mareTV - Denmark between the seas - North Jutland
This is only possible on the headland Grenen in Skagen, the northernmost point of Denmark: With one leg + one is in the North Sea, the other in the Baltic. But not only the meeting of Skagerrak + Kattegat makes the region North Jutland special: The wind, which comes from both seas, rages here so strongly that enormous shifting dunes roll across the landscape + burying everything under them.
The struggle of a dune bailiff: Dune bailiff Bent Lykkegaard Petersen fights against the sands on the north coast of Denmark. Bent Lykkegård Petersen is the dune bailiff on the North Sea coast near Løkken. On a stretch of 42 kilometers of sandy beach, he is supposed to stop the sand flying. He does this by placing fir branches in the dunes. It's an almost hopeless task, because the wind up here often blows at hurricane force. But Bent loves his work, and has been doing it for 20 years. His daughter Sine is on semester break and helps him. It is one of the last jobs for the dune bailiff. For the environmental authority, the fight against sand flight is too expensive in the long run. A heavy blow for Bent + his family.
A lighthouse keeper provides information: The lighthouse on the Rubjerg Knude shifting sand dune had to be shut down because of sand flying. Kim Løvgreen is plagued with completely different worries. Actually, the lighthouse keeper of Skagen has "the best job in the world," as he himself says: The lighthouse is fully automated, he only has to change the high-tech energy-saving lamp every few months. If only there weren't so many vacationers. Since the tourist information office has closed, everyone thinks Kim is the tourist information officer. They ask him where they can empty their camping toilet or where the nearest supermarket is. Kim takes it in stride. But he longs for winter. It will be quieter then.
Mini lobsters on Læsø: There's plenty of peace and quiet on the Baltic Sea island of Læsø. The island community is Denmark's smallest municipality, and the islanders are strangers to streams of visitors. They live off "gold" - and there are several sources of that here. For one thing, there's the jomfruhummer, or Norway lobster. This is a kind of red mini version of the lobster + in Europe a coveted + profitable delicacy. The fisherman Gregers Jacobsen goes almost every day with his Ho lzkutter to the sea to dig for the "red gold". The problem: Jomfruhummer is extremely difficult to catch. It lives in caves on the seabed and only leaves them to feed + mate. And the mating season is only every two years.
Export hit salt: On the North Jutland island of Læsø, salt has been boiled for centuries. Poul Christensen looks after Læsø's "white gold": salt. In the Middle Ages there was a complete evaporated salt industry here, it made the inhabitants rich. Unfortunately, at some point they had burned all the trees as firewood - salt production was at an end, the island was bare. Today there are forests + salt again. Thanks to Poul Christensen. He is actually a teacher, and knew salt production only from history lessons. "It was a snap idea," says Poul. He had made a bet with an archaeologist at a drinking party that he would manage to rebuild the medieval salt boiling huts. Poul is now a salt boiling master + the salt from Læsø an export hit.
Broadcasting on 27th of August 2022 at 01.15pm on NDR/ARD
Music: POPVIRUS Library