Skagen

Description

NV Cruising Guide

Navigation

Control of the illuminated port is possible day and night. It takes place at around 335° on the bearing of the leading light (2Iso.R). A cross-setting current must be expected before the entrance, which can be up to 2 nm/h (north-setting). In the harbor entrance, outbound vessels must wait until inbound vessels have passed.

Berths

The harbor basins between the old pier and piers no. 1 and 2 are kept free for yachts during the season and equipped with additional floating docks. The occasionally overcrowded harbor basin has water depths of 4.5 m. You can moor at the north-western quays with a stern anchor or alongside in a packet. Very large yachts (over 20 m) report via Skagen Port (VHF channel 16) and are allocated a berth in the east basin.

Limited berthing options are also available in the southern part of the Bundgarns basin at Sklagensejlklub, but the distance to the city center is 1.5 km.

All other fishing basins are closed to recreational boating.

Surroundings

In addition to the usual sanitary facilities, the very busy fishing port offers a comprehensive repair service with engine workshops and two sailmakers. Mooring at the bunker station on Pier 1 is only permitted for short periods. All shopping facilities are available in the town, which is well worth a visit, and the surrounding area is not only attractive for a trip to the "Grenen".

NV Land Guide

The most striking buildings around Skagen harbor are the old, red, two-storey fishermen's packing and auction houses, which defend their wooden houses tooth and nail against the tourist trade. A small café-restaurant is the only intruder tolerated in one of the auction houses. The harbor guest is the beneficiary of this demarcation, which creates an authentic harbor atmosphere.

Every morning, fish auctions take place in the halls north of the packing houses. The hustle and bustle is part of the milieu. Ice is constantly being loaded, nets are hoisted on board and refrigerated trucks pull up. There is a constant smell of fish.

The red wooden houses are a design model for many a new marina in Denmark and they don't promise too much as Skagen's calling card to the arriving yachtsman. The town, characterized by low, yellowwashed houses and a number of sights, is well worth a trip by sea. This also applies to the extraordinary moor, heath and dune landscape.

The fact that Skagen is a very special place was also discovered around 1930 by painters who were attracted by the light conditions on Denmark's northernmost headland. For them, the light was a triad of sun, sea and dunes. It is said that the Scandinavian tint of the night, influenced by the midnight sun, was the second reason for moving to Skagen. Paintings from the so-called Skagen School can be seen in the former house of the artists Michael and Anna Ancher in Markvej and in "Drachmanns Hus". After the death of the artist couple's daughter, the painter Helga Ancher, the Anchers' long, low house was lovingly restored. Helga Ancher had stipulated in her will that her house should be set up as a museum. The works of art of a number of other Skagen painters are also exhibited here. The "Villa Pax", Holger Drachmann's retirement home at Hans Baghsvej 21, has become a memorial to the painter and poet, who spent the last years of his life here. As a poet, he was best known for his heroic epics about the Skagen fishermen who rescued stranded people from distress at sea. In 1908, Drachmann, who was nicknamed the "singer of the seas", was buried in the northern Skagen dunes. His friends created the burial site.

The Skagen painters' colony is also represented by numerous paintings in the "Skagens Museum" (Brøndumsvej 4). The museum building, designed by the well-known Skagen architect Ulrik Plesner, contains around 1000 paintings, drawings, sculptures and handicrafts by artists who lived and worked in Skagen between 1830 and 1930. The everyday life of the fishermen is often the focus of the paintings. The beautiful daughters of Skagen are also a frequent motif. Among the well-known Skagen Impressionists were Martinus Rørbye, Carl Locher, Viggo Johannsen, Laurits Tuxen, Karl Madsen and Peder Severin Kröyer. The "Grenen Museet" on the northern headland of Grenen is a forum for contemporary artists.

The open-air museum in P.K. Nielsensvej, which is well worth a visit, provides information about the living conditions of days gone by. Nielsensvej provides information on the basis of seven buildings and their furnishings. Representing two social groups, the home of a poor fisherman and the house of a rich fisherman from around 1830 have been reconstructed here. The room layout and furnishings clearly show the great social difference. In the poor fisherman's house, four adults and six children usually lived in a very small space, while the wealthy fisherman had two living rooms, one or two bedrooms, a kitchen, a stable and a laundry room. One of the two living rooms was called the Vesterstuen (west room). Stranded sailors were given accommodation here. The development of fishing and the town is presented in the fishing museum on the museum grounds. The memorial hall is dedicated to rescues from distress at sea. A memorial wall lists the fishermen who remained at sea. A rescue station with a lifeboat has also been set up and a model of the harbor shows what it looked like shortly after it was built in 1907. The fishermen's wives are said to have once looked out for their returning husbands on the hill next to the museum.

At the bottom of the beach, many walkers now look less at the men and more at the beach. They are looking for the "gold of the north". The amber museum at Havneplads 14 shows that amber finds are not a rarity here. The number of insects encased in amber on display here alone runs into the thousands.

Scholars argue about how the settlement of Skagen came about. For a long time, it was believed that a horse herder named Tronder was the first to build a house in Skagen in the early Middle Ages. His master, the farmer ThorkiId Skarpä, had acquired the grazing rights from the Crown. At this time, traces of the original inhabitants of the northern tip of the Jutland peninsula had been erased. Only more recent excavations have shown that Stone Age people lived at what is now the junction between Skagerak and Kattegat - at a time when the land extended much further into the sea and the shoreline was identical to today's nine-meter depth contour.

