Before diving into the subject, it should be clarified that the dates of the Iron Age in Scandinavia do not correspond with those of other regions such as the Mediterranean or the Near East. In Scandinavia, the Iron Age began around 500 B.C. and extended at least until 800 A.D., when the Viking Age began.

It was during this Nordic Iron Age (according to historians before the year 500 A.D.) that the Danes, a Germanic tribe inhabiting areas of southern Sweden and the present-day Jutland Peninsula and Danish islands, began a titanic endeavor: a fortified barrier that crossed the peninsula from side to side at its narrowest point.

The Vikings later took advantage of it, expanding it, and it remained in use throughout the Middle Ages and the Modern Age, being used for military purposes for the last time during the Second Schleswig War in 1864. This system of fortifications is known as Danevirke (literally: the Danes’ work).

The Danevirke marked in red on an old map
The Danevirke marked in red on an old map. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

The danevirke consists of several walls, trenches, and mounds stretching over 30 kilometers from Hedeby on the Baltic coast to the so-called Schlei barrier (a wide bay on the western coast of the Jutland Peninsula), with a height varying between 3.6 and 6 meters depending on the area.

Excavations carried out in the 1970s, along with subsequent analyses in 2013, revealed that the construction of the danevirke occurred in three phases. The first phase is believed to have started before the year 500 A.D., and the next two between 737 and 968 A.D.

Some experts believe its origin was not for defensive purposes but rather a series of artificial navigable canals that at some point before the year 500 were transformed into a defensive wall.

A section of the Danevirke today.
A section of the Danevirke today. Credit: Joachim Müllerchen / Wikimedia Commons

According to sources, the fortification was reinforced in the year 808 by King Godfred I of Denmark, who feared an invasion by his Frankish neighbors to the south. A Danish national legend says that Queen Thyra, wife of Gorm the Old, who reigned between 936 and 958, also contributed to the construction. This seems to be in line with archaeological analyses.

In the 12th century, it was also reinforced with palisades and masonry walls by King Valdemar I, who used it as a base for his military operations in the Baltic. The parts of the structure reinforced in this way are known as Valdemarsmuren (Valdemar’s Wall).

The danevirke was effective for centuries in containing the Franks and other peoples south of Denmark. During the First Schleswig War, which pitted Denmark against the German Confederation in 1848, the danevirke was reinforced with trenches and artillery, becoming a symbol of national unity for the Danish people against foreign aggressors.

Construction phases
Construction phases. Credit: S. Bollmann / Wikimedia Commons

In the Second Schleswig War in 1864, the danevirke was initially used by the Danes as a base for skirmishes on German territory. However, no battle took place there, as the Danish high command ordered the troops to retreat to the trenches in the city of Dybbøl to defend the approach to Copenhagen, while the Prussians advanced through the danevirke without opposition, which had become obsolete in the face of modern warfare. This caused great shock in Danish public opinion, which until then had considered the wall impregnable.

Since then, the entire danevirke has been within German territory. In 1944, during World War II, the Germans attempted to convert it into an anti-tank trench fearing a second Allied invasion through that area (D-Day had already occurred).

Fortunately, Danish archaeologist Søren Telling managed to convince Himmler that it would be a shame to destroy such an important remnant of Aryan civilization, and the work was halted.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on November 18, 2018: Danevirke, el sistema de fortificaciones construido en la península danesa desde la Edad del Hierro

Sources

Danmarks Historien | UNESCO | Pamela Crabtree, ed., Medieval Archaeology | P.Pulsiano, K.Wolf, eds., Routledge Revivals: Medieval Scandinavia | Wikipedia

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