September 20, 2020: bike trip on the Langeland small roads

September 20, 2020: bike trip on the Langeland small roads: Skovsgaard - Humble - Lindelse Skovsgaard On Sunday 20 September, we cycled along route 4 from the Tourist Office's bicycle map (http://www.langelandwebshop.dk/webshop/16-brochuresmapsbooks/165-bicycle-map-langeland/). The weather was glorious, with high sun and light winds from the east, real Indian Summer. We started from the northeast corner of the route, at Påø Strand. Text to pictures 01: The first section on Påøvej is a gravel road with quite large stones. Not the best surface for cycling, but it was short and the rest of the trip we had fine asphalt. 01: Underwater snorkeling hunting in the sea around Langeland has become very popular. There is a facebook group about underwater hunting in the sea around Langeland with over a thousand members. The goal of the group is to help and inspire each other to an even better experience of underwater hunting: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2165746540186583/ 03: At the memorial stone for the stranding of 1400 prisoners of war in 1945. In the late afternoon of May 4, 1945, a large floating dock ran aground off Langeland after four terrible days, with hunger and thirst, anxiety and apathy for the 1400 Russian and French prisoners of war from Nazi Germany and their German prison guards onboard. The many men were exhausted and near death from hunger and thirst. The langelanders did a great job helping the starved prisoners. This year, we at Langeland have celebrated the 75th anniversary of the stranding. 04: Picture of the floating dock from the City Historic Archive. The stranding on Påø beach was for the French to be their rescue and freedom and they soon went back to France. The French prisoners of war came to nearby manor Skovsgård, where the rathe eccentric owner of the estate, Miss Fuglede, kindly took care of them on the estate. 05: The Russians stayed at Rudkøbing Public School. Photo: Rudkøbing City History Archive. For the many Russians, their stay on Langeland was probably the best experience of their lives. In the Soviet Union Josef Stalin was not happy that some of his soldiers surrendered to the Nazis. Many of the Soviet prisoners of war were sent to the Gulag concentration camps in Siberia, where they died of starvation, cold, disease, or overwork. 06: Påø Meadows with Konabbe Woods in the background, a part of the Skovsgaard Manor https://www.my-langeland.com/langeland/planjourney/skovsgaard-gdk612367 07: One of the many well-kept idyllic half-timbered properties on Langeland. 08: At the end of a beautiful avenue is the main building to Frederiksberg. The place is ideal for luxurious weekend stays, family reunions or company events. The main building is 860 m2 and it is furnished with 11 bedrooms. https://hjortholmgods.dk/?id=692429 09: Skovsgaard old windmill belongs to the Skovsgaard Manor In 1904, after a fire, a mill was rebuilt next to the old mill farm from 1830. The mill has been restored and the mill equipment is preserved and functional, which means that organic grain from Skovsgaard is ground there. 10: The view of the Langeland belt with large cargo ships and the rolling Langeland landscape in the foreground keeps on fascinating me. 11: Fodslette Church. The church is located in Langeland's smallest parish. It is built around 1250, but was heavily damaged during the Swedish wars (1657-60), since rebuilt by the noble family on Hjortholm Estate nearby. 12: We also met a Northern wheatear 13: View of the small island, Langø, from Bogø. The road to Langø was built by the farmer Marius Christensen from the island and his sons - a laborious work, which was completed in 1911. Bogø too has also once been an island, surrounded by Lindelse Nor. But now the southern part of Lindelse Nor has been drained and a pumping station is pumping the water away, so that maize can be grown in what used to be shallow nor. A low-lying area by Lindelse and Bogø Nor has been designated as a potential area for the implementation of a wetland project. The project area is about the creation of a new approx. 17 ha large shallow lake. 14: View of the small island, Langø, from Bogø. Lindø, like Langø, has a small farm and is famous in Danish archeology, because merchant Jens Winther, the founder of Langelands Museum, carried out some of his first Stone Age excavations here and published the findings at his own expense. The Stone Age people lived by the noret, and archaeologists could wade around the coast and make many good findings. 15: View over Lindelse Nor with many wind turbines in the background. 16: Lindelse church. 17: Map of the bike ride. It was 26 kilometers long and can be highly recommended. This is route 4 from the Tourist and Business Association's bicycle map http://www.langelandwebshop.dk/webshop/16-brochuresmapsbooks/165-bicycle-map-langeland/

Lindelse church.

