Germanic colonization and the Viking Age
After the last Ice Age, Stone Age and Bronze Age cultures spread across Jutland on the Danish islands. During the Iron Age, the south of Northern Europe, which was under Celtic influence, was densely populated. Far-reaching trade relations, but also conflicts, are documented for the period of the Great Migration. Jutes settled in England. On the other hand, probably around the middle of the 1st millennium AD, Germanic Danes (their name first appears in the sources around 550) settled on the islands from the east (southern Sweden), then they took possession of large parts of Jutland. King Göttrik (Godfred, † 810) created the first verifiable larger state structure, which he achieved by expanding the Danewerks protected against the Franconian Empire’s claims to power. In the first half of the 10th century Gorm the Elder united the Jutian lands under his rule; his son Harald Blauzahn, who was baptized around 960, had to pay homage to Emperor Otto II.
According to directoryaah, Danish Vikings undertook v. a. from the 9th century (until around 1050) extensive raids on the coastal areas of the European continent. The conquest of England, which began under Harald’s son Svend Gabelbart in 1013, was completed by Canute the Great, who also subjugated Norway in 1028 and acquired the Schleswig region between the Eider and Schlei in 1035. However, this North Sea empire broke up again after Knut’s death (1035 separation of Norway, 1042 of England). A treaty of inheritance brought Denmark under the rule of the Norwegian King Magnus the Good from 1042-47, then it came to Canute’s great nephew Sven Estridsen whose house held the Danish throne until 1448.
Denmark’s monarch
| Name and reign | ||
| Göttrik (Godfred) | † 810 | |
| Gorm the Old (Gorm den Gamle) | † around 950 | |
| Harald Blue Tooth (Harald Blåtand) | † 985 | |
| Sven Gabelbart (Svend Tveskæg) | 986-1014 | |
| Harald | 1014-1018 | |
| Knut the Great (Knud the Store) | 1018-1035 | |
| Hardknut (Hardeknud) | 1035-1042 | |
| Magnus the Good (Magnus the Gode) | 1042-1047 | |
| Sven Estridsen (Svend Estridsøn) | 1047-1074 | |
| Harald Hein (Harald Hén) | 1074-1080 | |
| Knut IV., The saint (Knud den Hellige) | 1080-1086 | |
| Olaf Hunger (Oluf Hunger) | 1086-1095 | |
| Erich I. (Erik Ejegod) | 1095-1103 | |
| Niels | 1104-1134 | |
| Eric II (Erik Emune) | 1134-1137 | |
| Eric III. (Erik Lam) | 1137-1146 | |
| Sven, Knut, Waldemar (Svend, Knud, Valdemar) | 1146-1157 | |
| Waldemar I, the Great (Valdemar the Store) | 1157-1182 | |
| Knut VI. (Knud) | 1182-1202 | |
| Waldemar II, the victor (Valdemar Sejr) | 1202-1241 | |
| Eric IV. (Erik Plovpenning) | 1241-1250 | |
| Abel | 1250-1252 | |
| Christoph I. (Christoffer) | 1252-1259 | |
| Erich V. (Erik Klipping) | 1259-1286 | |
| Eric VI. (Erik Menved) | 1286-1319 | |
| Christoph II. (Christoffer) | 1320-1326 | |
| and 1330-1332 | ||
| Waldemar III. (Valdemar) | 1326-1330 | |
| (Interregnum) | 1332-1340 | |
| Waldemar IV. Atterdag (Valdemar Atterdag) | 1340-1375 | |
| Olaf (Oluf) | 1376-1387 | |
| Margaret I (Margrethe) | (1376) 1387-1412 | |
| Erich VII. (Of Pomerania) (Erik af Pommern) | (1397) 1412-1439 | |
| Christopher III. (Christoffer af Bavaria) | 1440-1448 | |
| House Oldenburg | ||
| Christian I. | 1448-1481 | |
| Johann (Hans) | 1481-1513 | |
| Christian II | 1513-1523 | |
| Frederick I (Frederik) | 1523-1533 | |
| Christian III | 1534-1559 | |
| Frederick II (Frederik) | 1559-1588 | |
| Christian IV | 1588-1648 | |
| Friedrich III. (Frederik) | 1648-1670 | |
| Christian V. | 1670-1699 | |
| Frederick IV (Frederik) | 1699-1730 | |
| Christian VI. | 1730-1746 | |
| Frederick V (Frederik) | 1746-1766 | |
