The Atlantic Wall in Denmark, a brief intro

Hitler’s Atlantic Wall in Denmark
Most people in our field of interest are aware that the so-called Atlantic Wall was (is) a series of fortifications stretching from Trondenes in Norway to the Pyrenees at the Spanish border. Most of these fortifications were erected along the coastlines of Holland, Belgium and France, but a considerable proportion of bunkers – the size of Denmark taken into consideration – were built along the Danish western shoreline. Opinions vary as to exactly how many, but most agree on some 8000 smaller and larger constructions, comprising close to 2000 actual Regelbau bunkers of various types.

Regelbau, as you probably know was the German denomination for a system of concrete bunkers meeting predefined and uniform specifications, tailored to serve specific purposes; e.g. gun embrasures, ammo shelters, crew compartments or radar stations, but nonetheless sharing many similarities in design and layout. The system enabled military engineers to rapidly establish and fit strongpoints adapted to the demands of a certain area and easily extend these to cope with changing scenarios, as the Regelbau catalog held some 700 different models.

Denmark is a small country but has a very long coastline (7000 km) due to a multitude of small islands. However, the western coastline of mainland Jutland – facing England and stretching some 400 km, not counting fjords and inlets – was the prime concern for the German occupation forces. Long, flat sandy beaches and an excellent infrastructure of roads (and only some 600 km to Berlin) made the Nazi high command worry about an allied invasion taking place here. By the same token, it was seen as imperative to seal off the entrance to the Baltic at the point where the northernmost part of Denmark and the coast of Norway provides the narrowest passage.

As the fear for invasion in the west grew stronger after the setbacks on the eastern front Hitler issued Führerweisung (Führer Directive) no. 51 on November 3rd 1943 emphasizing the importance of speeding up the defensive work along the west coast of “Fortress Europe” (previously initiated in Führerweisung 40 of March 23rd 1942), and especially in Denmark and Norway. Strengthening coastal defenses by all means was a top priority, and new supplies of weaponry would be allocated the Danish front immediately.

Consequently a massive construction work began, especially along the west coast of Jutland, employing a workforce that almost reached 70.000 men at its peak. A multitude of different bunkers were built; coastal batteries were established at strategic positions along the coast and strongpoints of different sizes filled in the gabs. A number of field-strip air bases were dispersed over the country and Esbjerg, the only large-scale harbor on the west coast was heavily fortified with amongst other two 150 mm twin-turrets from the cannibalized battle cruiser Gneisenau (The area should even have had a 4 x 380 mm battery in two massive S561 bunkers but the war ended before installation was completed).

1.500.000 mines were laid on the Jutland coast (of which the last 10.000 was removed only a few years ago) and numerous kilometers of barbed wire and thousands of Czech hedgehogs were employed. In the north, a 380 mm battery was established at Hanstholm. Corresponding with a similar battery near Kristiansand in Norway, these eight mighty guns (Bismarck-type) should seal off internal Danish waters and thus protect the vital transports of iron ore from Norway to Germany.

As we all know, invasion eventually took place in Normandy (in fact, Denmark was allegedly never seriously contemplated by the allies), and all the efforts were thus to no avail.

The wall today
Large portions of Denmark’s west coast are very well suited for recreational activities - and used that way by locals and by tourists – due to their beautiful, white beaches and relatively calm waters. To the visitors of these resorts, the remnants of the Atlantic Wall are solid reality, scattered over the beaches, buried in the dunes or half-sunken into the sea, thus forming part of the environment since the war. Occasionally a debate on whether to demolish and remove these – in some peoples view – grim memories from a dark period have ruled local media for a period, but the enormity of such an undertaking has so far prevented any serious action. The bunkers are there, they are a part of our history, and that is that.

You don’t even have to go to Denmark to see the extend of the work; just open Google Earth and zoom in on Denmark. The bunkers are very visible along the coast, and it is even possible to determine the types, if you are familiar with Regelbau. What you can see is only a small proportion of what was built though. Some have been blown up after the war, some have been integrated into newer buildings, a few are still in military use but the vast majority has been reclaimed by Mother Nature. They are still there; you just can’t see them (unless you know where to look).

Denmark is full of bunker nerds (I mean this in a positive sense) and there are many homepages dealing with AW in Denmark, both “private” like my own and some connected to bunker museums. Scanning these pages will give you a good understanding of the magnitude of the work undertaken here in the years 1943-45.

I will give you one link here to an English language site from Museum Center Hanstholm, no doubt the largest and best restored bunker museum we have: http://www.museumscenterhanstholm.dk/?&setlanguage=2. This site also holds a Links page to many other interesting AW sites.

However, if you really want to inspect a part of Fortress Europe with your own eyes you should consider a trip to Denmark. As no serious fighting took place here, most of the facilities are in good condition, and several areas have been turned into open-air museums often with one or more bunkers restored to the original look. Feel free to contact me for further information and traveling tips.

 

I just tried the Google Earth and yes, it's a great program. I saw many bunkers there and even the photos about them.

Great post, thank you.