Jutland peninsula: history and modernity

The Jutland peninsula is a wonderful and informative place to spend some unforgettable days here. However, only if you prefer non-standard places - here you do not Cote d'Azur and skiing, as in the Alps, you are not fortunate enough.

On the other hand, Jutland is filled with antiquity - a trip here is suitable for people who are not indifferent to the cold Scandinavian romance and the charm of antiquity. Germanic pagan tribes, legendary Vikings and their modern descendants - the Danes - will help to spend time with benefit, providing you with an unforgettable vacation.

Nature

Where is the Jutland peninsula? You should pay attention to Northern Europe, and right below the large and remarkable Scandinavian peninsula you will immediately notice a small "outgrowth" from the mainland. This is Jutland - a place not at all friendly, at least, at first glance.

Sand dunes on the cold sea coast, bays, reminiscent of the Norwegian fjords, well-known to all from the Viking films , the remains of glaciers mixed with limestone rocks and clay - that's what the marine part of the peninsula looks like. In addition to the coast, you can also see the cold meadows in the depths of the peninsula, about a tenth of the land at the same time is the forest.

It used to be part of a large forest that covers almost all of Europe. Denmark is famous and a lot of swamps. The weather on the peninsula is also unfriendly, and although in winter the temperature indicator rarely falls below zero, thanks to warm sea currents, in summer you will have to face the average July temperature of 15 degrees. So without warm clothes and a raincoat on Jutland to go precisely it is not necessary. The average amount of precipitation, incidentally, is between 650 and 750 millimeters, so that fogs and constant rains will certainly meet you on the road.

The former greatness of a small country

The oldest state on the Jutland peninsula is the Danish kingdom. This ancient Viking state was formed as an independent feudal principality (with the capital in Hedeby) only in the tenth century, before that there existed only small principalities, constantly fighting among themselves for power over the entire peninsula.

Ancient Danes, like their descendants, modern Danes, apparently appreciated the poor nature of Jutland, once shed so much blood for this patch of land in endless battles. Nevertheless, not only all the Scandinavian countries, but almost all of England, the Danish king Knut the Great, conquered the Foggy Albion for some time, but managed to hold it for almost a hundred years.

Ancient mummies in the swamps of Scandinavia

The peninsula Jutland was inhabited by people since the Stone Age. Especially many monuments are in the Bronze Age, when the ancestors of modern Germanic peoples - Indo-Europeans - entered the territory of modern Denmark. The special climate of Jutland (many marshes) made it possible not only to preserve objects of everyday life of ancient people, but even cloth, hair and their bodies.

Of particular interest to both scientists and tourists are the ancient mummies that get from the bottom of the marshes, with intact clothing and even hairstyles of that time. Some of the surviving mummies are three thousand years old. These peoples were the ancestors of already historical Cimbri and Teutons, imprinted in ancient Roman historical works and chronicles. It's not for nothing that the father of geography calls Ptolemy Jutland Cimbria, in honor of the formidable German people, which horrified the Roman legions at the turn of our era.

Invaders of England

Above we have already mentioned that Denmark has retained almost the whole of England for more than a hundred years in its own hands. The conquest began at King Harald Sinezub, in honor of whom, by the way, everyone is known for Bluetooth, and continued with his heir, Knut the Great. But although now the inhabitants of the Foggy Albion had to suffer under the yoke of harsh dans fed up by the meager land of Jutland, let us look at the English themselves.

History often has unpredictable and ironic twists and turns, and this case is no exception. After all, the descendants of the Saxon, Anglo and Ute tribes became conquered - in honor of the latter, England itself was named, in honor of the third - Jutland, although the first tribes were the driving force behind the Saka conquest of the island in the fifth century. And they all came to the territory of the British Isles from Denmark, from where they were driven out by the ancestors of the Danes. It turns out that England was conquered by the Irish twice - the first time the Celtic-Romanesque population conquered the Saxons, and then the latter were already affected by the dans. The Irony of Fate?

Tribes of Jutland

Contemporaries of the Saxons from the peninsula of Jutland, Utah and Angles, also followed in the fifth century on the territory of England, leaving their native expanses under the onslaught of the Danes. Natives of the more severe conditions of Scandinavia, although they were also Germanic tribes, more correctly disposed of the local lands. When the Saxons were defeated by the troops of Charlemagne, they built large protective shafts and did not lose their independence.

Danish history and modernity

The darkness of the Middle Ages, frightening and interesting, fills the peninsula of Jutland. The state carefully takes care to preserve the historical heritage, supports museums and research centers. No wonder the father of modern scientific archeology Oscar Montelius worked in Denmark.