Christiansø

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christiansø
Map around 1900
Map around 1900
Waters Baltic Sea
Geographical location 55 ° 19 ′  N , 15 ° 11 ′  E Coordinates: 55 ° 19 ′  N , 15 ° 11 ′  E
Christiansø (Denmark)
Christiansø
Number of islands 9
Main island Christiansø
Total land area 0.36 km²
Residents 84 (2020-01-01)
Christiansø 2001
Christiansø 2001

Christiansø forms with Frederiksø, Græsholm and smaller rocks an archipelago - archipelago in the Baltic Sea 18 kilometers northeast of Bornholm , which is called Ertholmene (the pea islands) and is the easternmost point of Denmark .

Surname

Christiansø is the name of the main island. Christiansø and Frederiksø were called Kirkholm and Bo (d) holm before the fortress was built in 1684 . The Ærtholme archipelago was previously written. It is believed that the name is derived from ært (Danish for pea), also because the islands - from the point of view of the Bornholmers - are so small. This is why German visitors also call them pea islands .

history

Medal on the pea islands, e.g. Currently Christian V.
Kongens Bastion from 1735
Pea islands on map from 1756
The harbor, 1896

From the middle of the 16th century, Bornholm fishermen used the initially uninhabited island of Christiansø as a quarter during their autumn herring fishery.

In 1658, after the lost war between Denmark-Norway and Sweden , Denmark had to surrender all of its possessions east of the Oresund to Sweden in the Peace of Roskilde . The border between the two countries was now the Oresund. Since Sweden also ruled over parts of Pomerania , the balance of power in the Baltic Sea area shifted to the disadvantage of Denmark. In order to be able to better observe the Swedish movements, King Christian V ordered the construction of the sea ​​fortress Christiansø with a fortified port for the Danish fleet in 1684 on the Ertholmene archipelago , which already had a natural harbor, and had medals minted for the occasion.

In the same year the construction of the large and small towers as well as bastions , barracks , workshops and houses for ammunition began. The fortress construction was directed by the Norwegian engineer Anthon Coucheron and carried out by up to 450 men. The fortress was also used for merchant shipping and was called by around 300 merchant ships annually. The fortress walls, bastions and towers have been preserved to this day and give the island its character.

On August 21, 1716 Tsar Peter the Great stayed on Christiansø. In 1778 Johann Wilhelm Franz von Krohne was imprisoned here . In 1808, Christiansø was attacked by a British naval squadron during the Gunboat War between Denmark-Norway and England . However, the capture of the fortress failed due to the resistance and the range of the Danish cannons. From 1820 to 1840 the philosopher and theologian Jacob Jacobsen Dampe was imprisoned on the islands because, like Uwe Jens Lornsen , he had called for the abolition of absolutism and the introduction of a free constitution .

In 1855 the fortress was lifted and the naval base closed . The islands remained subordinate to the Ministry of Defense . From 1863, former soldiers and others who wanted to fish from the island were allowed to live in the barracks buildings. They founded the civil island community. In 1926 the buildings on the island were placed under monument protection.

The painters Karl Isakson (1878–1922) and Edvard Weie (1879–1943) lived and worked regularly on Christiansø, making the island one of the geographical fixed points of Danish landscape painting. Bornholms Kunstmuseum has some of her works in its collection.

In April 1940 Christiansø, like all of Denmark, was occupied by the German Wehrmacht . The crew consisted of a NCO and three soldiers. During the war the islands were an important base for the (illegal) transports from Bornholm to Sweden.

church

A former armory was converted into a church in 1821. An extension and a renovation took place in 1852 and restorations in 1928 and from 2007 to 2008. The design in the neoclassical style was simple and the bell cage is housed in a separate tower , as in the round churches .

Inhabitants and geography

Almost 100 people live on the two main islands today. The archipelago used to have more inhabitants. The census of 1810 showed the highest population with 829 inhabitants, probably because at that time a large number of soldiers were housed in the fortress because of the "gunboat war".

