The Atlantic Wall

At Blåvand is the large Tirpitz position with two enormous gun bunkers. Together with the battery in Hanstholm, it was planned to be the largest coastal battery in Denmark. However, the installation was not completed before the war was over. Tirpitz, along with the positions on Fanø, protected the entrance to Esbjerg, which was a strategic hub for the occupying forces. The position's four large ship guns, with a range of 55 kilometres, were intended to cover the area from Nymindegab to Fanø, but at the time of liberation, the huge cannon tubes were still at Guldager Station near Esbjerg. After the war, the bunkers were sealed off and used by the Danish Defence for test explosions. The southern bunker was excavated and is now a museum - read more on Tirpitz' website.

The port of Esbjerg was a particularly important strategic hub for the occupying forces because it was the only harbour the Allies could use for a possible invasion on the west coast of Denmark. As a result, Esbjerg and Fanø were one of the best fortified areas in Denmark during the Second World War. Around 1,200 bunkers were built in the area. In Strandskoven in Esbjerg, a very large bunker lies six metres underground. It served as a command bunker for the air defence and all German artillery in the area. Above ground is a 15 metre high tower where binoculars were placed. From here, German soldiers could monitor aircraft, ships and troop movements in the West Jutland area. The headquarters of the German navy was first housed in the now demolished Hotel Royal in Esbjerg, but was later moved to a facility in the area between the city and the harbour. The largest of the bunkers is located deep under the harbour administration, protected by large masses of earth. In the bunker, paint with phosphorescence has been preserved in the room that was used for telephone switching. It was placed there so that it was still possible to operate the switchboard if the lights went out.

A total of around 300 bunkers have been built on Fanø. Fanø's coastal artillery consisted of five positions, three of which were located on the north end of the island. The Fanø Nord battery was part of the defence of Esbjerg Harbour. The battery was also in action when formations of Allied bombers were en route to and from targets in Germany. A long concrete road leads from Fanø Bad northwards to Battery Grådyb. The battery's four, at the time very modern, 15 centimetre guns came from the battleship Gneisenau. They were moved to Fanø after the ship was damaged in an Allied bombing raid. The guns were used for coastal defence and had a range of 22 km. The Fanø Plantage battery was equipped with four guns from the Danish coastal defence ship Peder Skram, which had been sunk by its own crew on 29 August 1943 at Holmen.

Mandø was home to an aeroplane reporting post designed to detect Allied aircraft. The post had a wooden tower with binoculars and the crew lived in barracks, so the defences here were not as modern as along the rest of the Wadden Sea coast. Mandø was also used as a recreation centre for soldiers who had been on the Eastern Front. At Vester Vedsted School on the mainland was one of the German army's coastal batteries.

The sea around Rømø is very shallow and during the war there was no dam to the mainland. An Allied invasion would be difficult on Rømø, so the Germans only sparingly expanded their defences on the island. However, it was important for the Germans to detect Allied air raids as early as possible. Therefore, from 1942 until the end of the war, one increasingly effective radar after another was built on Rømø. By the end of the war, there were at least eight different radar masts on the island. These installations formed one of the largest and most advanced radar sites in Denmark. In total, more than 50 bunkers were built on the island.