Danevirke
Danevirke | |
---|---|
Schleswig-Holstein | |
Coordinates | 54°28′N 9°27′E / 54.467°N 9.450°E |
Type | Walls, ramparts, trenches |
Height | 3.6–6.0 m |
Site information | |
Controlled by | Danes, (historically the Germanic tribe) |
Open to the public | Yes |
Condition | Ruin |
Site history | |
Built | Before 500 AD. Multiple later expansions. |
Built by | Unknown initiator. Expanded by King Gudfred, Harald Bluetooth, Canute IV, Valdemar I and others. |
In use | 974,[1] 1848, 1864. |
Materials | Earth, timber, stone, bricks |
Location | Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany |
Part of | Archaeological Border Complex of Hedeby and the Danevirke |
Criteria | Cultural: (iii), (iv) |
Reference | 1553 |
Inscription | 2018 (42nd Session) |
The Danevirke or Danework
The Danevirke consists of several walls, trenches and the Schlei Barrier. The walls stretch for 30 km, from the former Viking trade centre of
According to written sources, work on the Danevirke was started by the Danish King
Symbolism
Legend has it that Queen Thyra ordered the Danevirke to be built. She was the wife of the first historically recognized king of Denmark, Gorm the Old (reign c. 936 – c. 958).
With the emergence of
In the early 1800s Dannevirke was adopted as the title of several Danish nationalist journals dealing specifically with the question of Danish autonomy vis-à-vis Germany, the most notable of these being published by
Archaeological record
Archaeological excavations in 1969–1975 established, with the help of dendrochronology, that the main structure of the Danevirke had been built in three phases between AD 737 and 968. It is, therefore, contemporary with Offa's Dyke on the border between Wales and England, another great defensive structure of the late 8th century.
New
Size
The Danevirke is about 30 kilometres (19 mi) long overall, with a height varying between 3.6 and 6 metres (12 and 20 ft). During the
Stages in the building of the Danevirke
- Danevirke 1 – Hovedvolden ("the main carbon-14 dating. The first three stages were simple ramparts of soil, and the fourth stage was a palisade rampart with heavy timber front, built in 737. In the final stages the timber palisade was reinforced with a heavy stone wall around the timber.[9] Work is said to have been started by Angantyr, and continued by Siegfried, and ended by Guðfriðaccording to annales in 808.
- Hovedvolden: From Rejde Å (now called Rheider Au) to a small lake called Dannevirke Sø. It was the main segment of the Danevirke. About 2 m high and 12 m wide.
- Nordvolden: From the northeastern side of Dannevirke Sø, and further north about 7 km.
- Østervolden: About 3.3 km long, and protecting Schwansen.
- A 900 m long submerged construction in Slien.
- Danevirke 2 – Kovirke ("cow-work")/Kograben ("cow-moat" or "district moat")
Built either by Guðfrið or by Harald Bluetooth (if it is the work mentioned as newly made in the Frankish royal annals in 808, then Harald did not build it) it stretched from the Rheide Å about 7 km to a southern extension of the Schlei bay which is now a lake called Selker Noor. Its palisade was about 3 m high, and was a little more solid than that on the first ramparts. The bank of earth behind the palisade was about 2 m high and 7 m wide. It had a V-shaped moat, 4 m wide and 3 m deep.
The construction period of this rampart would have been some time between 770 and 970.[9] - Danevirke 3 – Hovedvolden/Hauptwall/"main rampart", Krumvolden/Krummwall/"curved rampart", Buevolden/Bogenwall/"bow rampart"), Dobbeltvolden/Doppelwall/"double rampart", Forbindelsesvolden ("the connecting rampart")/Margarethenwall ("Margret's rampart")
Hovedvolden was expanded, so that it was now about 5 m high and about 20 m wide. Krumvolden was built through the Rheide Å, and overlapped with Hovedvolden. Forbindelsesvolden closed a gap between Halvkredsvolden ("the semicircle rampart", a bank that protectedArild Hvitfeldt's Danmarks Riges Krønike adds a little detail to the extension of the Danevirke in that time period. "Then summoned (Queen) Thyra (wife of Gorm the Old) Danes from all the kingdom's regions to meet at the border and under her supervision they built a wall of earth and timber from Slien over the moors to Trene. The Scanians received the western section from Karlegat to Trene. Zealanders and Funen dwellers received the section east from Slien (Schlei bay) to Karlegat. Jutlanders provided provisions to the whole army." This would place Thyra's extension sometime before 940. Forbindelsesvolden was attacked by the Saxons of the Ottonian dynastyin 974. - Danevirke 4 – Hovedvolden/Hauptwall/"main rampart".