During the Middle Ages, Gammel Skagen (Old Skagen) was initially established on the North Sea side. Only later did a settlement also grow up on the Kattegat coast, but it lacked a village street, a central market and a harbor. The fishermen had to pull their boats onto the beach. The houses, initially scattered among the dunes, soon became a medieval town. Successful fishing encouraged rapid development, which reached its first peak when Skagen was granted town privileges in 1413. Skagen had 3000 inhabitants during its medieval heyday in the 16th century, when large quantities of salted fish were sold to Sweden and Germany.

However, living conditions deteriorated considerably at the beginning of the 18th century. The fish failed to materialize and storm surges caused great damage.

Sand drifts also made life difficult for the people of Skagen. The sand drifts buried houses underneath them and ruined agriculture. The inhabitants unwittingly encouraged erosion by destroying beach plants. This led to a sand drift. Again and again, houses covered by drifting sand had to be moved. Some remained buried under the sand. All that remains of the old, sand-covered church, which had to be abandoned around 1800, is the tower that served as a sea mark. The nave, threatened by the drifting sand, was demolished after churchgoers had spent years shoveling their way to church services. The preserved whitewashed church tower with stepped gable is popularly known as "Lange Maren" and stands in the dune landscape three kilometers west of Skagen. It can be entered at certain times for a fee.

Plants have been planted to contain the sand drifts, but not to eliminate them. An impressive example of the constant change in the landscape is the 41-metre-high "Råbjerg Mile", a shifting dune ten kilometers southwest of Skagen, which has set a persistent course to the east. In this direction, it moves more than ten meters every year.

The waters around Skagen were and are among the most feared by seafarers. Even the Vikings preferred the route via the Schlei, Treene and Eider into the North Sea for good reason. And the Skagen fishermen not only risked their lives rescuing shipwrecked sailors, but also salvaging coveted parts of shipwrecks. The aim was to get ahead of their competitors in the salvage business. Careful attention was also paid to flotsam and jetsam. The wood washed up from the wrecks can be found in the old Skagen houses. The pioneering lighthouses on Denmark's northernmost headland have always played an important role for shipping due to the dangerous waters. In 1560, the royal house ordered the people of Skagen to erect a beacon. It was replaced in 1696 by a fire cradle, which can be seen today as a reconstruction in Østre Strandvej and is lit at the solstice on June 24. "The white fire" was built by the people of Skagen in 1747 as the first brick lighthouse, but with the iron basket on top, the fire did not differ significantly from its predecessors. It was not until 1858 that "The Grey Fire" at Grenen, the outermost tip of Skagen, revolutionized the Skagen lighthouses. 210 steps lead up to the highest lighthouse in Denmark (50 m). If you want to take on this fitness training, you have to pay a fee and are rewarded for the effort with a unique view. The slender Skagen West lighthouse replaced Højen Fyr, which was built in 1892, in 1956. Until a few years ago, the Skagen Rev (Skagen Reef) lightship, which has since been retracted, guided shipping around the northern tip, whose position is constantly changing under water. Even above water, the tip of Grenen points in different directions to the east, depending on the current conditions.

If you want to make a pilgrimage with many other tourists to the point where the Skagerrak and Kattegat meet, you first have to go to the Grenen lighthouse. Here the road ends at a parking lot in the dunes. Trailers pulled by tractors take you to the northernmost tip of the kingdom. As there are usually strong currents, it often feels as if two seas are colliding with great force. The people of Skagen, who are obviously well-equipped with tourist business acumen, are careful not to contradict this impression. They cleverly market the exposed location of their town of 12,000 inhabitants. The hefty harbor fees are the first indication that Skagen is not a cheap place. Nevertheless, Skagen has fortunately not developed into a place of chic.

Over the centuries, many a military power has discovered the strategic importance of the Danish northern tip. German concrete bunkers, which are to be removed over time, are a reminder of the last occupying power. Large listening devices at the "Grey Lighthouse" are used to monitor military shipping traffic on the Kattegat.

Skagen has a 60-kilometre-long beach. Nevertheless, caution is advised when swimming due to the currents. There are a number of places where swimming is strictly prohibited.

A bicycle tour to the picturesque southern Hulsing is recommended. You should take the opportunity to make a detour to the above-mentioned hiking dune. You can also take the bus or train to Hulsig or the nearest harbor town of Ålbæk. Summer timetables are available from the tourist office. Among a number of restaurants and pubs, the "Musikcafeen" at Havnevejen 16 is recommended for fans of live music. However, it only opens its doors at 10 pm. The small fish restaurant in the fishermen's auction houses is undoubtedly the most original and quaint. The hotel directly opposite the "Skagens Museum" is recommended for gourmets, as is the three-star restaurant "Trekosten" in Jeckelsvej in Altskagen. The latter also offers a magnificent view of the Skagerrak. The "Bodilles Kro" at Østre Strandvej 11 advertises that it is popular with locals and tourists alike for its fish dishes.

From June 25 to August 20, the local radio station "Skagen Nærradio" will be on air every Sunday at 4 pm in Danish, English and German. In addition to news and information for tourists, the program mainly includes advertising.

Marina Information

Contact

Surroundings

Electricity

Water

Toilet

Shower

Washing machine

Restaurant

Imbiss

Crane

Atm

Internet

Diesel

Grocery

Boatyard

Ramp

Public Transport

Bikerental

Garbage

Sewage