The Danevirke is a wall that has been in the news for a thousand years. It stretches across the base of the Jutland peninsula, where the land narrows between the Baltic inlet of the Schlei and the marshes of the Treene and Rheide rivers, and it was built, extended and rebuilt from about the eighth century by Danish kings. It protected the southern border of the Danes against the Franks and later the Saxons, and its earthen banks, once topped by timber palisades, ran for some thirty kilometres. UNESCO listed it together with the Viking trading town of Hedeby in 2018.
The North Wall, near the village of Dannewerk, is among the best-preserved sections. A low green bank, several metres high in places, runs across fields and woods, and in the middle you find the Crooked Wall, a curved stretch that was built in the tenth century. Excavations have shown several building phases. Nearby, the remains of a brick wall from the twelfth century, built by King Waldemar the Great, show how important the barrier remained.
The wall's story has a modern echo. In 1864, during the war between Denmark and Prussia, the Danes abandoned the Danevirke without a fight, retreating to Dybbol, and the loss became a Danish trauma. Today the border lies further north, and the Danevirke Museum explains the history to visitors. Hedeby, the Viking town on the Schlei, was a major trading centre, and its reconstructed houses can be visited.
The landscape is flat and open, with farmland, hedgerows, and low ridges, and the Schlei, a narrow arm of the Baltic, lies a short ride to the east. The roads are straight, with good surfaces and little traffic, and the wind blows steadily from the west. Schuby is a small village nearby, and Schleswig, a historic town on the Schlei, is the place for fuel and food. Fish is the thing to eat, served smoked or fried. Weather is cool and changeable, and a windproof layer is a good idea even in summer. Autumn is crisp, and the light on the water is lovely.