The Jutland Peninsula is a wonderful and educational place to spend a few unforgettable days here. True, only if you prefer non-standard places - here you are not on the Cote d'Azur and skiing, as in the Alps, you will not be lucky.
On the other hand, Jutland is filled with antiquity - a trip here is suitable for people who are not indifferent to cold Scandinavian romance and the charm of antiquity. Germanic pagan tribes, the legendary Vikings and their modern-day descendants, the Danes, will help you make the most of your time, providing you with an unforgettable vacation.
Nature
Where is the Jutland Peninsula? You should pay attention to Northern Europe, and right under the large and remarkable Scandinavian Peninsula, you will immediately notice a small "offshoot" from the mainland. This is Jutland - not a welcoming place, at least not at first glance.
Sand dunes on the cold coast of the sea, bays, to some extent reminiscent of the Norwegian fjords well known to everyone from Viking films, the remains of glaciers mixed withlimestone rocks and clay - this is what the marine part of the peninsula looks like. In addition to the coast, you can also see cold meadows in the depths of the peninsula, while about a tenth of the land is occupied by forest.
Once it was part of a large forest that occupies the territory of almost all of Europe. Denmark is also famous for its large number of swamps. The weather on the peninsula is also inhospitable, and although the thermometer rarely drops below zero in winter, thanks to warm sea currents, in summer you will have to deal with an average July temperature of 15 degrees. So without warm clothes and a raincoat, it’s definitely not worth going to Jutland. The average precipitation, by the way, is between 650 and 750 millimeters, so fogs and constant rains are sure to meet you on the way.
Former greatness of a small country
The most ancient state located on the Jutland peninsula is the Danish kingdom. This ancient Viking state took shape as an independent feudal principality (with its capital in Hedeby) only in the tenth century, before that there were only small principalities that constantly fought among themselves for power over the entire peninsula.
The ancient Danes, like their descendants, the modern Danes, apparently, greatly appreciated the poor nature of Jutland, since they shed so much blood for this piece of land in endless battles. Nevertheless, for some time, Denmark conquered not only all the Scandinavian countries, but almost all of England - the Danish king Knut the Great not only conquered Foggy Albion, but was able to keep it almostfor a hundred years.
Ancient mummies in swamps of Scandinavia
The Jutland Peninsula has been inhabited by humans since the Stone Age. There are especially many monuments in the Bronze Age, when the ancestors of modern Germanic peoples, the Indo-Europeans, came to the territory of modern Denmark. The special climate of Jutland (a lot of swamps) made it possible not only to preserve household items of ancient people, but even fabric, hair and their bodies.
Of particular interest to both scientists and tourists are ancient mummies that are taken from the bottom of the swamps, with intact clothes and even hairstyles of that time. Some of the surviving mummies are three thousand years old. These peoples were the ancestors of the already historical Cimbri and Teutons, captured in ancient Roman historical works and chronicles. It is not for nothing that the father of geography, Ptolemy, calls Jutland Cimbria, in honor of the formidable Germanic people, who terrified the Roman legions at the turn of our era.
Invaders of England
We have already mentioned above that Denmark held almost all of England in its hands for more than a hundred years. The conquest began under King Harald by Sinezub, after whom, by the way, the well-known Bluetooth is named, and continued under his heir Knut the Great. But although now the inhabitants of Foggy Albion had to suffer under the yoke of the harsh Danes fed by the miserly land of Jutland, let's look at the British themselves.
History often has unpredictable and ironic twists, and in this casenot an exception. After all, the descendants of the tribes of the Saxons, Angles and Jutes became conquered - England itself was named in honor of the second, Jutland in honor of the third, although it was the first tribes that were the driving force behind the Saka conquest of the island in the fifth century. And all of them came to the territory of the British Isles from Denmark, from where they were forced out by the ancestors of the Danes. It turns out that England was conquered by the Jutlanders twice - the first time the Saxons conquered the Celtic-Roman population, and then the latter suffered from the Danes. Irony of fate?
Tribes of Jutland
Contemporaries of the Saxons from the peninsula of Jutland, the Jutes and the Angles, also followed in the fifth century to the territory of England, leaving their native expanses under the onslaught of the Danes. The natives of the harsher conditions of Scandinavia, although they were also Germanic tribes, disposed of the local lands more correctly. When the Saxons were defeated by the troops of Charlemagne, the Danes built large defensive ramparts and did not lose their independence.
Danish history and modernity
The darkness of the Middle Ages, frightening and interesting, fills the Jutland peninsula. The state carefully takes care to preserve the historical heritage, supports museums and research centers. No wonder the father of modern scientific archeology, Oscar Montelius, worked in Denmark.
