area, they were often joined by friends, especially during the summer months. Among these notable visitors and residents of the time were writers Holger Drachmann
Holger Drachmann
Holger Henrik Herholdt Drachmann , was a Danish poet and dramatist. He is an outstanding figure of the Modern Break-Through....
, Georg Brandes
Georg Brandes
Georg Morris Cohen Brandes was a Danish critic and scholar who had great influence on Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind the "Modern Breakthrough" of Scandinavian culture...
, Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
, and Henrik Pontoppidan
Henrik Pontoppidan
Henrik Pontoppidan was a realist writer who shared with Karl Gjellerup the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917 for "his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark." Pontoppidan's novels and short stories — informed with a desire for social progress but despairing, later in his...
, artists Peder Severin Krøyer
Peder Severin Krøyer
Peder Severin Krøyer , known as P.S. Krøyer, was a Norwegian-Danish painter. He is one of the best known and beloved, and undeniably the most colorful of the Skagen Painters, a community of Danish and Nordic artists who lived, gathered or worked in Skagen, Denmark, especially during the final...
, Marie Triepcke Krøyer Alfvén
Marie Triepcke Krøyer Alfvén
Marie Triepcke Krøyer Alfvén , commonly known as Marie Krøyer, was a famous Danish painter. She was born Maria Martha Mathilde Triepcke in Frederiksberg, Denmark to Wilhelm August Eduard Max and Minna Augusta Kindler Triepcke, who had immigrated to Denmark from Germany the previous year. Max...
, Christian Krohg
Christian Krohg
Christian Krohg , was a Norwegian naturalist painter, illustrator, author and journalist.-Life and career:...
, Michael Ancher and Anna Ancher
Anna Ancher
Anna Ancher was a Danish artist associated with the Skagen Painters, an artists' colony in the very north of Jutland.-Background:...
, and composers Carl Nielsen
Carl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen , , widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age...
and Hugo Alfvén
Hugo Alfvén
was a Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter.- Violinist :Alfvén was born in Stockholm and studied at the Music Conservatory there from 1887 to 1891 with the violin as his main instrument, receiving lessons from Lars Zetterquist. He also took private composition lessons from Johan...
. They were often gathered at the area's Brøndum's Hotel, which is still in operation today.
See also
- Frederikshavn municipalityFrederikshavn municipalityFrederikshavn municipality is the northernmost Danish municipality, located in North Denmark Region.As a result of Kommunalreformen , it is a merger between the previous municipalities of Frederikshavn, Skagen and Sæby...
- Tourism in DenmarkTourism in DenmarkTourists in Denmark consist mainly of people from neighboring countries, especially Germany, followed by Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands. With 4.7 million visitor arrivals in 2007, Denmark ranked 43rd in the UNWTO's World Tourism rankings...
- Skagensbanen
- GrenenGrenenGrenen, the northmost tip of Jutland, north of the town of Skagen, thereby the northmost point of Denmark. Grenen was given its name for its shape like a tree-branch . The Danish national road 40 passes through Grenen....
- Skagen DesignsSkagen DesignsSkagen Designs, Ltd. is an international design company based in Reno, Nevada, that produces designer watches, clocks, jewelry and sunglasses....