Skagen, the Land of Light

Friday, 7 January 2011 - 05:36 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, Architecture
Reading Time:  3 minutes

The lighthouse © Martin Olsson

The lighthouse © Martin Olsson

Skagen (The Skaw) is a projection of land and a town, with a population of 8,636 (1 January 2010), 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. The area is extremely picturesque, and distinguished by its low, yellow houses with red tile roofs nestled into the beach 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 dunes 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.

Skagen Yachting © De-okin

Skagen Yachting © De-okin

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 songs. Skagen is the setting for small but important parts of Jonathan Coe’s novels The Rotters Club and The Closed Circle. Today Skagen is a hideaway for the Danish money nobility, who put great efforts in the restoration and maintenance of the old fishermen’s houses and by doing so give an important stimulus to the conservation of the sites. A sustainable combination, as one would wish for at other places too.

To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facepage pages/Twitter accounts. Read more on Skagen-Tourist.dk, Wikipedia Skagen and Skagen-Guide.dk. Learn more about the use of photos.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

The seaside resort of Arcachon on the Atlantic coast

The seaside resort of Arcachon on the Atlantic coast

[caption id="attachment_149011" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Bassin d'Arcachon - Cabanes tchanquées © Karine Deydier[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Arcachon is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France. It is a popular bathing location on the Atlantic coast 55 kilometres (34 mi) southwest of Bordeaux in the Landes forest. It has a fine beach and a mild climate said to be favourable for invalids suffering from pulmonary complaints. Arcachon is known for the "Arcachonnaise", the local name for an Arcachon...

[ read more ]

Hoher Dachstein

Hoher Dachstein

[caption id="attachment_159814" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Hoher Dachstein with Vorderer Gosausee © Einer flog zu Weit/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Hoher Dachstein is a strongly karstic Austrian mountain, and the second highest mountain in the Northern Limestone Alps. It is situated at the border of Upper Austria and Styria in central Austria, and is the highest point in each of those states. Parts of the massif also lie in the state of Salzburg, leading to the mountain being referred to as the Drei-Länder-Berg...

[ read more ]

Portrait: Financier and banker J. P. Morgan

Portrait: Financier and banker J. P. Morgan

[caption id="attachment_171650" align="aligncenter" width="450"] J. P. Morgan © Images of American Political History - Pach Bros.[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]John Pierpont Morgan Sr. was an American financier and banker who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation in the United States of America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric. He also played important roles in the formation of the...

[ read more ]

El Ghriba Synagogue on Djerba

El Ghriba Synagogue on Djerba

[caption id="attachment_233455" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © flickr.com - Bellyglad/cc-by-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The ancient El Ghriba Synagogue, also known as the Djerba Synagogue, is located on the Tunisian island of Djerba. It is situated in the Jewish village of Hara Seghira (currently known as er-Riadh), several kilometres southwest of Houmt El Souk, the main town of Djerba. The synagogue is the oldest in Tunisia, and besides being the center of the island's Jewish life is also a site of pilgrimage, one of the...

[ read more ]

Warwick on the River Avon

Warwick on the River Avon

[caption id="attachment_161116" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Warwick overview © flickr.com - David Alonso Pérez[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire. The town lies upon the River Avon, 11 miles (18 km) south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. It has a population of 25,000. There has been human activity at Warwick as early as the Neolithic, and constant habitation since the 6th century. A Saxon burh was created at Warwick in the 9th ce...

[ read more ]

The artists' colony Worpswede

The artists' colony Worpswede

[caption id="attachment_150786" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Kaffee Worpswede (Cafe and Restaurant) © Till F. Teenck[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Worpswede is a municipality in the district of Osterholz, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Teufelsmoor, northeast of Bremen. The small town itself is located near the Weyerberg hill. It has been the home to a lively artistic community since the end of the 19th century, with over 130 artists and craftsmen working there. In 1884, Mimi Stolte, the daughter of a sh...

[ read more ]

Neapolitan pizza

Neapolitan pizza

[caption id="attachment_235570" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Authentic Neapolitan Pizza Margherita © Valerio Capello/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Neapolitan pizza (Italian: pizza napoletana), also known as Naples-style pizza, is a style of pizza made with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. The tomatoes must be either San Marzano tomatoes or Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio, which grow on the volcanic plains to the south of Mount Vesuvius. The cheese must be Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, a protected designation of ...

[ read more ]

Welcome to the fairytale land of the Brothers Grimm - The German Fairy Tale Route

Welcome to the fairytale land of the Brothers Grimm - The German Fairy Tale Route

[caption id="attachment_2404" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="German Fairy Tale Route map © deutsche-maerchenstrasse.com"][/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The route stretches over 600 km from Hanau near Frankfurt in the south to Bremen in the north, meandering through the towns and cities where the Brothers Grimm lived and worked, connecting the places and landscapes of their collected fairy tales into a route of wonders. The Fairy Tale Route offers culture and history, enchanting medieval towns of half-timbered houses, cas...

[ read more ]

Schnoor Quarter in Bremen

Schnoor Quarter in Bremen

[caption id="attachment_224263" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Lucas Kaufmann/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Schnoor is a neighbourhood in the medieval centre of the German city of Bremen, and the only part of it that has preserved a medieval character. The neighbourhood owes its name to old handicrafts associated with shipping. The alleys between the houses were often associated with occupations or objects: There was an area in which ropes and cables were produced (string = Schnoor) and a neighboring area, where wi...

[ read more ]

Andros in Greece

Andros in Greece

[caption id="attachment_227336" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Batsi © flickr.com - linmtheu/cc-by-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Andros is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, about 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Euboea, and about 3 km (2 mi) north of Tinos. It is nearly 40 km (25 mi) long, and its greatest breadth is 16 km (10 mi). It is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and well-watered valleys. The municipality, which includes the island Andros and several small, uninhabited islands, has an...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top
Canterbury Cathedral © Hans Musil
Canterbury in England

Canterbury is an English city which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in...

Seebrücke von Sellin © Haloorange
The island of Ruegen – 1,000 square kilometers vacation island with historic and natural diversity

The Island of Rügen, together with the Island of Hiddensee and some smaller islands form Rügen County the county town...

Wladiwostok GUM © wladiwostok.ru
First German department store ever located in Vladivostok: Kunst & Albers, a success story from Hamburg

It is always interesting and exciting to learn more about outstanding pioneering and entrepreneurial efforts. An incredible success story began...

Close