Wooden Ship Festival

A few weekends back, there was a “Wooden Boat Festival” held here in Odense.

One of the things I love about where I work is its location.  Denmark yes, but where in Denmark is even better.  The office of OMT (Odense Maritime Technology) is located in a former industrial area that is being revitalized.  Instead of tearing down beautiful old buildings, the city building codes lead you to “renovate” the old buildings.  OMT is a company of ship designers and engineers that are used to being near the water and ships.  This led them to the waterfront on the Odense Canal and a renovated grain building.

The Odense Canal leads to the Odense Fjord and the fjord opens into the Kattegat, the sea that is bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Straits islands of Denmark to the south and the provinces of Västergötland, Scania, Halland and Bohuslän in Sweden in the east.

The reason I am telling you all of this is my office window looks out on a working harbor with access to the open ocean.  I can see all kinds of ships and interesting sites.  The Queen’s Yacht comes into this harbor yearly (a past blog entry).  Sailboats, working ships, Danish naval vessels, fishing boats, kayaks, even paddle boats you can rent.  I get to see all of this by just looking out of my window.

So when a Wooden Boat (or should I say SHIP) Festival is held in Odense, I get a front row seat.

This festival is called the “Regatta "Around Funen”.  Funen (or FYN in Danish) is the island where Odense is located.  Each year during the summer, these ships sail around Funen and stop at most of the ports to promote wooden ships, their preservation, and keep the Danish wooden ship cultural heritage alive.
All the ships arrived on Friday evening and on Saturday I went down to take a look.  I was not disappointed.  There where all sizes and types.  Many you could go for cruises on after the Regatta.

On Monday morning when I arrived at work (0630 is usually when I get to work) everyone was preparing to get underway about 0900.

My office

The view from my window

And then at 0900, they all left!  It was an amazing, coordinated traffic jam, with no collisions!

And all I have to do is look out of my window.

(and of course you noticed that the old wooden ships were under power when leaving.  Sailing these ships is for the open water these days!)

Skjolden

I live in an apartment run by “City Hotel” in Odense, Denmark.  The apartment building is several blocks from the hotel.

The front of the building has the name SKJOLDEN on the front of it.  I did an little research and found that the location in Odense has been well know for quite some time.  It can be seen on the oldest map of Odense, dating from 1593.

"Skjolden" is located on the corner of two of Odense's oldest streets Overgade and Nedergade.   It is the name of the building and the area in front of the building.

(By the way, the correct pronunciation for the two streets  is “ORE-GALE” and “NEAR-GALE”.  All I will say is Danish is an interesting language!)

Overgade 21, often also called Skjolden, has through the years been the location for many merchants.  Since the 1880s has been a pastry shop, barber shop, clothing store and instrument maker shop, as well as a sewing machine shop Bernina.

The location in 1800

The present building was built in 1889 by an instrument maker A. Kaiser.  The building has been renovated several times - and is perhaps one of the most remodeled properties on Upper Street and Nedergade.

1895

One of the major renovations was, however, in the years 1949-50, when the facade against Overgade was changed to a door and two windows were replaced with two large display windows.

In 1994 it was decided that the streets and building would be renovated to a more original look.  Skjolden got this occasion again a major facelift.  The facade was changed and the building was given back its two.

Skjolden today

There is a coffee shop going in below the apartment now, opening on August 1st.  From 1583 to a coffee shop in 2014.  Amazing!!

Mile Stones

I was walking through Flakhaven, the City Square, when I saw an odd cobblestone.  It had a number on it.  I asked at work, no one knew what is was for so I did a little research.

In 1907 the metric system introduced in Denmark.  Miles, yards and feet were replaced by kilometers, meters and centimeters. The new international Metric system also made changes for Danish roads.  The Danish highway system had begun in the 1700s.

To measure the distance between cities, "Milestones" were placed in the cities, which indicated the distance to the nearest city.

It was decided to measure the starting point by marking a special "0-milepost" stone.  The stone should be placed at the heart of the city, and it could, for example be on the square by the town hall, or the main church as an example  The measurements usually went from town to town.

Officially mile stone replaced by kilo champion stones in summer 1910.  The last mile stone was not set up until around 1920.

There are preserved "0-milepost" in several cities. In Copenhagen there is a granite pillar, for example. Town Hall Square in Christianshavn has one, as well as Norreport.

The "0-Milepost Stone"

Amazing what you see if you look down at the ground!

Indiana Jones and the Lost Viking Ring

When I was researching St. Knud’s church in last week’s blog, I did quite a bit of reading on Vikings.  King Knut is considered to be the last of the “Viking Kings” in Denmark.

Denmark is full of Viking history.  Across the street from where I live, there is an archeological dig going on now that unearthed the foundation of a market from the 900s! (A future blog entry!).

In 793 Nordic Vikings attacked the small monastic communities at Lindisfarne, which is a small island off England's north east coast.  They stole all the gold and sacred artifacts.  They killed the monks who came in their way, and they took some of them as slaves.  This brutal surprise attack is the first known “Viking Attack” and is known as the beginning of the Viking Age.

I started reading about “Viking Rings”, or “Trelleborgs”.  Trelleborg forts were built for what is assumed to be a military purpose in the Denmark.  Many attribute them to King Harold “Bluetooth”, the second King of Denmark (958-986).

