Sunny morning on Mors… Autumn-coloured plants on a wall of the inner yard of the lovely Agerdal B&B where Flemming and I stayed:
We had a long sleep – breakfast could be served at any time:
After a slow and enjoyable meal we took the time to have a look at the library, and found many interesting books. One of them, about Frida Kahlo, a Mexican painter, especially attracted our attention.
Flemming and I recently saw an exhibition of female surrealists in Louisiana, Museum of Contemporary Art, where some of the Frida Kahlo’s works were displayed. So we asked Kirsten and Jan, the owners of the Agerdal B&B, whether we could buy this book, but they would rather have aerial photos of their property. We made a deal.
Our plan for Saturday was to take a ferry at Feggesund Harbour we saw from air Friday evening, experience the remains of the Vigsø WWII Battery, visit the lighthouse and the bunker museum in Hanstholm, stop by Cold Hawaii in Klitmøller, touch the Hundborg Boulder, and finish the day at my friends’ home in Thisted with a nice dinner:
At the Feggesund harbour we were the only car in line. The journey took 5 minutes:
The Feggesund Ferries were first mentioned during the ruling time of Queen Margrethe I (1387-1412). In the course of several hundreds years they belonged to the Royal family, and from 1675 were privately owned. Through time, there only staff was on the other side, from Thy. That resulted in long waiting times for people from Mors, before they could call the ferryman’s attention. In 1833, a man with a row boat was stationed on the Mors’ side, who could row to the Thy’s side and get the ferry. First from 1918, the ferry began to have two fixed routes a day. Today there are 3 departures per hour. Per year 75,000 cars and 160,000 passengers cross the Feggesund by ferries – quite a lot!
When Flemming and I reached the Vigsø Bay, and were standing on top of its dunes, a stunning and at the same time strange view was in front of our eyes. Endless and very beautiful white sand beach, with desolate remains of the bunkers from the WWII here and there:
The coastal battery belonged to the Nazi, and was supposed to defend Hanstholm against attacks from the North sea. The battery was armed with four French 10.5 cm field cannons, which could fire at a distance of 11.5 km. Construction of the post began in October 1941, and the battery was ready to fire already in December 1941.
Initially, the post was arranged in a field with wooden barracks for the crew. The first strong bunkers with 2 m thick walls and ceilings were cast in September 1942; the last ones – in May 1944. A total of 46 concrete bunkers were built in that place. In January 1945, the battery had a crew of 144 men.
We loved this place. It was peaceful, incredibly beautiful, at times dangerous, it had a sorrowful past, and it was also fun. We spent quite long time there, climbing bunkers, walking, jumping from dunes…
Some of the bunkers were swallowed by the sea… Already during the war, coastal erosion was a problem, and therefore during the autumn of 1944 the Nazi built a protective wall of concrete in front of the battery. The wall was quickly destroyed by the sea, but the westernmost part can still be seen from the beach at low tide and calm weather.
Our next step was the lighthouse of Hanstholm.
The lighthouse was designed by architect G.N. Holgreen with the Royal building master J.H. Koch, and was built by entrepreneur G.N. Sibbern. When the lighthouse was ready for commissioning in 1840, it was discovered that the building was cracking. The vaguely drafted contract made a lawsuit impossible, but the problem was solved by G.N. Sibbern who generously at his own expense tore the lighthouse down to build a new and stronger one on the site, while the architect took the matter so seriously that he hung himself in the lighthouse basement!
We began our tour from walking around the lighthouse, and Flemming finally could get rid of the sand in his shoes, from the Vigsø Bay:
The lighthouse of Hanstholm is also a place where one can experience contemporary art. The one on the photo below was very interesting, with some of the glass parts moving, accompanied by music and softly changing light:
We saw other exhibitions as well. At one of them, the Aviator (my mascot) tasted some drinks. He didn’t like them. He is like me, drinks only pure tap water or champagne. No artificial ingredients!
The Aviator climbed a couple of stairs, and hanged out on a balcony – that was fun:
From the top of the lighthouse the views were very nice – but they are much nicer when you fly! In general, it was a good place to visit. Beautifully restored, it made an impression.
We continued to the Hanstholm Fortress, the biggest wartime bunker museum in Denmark.
In November 1940, the Nazi began constructing heavy battery at Hanstholm, in order to protect approach to Skagerrak strait (border with Norway). The guns at the Hanstholm installation had a range of 55 km. It was a huge project that included the construction of four giant bunkers for the guns themselves. Each bunker covered an area of approximately 2,000 square metres, and comprised not only magazines for the gun ammunition, but also living quarters for the 90 gun crews.
We went through all the (open for public) rooms under the ground, and it was huge. The rooms have been returned to their original appearance, and it was very interesting to learn how the soldiers lived there and carried out their duties.
Part of a tail of a Lockheed Hudson type bomber, belonging to the Royal Canadian Air Force Squadron No. 406:
On April 5, 1942, that aircraft was on an anti-ship patrol across the North Sea. Off Hanstholm, they discovered a Nazi patrol boat, and attacked it from low altitude. The bombs did not hit; in return, the plane was shelled from both the ship and the anti-aircraft guns on Hanstholm. The bomber was hit several times and crashed into the sea north of Hanstholm. The entire crew of 4 men perished in the crash. Three of the killed pilots were found and buried in Frederikshavn, while the last one has no known grave. The plane’s tail was salvaged by the Nazi soldiers, and it was presumably used as a trophy in one of the battery’s barracks. After the war, the tail was brought to Germany, where it stood as a decoration in a garden until approx. 1990.
After the bunker museum Flemming and I drove to the Cold Hawaii in Klitmøller:
There, it was very windy, and many windsurfers were out:
We didn’t stay long, because it was quite cold, but took many pictures of the waves. And before going to see my friends, I also wanted to show Flemming the Hundborg Boulder, one of the six biggest rocks ever found in Denmark:
We had a very nice and cosy evening at Maja’s home in Thisted:
The Aviator, waiting for his peace of cake – he loves dark chocolate:
Hanne, Lene, Claus, Maja, Flemming and I; Frederik was kind to take this photo of us:
When we got back to our B&B on Mors, it was late. The skies were clear, and we spent some time outside, stargazing – and there were so many of them! On Mors, the density population isn’t very high, hence not much artificial light at night, which gives a remarkable opportunity we never have in Copenhagen. The Milky Way was generously filling up the skies over the Mors island, and we felt grateful for that wonderful day that was coming to an end in such a gracious way.
