Thy (district)

Coordinates: 56°53′00″N 8°28′00″E / 56.88333°N 8.46667°E / 56.88333; 8.46667
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Thy coast looking to the south at Nørre Vorupør at sunset, 2012

Thy (Danish pronunciation: [ˈtʰyˀ], local dialect [ˈtʰyi̯kʲʰ]) is a traditional district in northwestern Jutland, Denmark. It is situated north of the Limfjord, facing the North Sea and Skagerrak, and has a population of around 44,000. The capital is Thisted. Snedsted, Hanstholm and Hurup are minor towns in the area.

Since the Danish municipal reform of 1 January 2007, Thy is roughly identical with

North Denmark Region. The southernmost part of Thy, the Thyholm Peninsula, belongs to Struer Municipality in the Central Denmark Region. Before the merger, Thy consisted of four municipalities: Hanstholm, Thisted, Sydthy and Thyholm
.

Thy forms the western part of the

West Jutlandic
group.

Nature

View over part of the Thy National park.

Thy has a very varied landscape. In the north it is marked by flat coastal plains which were covered by sea in Neolithic times, but fell dry because of the post-glacial rebound. These are interrupted with higher-lying plains that were islands in the Neolithic sea. In the slopes that formed the coast in these times, high-lying limestone is often visible - hence the name of the Limfjord. The eastern stretch, facing the Limfjord, has quite fertile soil, is slightly hilly and dotted with small villages and farms like the landscape in most of rural Denmark. The landscape is marked by strong western winds, most trees bending eastwards.

The west coast has wide beaches and high

crowberry, bilberry, blueberry, cranberry and orchids including the unique Dactylorhiza majalis subsp. calcifugiens. This is the result of huge sand drifts in the 15th to 19th centuries which covered much formerly fertile land. The sand drifting affected the whole west coast of Jutland, and various other parts of Denmark as well like Tisvilde on Zealand for example. Since Thy is exposed to winds from both the north and the west, even from the North Atlantic, the sand drift went the furthest inland in this area, as far as 18 km (11 mi). Parts of the sandy stretches have been turned into conifer
woods. A line of lakes, believed to have been caused by the sand drifts blocking the outflow to the sea, mark the border between the western, sparsely populated sandy area and the eastern, fertile farmland.

The wetlands

bird sanctuary in Northern Europe.[1] Nearby is the bird cliff Bulbjerg
.

Thy national park

Main article: Thy National Park

On 22 August 2008, Thy National Park officially opened, as the first of three realized national parks out of seven planned.

On 10 July 2007, a police officer from

empty bottles. For the same period he had been missed by his parents, who thought he was dead, but he was now re-united with them on the initiative of the police officer. Forest workers told they were aware of the man's existence, particularly that he had left behind many eggshells at the shelters and seemingly was nourished on eggs, but since he didn't do any harm they had left him alone.[2]

On 19 November 2012, a dead

Sachsen, Germany. The wolf was four years old and it is believed that it traversed the 850 km to Thy National Park. Wolves have been exterminated in Denmark for 200 years. In the beginning of 2013 a wolf-like creature was observed in Thy and a carcass bearing marks associated with a wolf-kill was found on 18 February. On 1 March 2013, the Minister of the Environment Ida Auken, initiated on this background the formulation of a Danish action plan concerning wolves.[3][4][5]

History

Thy is originally the same word as

Valdemar II of 1231 mentions Thiuthæsysæl, i.e. the syssel of Thy. Thy is by some scholars thought to be the origin of the Teutons;[6] Ptolemy placed the Teutons and the Cimbri
at the northern end of Jutland on his ancient map.

Antiquity

In the Stone Age, probably before it got its later name, Thy exported fine flint present in the limestone. A Neolithic flint quarry has been restored at Hov east of Thisted. Thy was densely populated in the Bronze Age and has a great number of burial mounds.

Middle Ages

In the Viking Age the area had vital trade links across the North Sea, being Christianised from England by Saint Theodgarus, a missionary originally from Thuringia and trained in England, unlike other parts of Denmark that were Christianised from the south. The former cathedral and monastery of Theodgarus in Vestervig is today the largest village church of Scandinavia. In 1085 Thy was the gatehead for King Canute the Holy's plans to retake England from William the Conqueror, with 1,000 ships gathered in the Limfjord until the expedition was cancelled and a peasant uprising broke out.

World War II

In the

allied invasion would take place here. The vast bunker complexes in Hanstholm
have been restored and are open to the public.

Economy

Thy is still a mainly rural area, the traditional businesses of agriculture and fishery being more prevalent than in many other areas of Denmark.

The leisure fishing boat Maagen on the beach of Nørre Vorupør.

Tourism

Tourism is a major business in summer, the coastal villages receiving many German tourists and smaller numbers of Norwegians, Swedes, Dutch and others. Although the coastal resorts have areas with individual holiday houses, they maintain a native population as well. The only major hotel-like holiday complex is at Vigsø Bugt east of Hanstholm. Thy has become a major destination for windsurfing.

Industry

There is some small and medium scale

meat processing/slaughterhouse), Dragsbæk Maltfabrik (malt), Dragsbæk Margarinefabrik (margarine), and Mejerigaarden/Polar Is (one of Denmark's largest ice cream manufacturers), all in Thisted. Thisted Bryghus was the first Danish brewery to introduce ecological beer and has a growing sale of its many speciality beer types.[7]

Education

Secondary education includes the

Århus
, and only a few of them return to Thy after finishing their education.

The Nordic Folk Centre for Renewable Energy is internationally known for its research in

wave energy and small-scale windmills
for developing countries.

Infrastructure

With its position in the northwestern corner of Jutland, Thy is far from the greater

North Atlantic
.

Roads

Bridges

  • Oddesund Bridge (southwards to western Jutland, carries national route 11 and railway)
  • Vilsund Bridge (eastwards to the island of Mors and from there onwards to central Jutland, national route 26)

Railways

Ferries

To the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Norway:

Small internal ferries on the Limfjord:

Airports

The closest airports with scheduled flights are

Karup Airport
.

See also

References

  1. ^ Vejlerne
  2. ^ Hermit re-united with parents, Thisted Dagblad/Nordjyske, 11 July 2007 (in Danish)
  3. ^ Yep, it was a wolf The Copenhagen Post (07.12.12)
  4. ^ "Wild boars make a comeback too". The Copenhagen Post. 1 March 2013.
  5. ^ Breeding wolves in Jutland probable within 10 years DCE - Danish Centre For Environment And Energy (Aarhus University)
  6. ISBN 87-567-4462-5
  7. ^ baja-thisted.dk (in Danish)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thisted Kommune.

56°53′00″N 8°28′00″E / 56.88333°N 8.46667°E / 56.88333; 8.46667

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