The building culture in the Wadden Sea area

As early as the beginning of the Neolithic Age, people began to settle along the Wadden Sea. It was on the high geest where they were safe from storm surges. The first scattered farms were built from the end of the Bronze Age, and gradually villages emerged. Most settlements along the Wadden Sea therefore date back thousands of years, and already in the early 7th century, Ribe served as a marketplace for the region.

Around 1200, farms began to be built on natural moraine knolls in the marshes and later on man-made elevations, the so-called yards. Today, there are 60 shipyards preserved in the Danish Wadden Sea area. One of the earliest shipyard areas is Ved Åen in Tøndermarsken, where ten farms once stood. Most shipyards have only one farm, but the villages of Ubjerg and Rudbøl, for example, are located on village shipyards. The northernmost settlement on a shipyard in the Wadden Sea area was the village of Misthusum in Ballummarsken. The village was founded in the 13th century, but it was destroyed by storm surges in 1634 and 1720. Shortly after 1800, the village was abandoned, but the shipyards can still be seen in the landscape. The market towns of Tønder and Varde also emerged in the Middle Ages, and their location is linked to shipping, as they were built on large, navigable rivers. Before the dykes were built, Tønder had easy access to the sea, while Varde was dependent on the loading berths at Janderup, Hjerting and Ho. In the 1400-1500s, Ho Klitplantage was home to one of Northern Europe's largest fishing villages, Sønderside, which disappeared in the storm surge of 1634.

From the 18th century onwards, brick-built houses with a foundation became common in the Wadden Sea region. Brick construction spread from the Netherlands up the Wadden Sea coast, especially after the storm surge of 1634. But urban fires also destroyed many of the medieval half-timbered houses, including in Varde, and this also contributed to the spread of brick building. In the southern Jutland part of the Wadden Sea region, the Schleswig farmhouse became characteristic from sometime in the 18th century. These farms were originally thatched, and were usually built from clay bricks burnt in local brick kilns. The farm consisted of a main wing with a stable and living quarters separated by a cross room, but there could be several outbuildings. A special feature was the internal roof-bearing posts that made the structure more resistant to storm surges. It was a clever design that meant the roof was supported by posts and not the house wall itself - so if the house wall collapsed, the roof would still stand. In addition, many of the courtyards had a hatch, the so-called arkengaf, above the entrance door. This provided access to the hayloft and fireproofed the access route under the flammable thatched roof. Many farms in the northern part also had arkengafs. Half-timbering was common here until around 1800, but after that, almost all buildings were constructed with foundation walls. The farmhouse was usually the first to be remodelled, followed by the other wings. The ideal was the four-long farm with an enclosed courtyard. However, most properties had two or three wings, with the smaller ones having only one wing with a dwelling and stable at either end. Den Gamle Digegreve's farm Klægager in Ballum is a beautiful example of a four-winged farm.

In the late 1800s, the new city of Esbjerg emerged. The city's houses were built in the historicist style of the time, reflecting a mix of earlier styles. In 1870, the city was given a town plan based on a classic town planning principle with rectangular blocks in a right-angled street grid that would create a centre around the harbour, railway and square. The Jugendstil, which combines architecture and decorative arts, can be seen in architecture along the Wadden Sea from around 1900, with the house at Lundvej 39 in Varde being a beautiful example. In the countryside and villages, there are also Art Nouveau houses and details, for example in Hjerpsted. In the early 1900s, a hometown style, characterised by good materials and solid craftsmanship, became popular. In Møgeltønder and the surrounding area, the local estate inspector designed houses in this style. In Denmark, the style developed through the National Association for Better Building Practices. Danish architecture students had been inspired by the rural building style during surveying trips to Møgeltønder and up the west coast.

From the end of the 19th century, the Wadden Sea islands became a destination for German bathing tourists in particular, and the first holiday home colony in the Danish Wadden Sea area was built in Lakolk on Rømø. 37 blockhouses were built in the dunes. They looked like mountain huts with carved rafters. Some of them are still there and it is still possible to get a sense of what the bathing colony looked like around 1900. Similarly, it is still possible to see some of the old holiday villas in the first row of dunes at Fanø Bad. But otherwise, many of the old guesthouses and palatial seaside hotels have been demolished and replaced by modern holiday centres.

In many places along the Wadden Sea coast, older houses are still very well maintained and beautifully preserved. In Ribe, the old town centre is still characterised by houses with half-timbering or foundation walls from the late 16th century to the early 19th century. The houses are densely packed in blocks, often with the gables facing the street. Tønder's city centre is also still characterised by the medieval town plan with narrow plots and gabled houses, especially the back streets Spikergade and Uldgade are worth a visit. In Varde you can visit Jacobi Church, which is the only building that has stood in Varde since the Middle Ages. Two fires in 1779 and 1821 took out parts of Varde's old houses, but the medieval street pattern is still intact. It's not only in the larger cities that you can experience the building culture, as many villages also have older buildings. Sønderho on Fanø was voted Denmark's most beautiful village in 2011 and has many well-preserved houses from the sailing ship era. Similarly, the houses in Møgeltønder along Slotsgaden and in Sønderbyen are very well preserved. In Ballum, a donation from the A.P. Møller Foundation in 2009 led to a large, coherent renovation project of the old houses, which is also worth a visit. In Højer, the Tøndermarsk initiative has made the town worth a visit. Here you can see traces of both German and Danish architecture in the newly renovated houses, a sign of the town's changing history.