Map of the bike ride. It was 26 kilometers long and can be highly recommended. This is route 4 from the Tourist and Business Association's bicycle map http://www.langelandwebshop.dk/webshop/16-brochuresmapsbooks/165-bicycle-map-langeland/

Cranes next to the village that love cranes, 3 April 2020

Tranekær is a village on the middle of the island Langeland (The Long Island) in Denmark. It is the former capital of the Northern Langeland Municipality, now a part of the Langeland Municipality. Tranekær is also the home to a big manor, former a castle to defend the island from luting from tribes from Northern Germany and inhabited by a count who says that the manor is the oldest permanently inhabited house in Denmark. But back to the cranes. Literally Tranekær means the village that loves cranes. For many years there were no cranes around the village that loves cranes, but approximately 10 years ago they moved into the wetland south of Tranekær called Flådet. First, they were very shy but now they don’t take care of the cars passing on the road right next to Flådet. To avoid that the Flådet stays as grassland, it grazed by a group of stallions, that is deported here from a big herd of Exmoore ponies that grazes the southern tip of Langeland who also have the task of reducing the up growth of scrubs. The stallions are exported here from the southern tip of Langeland to avoid an inbreed of the Exmoore ponies here, and a new stallion with is imported to bring fresh genes into the population.

The Tranekær pair of cranes taking a brake and maintaining their plumage

The Flådet wetland with Exmoor ponies and crane

The Flådet wetland with cranes (in the centre of the picture)

A crane together with European roe deer, also known as the western roe deer or simply roe deer. The roe deer is a relatively small deer, with a a shoulder height of 65–75 cm, and a weight of 15–35 kg, and the crane is a big bird, Cranes are very large birds, often considered the world's tallest flying birds. And the crane on the picture is far taller than the deers!

One Exmoor pony and three roe deers.

One Exmoor pony and three roe deers.

View from The Medicine Gardens towards Tranekær Castle. The Medicine Gardens is a botanical garden for medicinal plants. https://medicinhaverne.dk/english/

Langeland, Cold War and the forest “Lunden”, Hike, March 23, 2020

The Langeland Fort was built by the Danish Navy in 1952-54. The task of the fort was to prevent enemy naval forces from penetrating the Great Belt/Langelandsbæltet. Further the fort had the task to protect the minefields which, at the start of a war, the Navy intended to put out to control the passage of the Great Belt and counter an invasion of Denmark from the Baltic Sea. In addition, the fort's anti-aircraft fire was supposed to protect the Air Force and Navy's radar stations at Langeland. The location of Langeland's idyllic southern tip signals central contradictions: the idyllic and peaceful landscape versus a military installation. According available information the Warsaw Pact planned to put a 70kTon nuclear bomb on the fort in the early stages of a nuclear war. The contradictions between the idyllic landscape and nuclear warfare are symptomatic of the Cold War and daily life on the edge of a devastating conflict that at times seemed eerily near.

The trip was approx. 8 kilometers.

When I came to Østervej I turned left and immediately then right to the Strandvej at Broegaard

The coast at the bottom of Strandvejen, View of Føllesbjerg Marine Station, the only active military installation left after the fort was closed down in 1993.

There are many cargo ships passing.

View from the end of Strandvej to the north.

Remains of the underwater microphones (hydrophones) and magnetic cables (loops) that were established on the seabed off the coast at Langelandsfortet to, for example, reveal foreign submarines while crossing the Great Belt.

Below Føllesbjerg

View of the small forest called “Lunden”

Inside the Nature Agency's small forest, “Lunden”

In the Lunden. The Danish Nature Agency has created some fine trails and a primitive camp site. https://naturstyrelsen.dk/naturoplevelser/naturguider/sydlangeland/

In Lunden. Primula vulgaris, the common primrose https://naturstyrelsen.dk/naturoplevelser/naturguider/sydlangeland/sevaerdigheder/

As soon as I came out of the Lunden forest I had a nice view of Keldsnor Lighthouse.

View to the north to the southern entrance to Lunden

View from Rathvej over Keldsnor. It is barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) that are in the field in front of the burial mound.

Keldsnor.

Barnacle geese.

View of Keldsnor Lighthouse, from the south.

Lundemosen, just vest of forest Lunden, https://naturstyrelsen.dk/publikationer/turfoldere/fyn/sydlangeland/

The old house serves as a holiday home

Some roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) keep an eye on me as I am taking the photograph

There are many beautiful views towards the Langelandsbelt from Lundevej and Vognsbjergvej

From Vognsbjergvej there is a small road down to Føllesbjerg Marine Station

View from Vognsbjergvej

My hike started and ended at the parking lot at Langelandsfortet.

The map is from on application from 2009: Development of a new Cold War exhibition on Cold War Museum Langelandsfortet: The Cold War - a warm period in our history.