| Christian VII | 1766-1808 | |
| Friedrich VI. (Frederik) | 1808-1839 | |
| Christian VIII | 1839-1848 | |
| Frederick VII (Frederik) | 1848-1863 | |
| House of Glücksburg | ||
| Christian IX | 1863-1906 | |
| Frederick VIII (Frederik) | 1906-1912 | |
| Christian X. | 1912-1947 | |
| Friedrich IX. (Frederik) | 1947-1972 | |
| Margaret II (Margrethe) | since 1972 | |
Esbjerg
Esbjerg [ εsbjεr], port and trading center on the West coast of Jutland, in the South Denmark, Denmark, 72 300 residents; Conservatory, Fisheries and Maritime Museum, Botanical Garden; largest Danish fishing port (with fish processing); Coal power plant, shipyard, electronic industry. Esbjerg is a passenger port to Great Britain; Ferry connection with the offshore island Fanø; Airfield.
After Denmark lost the use of the ports on the west coast of Schleswig due to the defeat in the German-Danish War of 1864, Esbjerg was founded in 1868 on a state initiative and laid out with a strictly right-angled road network. The harbor town, which is protected by the island of Fanø, developed rapidly and received city rights in 1899.
Bornholm
Bornholm, a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, around 40 km off the south-east coast of Sweden, formed the Bornholm district until 2007 (589 km 2, 40,200 residents). With the regional reform in 2007, the district became part of the Hovedstaden region. Bornholm is geologically a block in the Tertiary in the Fennoskandia fracture zone. The north-eastern part consists of granites and gneiss which fall to the sea in a rugged cliff (up to 90 m above sea level); In the southwest, Precambrian sandstones, Cambrian and Silurian slate and deposits from the Triassic to the Cretaceous predominate, the coast there is mainly formed by dunes and wide sandy beaches. The hilly surface of the interior of the island consists of glacial deposits and reaches its greatest height with the Rytterknægten (162 m above sea level) in the Almindingen forest, the third largest forest in Denmark.
The economy includes agriculture and forestry, fishing (herring smokers), stone and ceramics industry and, above all, tourism. The capital Rønne has flight connections with Copenhagen (Kastrup), ferry connections (car ferries) with Copenhagen, with Ystad (Sweden) and Sassnitz (Germany); other important ports and seaside resorts are Sandvig-Allinge, Gudhjem, Svaneke (particularly well-preserved 17th century townscape) and Neksø; north of Bornholm are the Ertholmene (Pea Islands) with the fortress island Christiansø (17th century). – In addition to the huge ruins of the Hammershus fortress (13th century) with curtain wall and tower, the medieval round churches of Nylars (second half of the 13th century, with the oldest preserved frescoes on the island), Olsker (around 1150), Østerlars (11th century) Century) and the small church of Nyker (1287). The fieldstone churches are built with barrel vaults around a central pillar. The conical roofs are late changes to the buildings. Some of the largest building blocks in Scandinavia can also be found on Bornholm. – Bornholm, the medieval Burgundarholm (“The high island”), was Christianized in the 11th century and has belonged to the Danish Archdiocese of Lund since the 12th century. Its Romanesque round churches served as fortresses in the fight against Wendish pirates. In 1525 Bornholm came to Lübeck as a fief for 50 years, Bornholm was Swedish from 1658–60 and then finally remained in Danish possession. Towards the end of World War II, the island, which was occupied by German troops, suffered badly from Soviet air raids. From May 9, 1945 to March 6, 1946, Bornholm was occupied by Soviet troops.