They date back to the second half of the 900s and all have a similar layout:

·         A precisely crafted circular rampart

·         A gate in each of the four corners of the circle

·         A castle room, which is divided into four equal portions of two roads that were perpendicular through the center,

·         Buildings that are configured as four-winged farms.

There are 6 known Viking Rings in Denmark:

·         Aggersborg

·         Borgeby

·         Fyrkat

·         Nonnebakken

·         Slagelse

·         Trelleborg

Aggersborg is the largest of Denmark's former Viking ring castles, and one of the largest archeological sites in Denmark.  It is located near Aggersund.  It consists of a circular rampart surrounded by a ditch.  Four main roads arranged in a cross connected the castle centre with the outer ring.  The ring castle had an inner diameter of 240 meters. The ditch was located eight metres outside of the rampart, and was approximately 1.3 metres deep. The walls are four meters tall.

Aggersborg Ring

This diagram show how Viking "Longhouses" were arranged within the ring

Viking Longhouse

Of course, all that remains of any of the Viking rings are the earthen embankments.  

But this still looks like something I would like to visit!

Aggersborg is located near Aggersund, in northern Jutland.  A 14 hour bicycle ride!  Hmmmm.  I am getting into shape, but I think that would be pushing it.

As I thought about a train ride, I looked at the list of Trelleborgs and saw Nonnebakken.  The information online said it was located in Odense!!  I looked it up on Google Maps.

It was just around the corner from me and I had never seen it!!  I asked Mette Lindemann, my friend at work, if she had ever heard of a Viking Ring in Odense.  “I have never heard of such a thing” was her reply.  “You must go find it and report back with photos”.

The hunt was on.  When I got home from work, I decided to go full Indiana Jones for this one. (Spielberg, are you watching?)

The location on the map showed it along the path I run every day, so I headed out.  (Just so everyone knows, I did not ACTUALLY wear the Indiana Jones outfit in public.  I am trying to fit in here in Denmark!)

I finally arrived at my destination.  As I walked up to the location, I realized what I had discovered.

 

AN ANCIENT VIKING PLAYGROUND!!

Did I get the wrong location?  I scouted around to see if I could spot some remnants of the Nonnebakken Trelleborg.  But there was nothing.  Obviously my Indiana Jones karma needed some work.  I went home to regroup.

When I got to work the next day, I told Mette that I had found nothing, other than the ancient Viking Playground (not really so ancient, I don’t think Vikings had tire swings, but I could be wrong).  We both decided to some further research (at lunch of course).

We discovered that there HAD been a Viking Ring at that location.

I had to find out what had actually happened.  This is what I found.

The Viking Ring at Nonnebakken has been known for centuries.  In the beginning it is called simply Borg or Burgh, later given the name “Nun Mountain” by the Benedictine nuns who moved there in the 1100s. 

I found a map online from 1583, the oldest map of Odense.  You can see Nonnebakken as two half circles around an east-west road.  You can see it on the bottom center, just to the left.

Detail of Nonnebakken

I also found online an old engraving of Odense (spelled Odinse at the time) that showed the Viking Ring.

The rampart, which had existed until the beginning of this century, has now completely disappeared due to land development and housing.  A photograph from 1909 shows a dig gang who is about to dig away the last remaining piece of the Viking Ring.

 A major part of the castle area in the north has leveled off and is now owned by the Odd Fellow lodge.

The whole area was effectively excavated by a contracting company in 1909.  Everything was gone!

So I did not find the Nonnebakken Trelleborg in Odense.  But I did learn that I had not actually lost my Indiana Jones karma.  I just missed it by about 100 years!

It is amazing what you can find out if you just put your mind to it.

St. Knud's Church

Many weeks ago we visited St. Knud's Church in Odense.  It is a beautiful Gothic style church across from the main square in the center of town.

The history of the church goes back over 900 years.  St. Knud's is the third church on this location.  The first was built in 1095.  After it partially burned down in 1247, the Bishop of Odense began to convert it, increasing it in size.  This "rebuild" went on for almost 300 years!  (Obviously major problems with contractors!).  The church, as it stands today, was completed in the 1580s.

The church is named for King Knut of Denmark.  He reigned from 1080 to 1086.  The King was killed on July 10th, 1086 by rebels in the Church of St. Albania's (I can see that steeple from my bedroom window).  His brother Benedikt and 17 others were attempting to defend him in the church and were killed as well.  The King had sought refuge in the church from a rebel uprising.  In 1100, Knud was made the first Saint of the Danish Catholic church.

St. Knut's remains, along with his brother's, are on display in the church.

St. Knud's Church

There is a magnificent organ built in 1756

The arched ceiling is beautiful

In the 1700s, wealthy families of Odense built their own chapels and crypts in the church.  Entire families lie together here.

Hans Christian Anderson was confirmed here in 1819

This is the lower room where King Knud and his brother are

King Knut's remains

His brother Benedikt's remains

The Baptismal font, dating from 1620

The Pulpit, built in 1756

This is the Altarpiece, carved from 1513 to 1523 by Claus Berg.  This is consided to be the most beautiful work of medieval art in Denmark

And there were stone carvings everywhere

Next on my list of churches to explore is St. Albania's.