Reinforcement on the Main Wall finished in 954, and a new Forbindelsevold build from 964 to 968. Harald Bluetooth is thought to be the main constructor.[9] - Danevirke 5 – Forbindelsesvolden, Krumvolden, and Hovedvolden
Under Canute IV of Denmark (1080–86) Denmark was at war with the German empire. The Danevirke was strengthened at the beginning of the 12th century: the moats were deepened and the ramparts were made higher. A granite boulder palisade wall was built on a part of Hovedvolden. - Danevirke 6 – Hovedvolden and Thyraborg
Valdemar I fortified the rest of Hovedvolden with the famous "Valdemar-wall", a 7-m high wall of stones in mortar on a granite boulder base, propped up with buttresses and covered with tiles. This was a large reinforcement, and doubtless deterred many who tried to send an army northwards through Jutland. It was the last true reinforcement of the ramparts. Later Thyraborg castle was built.
The Danevirke began to lose its purpose in the 14th century, owing both to the expense of manning it and to the development of ballistas, trebuchets, and similar siege engines.
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Main Wall (Hovedvolden/Hauptwall)
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Eastern Wall (Østervolden/Osterwall) near Kochendorf
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The Danevirke today
First and Second Schleswig Wars
First Schleswig War
The
Second Schleswig War
The last military use of the Danevirke was during the
In World War II
Following the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II, the Wehrmacht feared that a second Allied invasion might take place through Denmark, and contemplated converting the earthen wall into an anti-tank trench to counter this threat. Had the proposal been implemented, it would have destroyed the structure.
Hearing of the plans, Danish archaeologist Søren Telling – aware that all archaeological investigation was under the ultimate jurisdiction of SS chief Heinrich Himmler – immediately telephoned both the head of the SS's archaeological department, Amt für Ahnenerbe ("Office for ancestral heritage"), and Himmler himself. Telling argued strongly against the destruction of an important remnant of "Aryan civilization" and Himmler authorized him to stop the construction of the anti-tank trench. He informed Telling that a written order would be dispatched but that it would take several days to arrive. Telling then drove to the site and ordered the commanding Wehrmacht officers to immediately stop the construction process. When the local Wehrmacht commander refused, Telling threatened him with reprisals from the SS. Construction was called off and Himmler's written order arrived two days later countering the Wehrmacht's original instructions.[13] Telling later settled near the site and considered himself a custodian of it until his death in 1968.
See also
- List of walls
- Hadrian's Wall
- Offa's Dyke
- Dannevirke (town in New Zealand)
- Götavirke (Geatish Dyke)
- History of Denmark
- History of Schleswig-Holstein
- Silesian Walls
Literature
- Andersen, H. Hellmuth (2004). Til hele rigets værn (in Danish). Højbjerg: Moesgård & Wormianum. ISBN 87-89531-15-9.
References
- ^ Else Roesdahl. "Broer, Ringborge og Dannevirke [Bridges, Ringcastles and Danevirke]". danmarkshistorien.dk (in Danish). Aarhus University. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ISBN 9781317605119.
- ^ Ordbog over det danske Sprog: Virke
- ^ a b Danevirke – Ældre end hidtil antaget! Archived 25 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Museum South-Jutland. (in Danish)
- ^ "Archaeological Border complex of Hedeby and the Danevirke". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. UNESCO. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
- ^ a b c Lotte Flugt Kold (3 November 2014). "Dannevirke". danmarkshistorien.dk (in Danish). Aarhus University. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ Uffe Christensen (27 August 2013). "Danevirke er noget ældre end antaget". Jyllandsposten (in Danish). Archived from the original on 1 October 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
- ^ Matthias Schulz (27 August 2010). "'Sensational' Discovery: Archeologists Find Gateway to the Viking Empire". Spiegel Online International. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Dannevirke" (in Danish). Gyldendal Business.
- ^ Anders Bøgh. "Valdemarstiden 1157–1241". danmarkshistorien.dk (in Danish). Aarhus University. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ Heinrich Sybel, The Founding of the German Empire by William I. 1890. Volume 1, page 253
- ^ Henrik Dannemand Jensen (4 February 2014). "Da 40.000 danske soldater opgav Dannevirke og forsvandt i ly af natten [When 40,000 Danish soldiers gave up Danevirke and disappeared under cover of darkness]". Berlingske (Kultur) (in Danish). Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ including Himmler's warrant i Danish translation, authorizing Telling to protect the site
External links
- Slesvig Wars in English and Danish
- Museum at the Danewerk
Parts of this article are based on the articles Dannevirke and Søren Telling on the Danish Wikipedia, accessed on 23 July 2006.