Bunkers In Skagen

Between 1942 and 1944 the Nazi Germany built an extensive system of coastal defensive structures along the western coast of Europe called “The Atlantic Wall”, an impressive line of fortifications stretching from Nordkap to the Pyrenees, which aimed to destroy Allied landing crafts before they could unload.Every single visible and invisible landing site was strongly fortified with minefields, tank traps, barbed wire, mobile units and reinforced concrete positions in various sizes and in dizzying numbers.Defensive fortifications and positions were also built along the coast of Jutland, the northernmost point of Denmark, from which to shoot at every enemy ship that attempted to sail through the “Cattegat” On the border between the Cattegat. and the Skagerrak sits a small city named Skagen, whose very tip is a sandy, shifting headland known as Grenen. This area was heavily fortified by the occupation forces with installations comprising both a coastal battery and a radar station, as it played a special role to defend Frederikshavn harbour, strategical staging post on the way to Norway. Defensive installations in this area were built here as early as 1940, and than extended, in steps, in 1943-44. Parts of the bunkers are overgrown today, some of them have been removed, others claimed by the sea, but several - including the emplacements for the 122 mm battery situated directly on the beach as a result of land erosion - are open to the public. Bunker after bunker can be seen along the west coast of Jutland, but they are now only a shadow of the system of which they were formerly a part, as many bunkers have been covered with sand or disappeared into the sea, but their numbers still remain impressive.