For the island's population there is now a shop for everyday goods, a school for children up to 8th grade, a library , a church and their own electricity, district heating and water works. The water is obtained from seawater and groundwater using an osmosis system . It is planned to convert the energy supply to wind power and hydrogen . All other supplies are made via the daily ferry connections to Bornholm. In winter, the post ship only calls at the island once a day on weekdays . There is a fish processing plant on Frederiksø that puts so-called Christiansø herring (Christiansø-sild) in herb brine. The last fisherman left the island in 2013.

Buildings and waters on Christiansø and Frederiksø

Christiansø and Frederiksø are the only areas in Denmark that are outside the municipal and regional division . As a result, residents do not pay any municipal tax. The islands are subordinate to the Ministry of Defense , which is represented by an administrator on Christiansø. As a link between the administration and the population there is the island council, to which seven elected residents of the island belong.

Source:

The Ertholmene archipelago has an extension of around 1.5 km and is approx. 18 km northeast of Gudhjem , Bornholm (55 minutes journey with the motor ship Ertholm ). The total area of ​​the Ertholmene is 36 hectares.

island Area
ha
Christiansø, main island 22nd
Frederiksø 4th
Græsholm (grass island) 9
Lilleø (Small Island) 0.2
Høgebur (hawk cage ) 0.01
Tat (eel fork) with Langeskær (Long Archipelago ) ,
Loen (Tenne) , Kalven (Kalb) and Firken
( Penny Island )
0.4
Tyveskær (Thiefs' Association) 0.1
Vesterskær (Western Archipelago) 0.4
Østerskær (Eastern Archipelago) , Denmark's most easterly point 0.1
Ertholmene (Pea Islands) 36

nature

View from Frederiksø to Vesterskær and Græsholm
Christiansø, eider on the fortification wall
Gray seals on a cliff between Frederiksø and Græsholm
Christiansø, seagulls nest on the fortification wall

The islands protrude as round humps up to 22 m (Møllebakken on Christiansø) from the Baltic Sea. They are made of gray hammer granite, rounded off by the glaciers that glided over the islands during the past cold ages. The granite often comes to the surface. He is gekritzt, that is, he has numerous grinding marks which entrained in the glacier sediment left behind. The scratches indicate the former direction of movement that the glacier took on its journey .

The Ertholmene are one of the warmest, sunniest and driest places in Denmark, so fig, walnut and mulberry trees can also thrive here. The islands were not planted until they were settled. To protect against ricochets during cannon fire, the bare granite rocks were covered with large amounts of earth so that today's vegetation could spread.

Græsholm is an important bird island. It is a bird sanctuary and may only be entered for research purposes. About 300 pairs of razorbills , 1,500 pairs of guillemots , 7,000 pairs of herring gulls and 25 pairs of herring gulls breed there . The eider is also one of the breeding bird species with several thousand pairs on all islands. The employees of the bird sanctuary, which has been located on Christiansø since 1937, are primarily responsible for ringing the birds for scientific purposes.

tourism

The Ertholmene are visited by around 45,000 tourists every year . Most travel in season on excursion boats from the Bornholm ports of Allinge and Gudhjem . The Ertholmene are also used by many sailors. There is a circular route on Christiansø. Handicrafts and souvenirs are offered in the houses by the harbor. There is also a restaurant , a kiosk , a shop and a hotel at the port . There is an island museum in the Powder Tower on Frederiksø.

The islands are car-free , dogs and cats are not allowed. The port is formed by the water between the two main islands. A 30-meter-long footbridge spans the harbor and connects Christiansø with Frederiksø.

See also

literature

  • Doris Brockmann: The pea islands. Ten passages to what is probably the smallest group of islands in Europe. Edition Krill, Vienna 2014, ISBN 978-3902919-01-4 .

Web links

Commons : Christiansø  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Ertholmene  - travel guide

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f P. Riis (administrator on Christiansø): Welcome to Christiansø (brochure).
  2. Øens historie
  3. Erik Zahle: Dansk painting art. Copenhagen 1956, p. 263 ff.
  4. Statistical Yearbook for Denmark 2013, Chapter: Geography
  5. ^ [1] , Danmarks Statistics.
  6. a b c Hans Klüche: Bornholm. Goldstadt travel guide, 1993.