As we discovered on our recent trip, the contradictions of rural Denmark were captivating: a placid landscape filled with vibrant people and opportunities to engage, from quiet seashore hikes to world-famous rock festivals.
Teaterhotellet, our downtown hotel in Horsens, the seventh largest city in Denmark, with just 63,903 people, overlooked their Street of Fame. This narrow cobbled street was paved with granite “stars” representing musical acts that had played the local concert hall and outdoor stadium. As we casually stepped over and around the stars on our way to dinner, taking time to read a few of the names, we were flabbergasted.
Some 75 international acts had played in Horsens since 2000. Amongst the stars were Madonna, Elton John, Metallica, U2 and our own Bryan Adams in the early 2000s, The Weeknd and Harry Styles in 2023, with Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Blue Man Group and dozens more in between. Twice attendance has exceeded 85,000 people, yet these concerts are sponsored by the City of Horsens itself, and put on by Horsens & Friends for the benefit of the local community.
Down the road was the Horsens Art Gallery of Danish Contemporary Art, featuring the paintings, drawings and graphic works of Michael Kvium, Horsens’ second most famous son. We arrived late on a Sunday morning and were informed that without a cafeteria reservation we couldn’t be seated for lunch, seats were sold out.
We moved on to the gallery. Kvium’s dark and grotesque works were completely unsettling, and we struggled to find value in the gloom and horrific physical and mental anguish they portrayed. Missing lunch was good fortune—had we eaten before we surely would have lost it during our shortened gallery tour.
Perhaps Horsens’ outsized world perspective was to be anticipated. Its most famous citizen is Vitus Bering, the daring explorer who first discovered in the 1700s that Alaska and Siberia were divided by water rather than connected by a land bridge.
A day earlier we’d been on the small 91-square-kilometre island of Aero, population 5,900, and definitely not home to international rock concerts. The historic island abounds with modest local farms, and has three unique small ports that welcome the ferries which service the island. More than 300 ships dropped anchor in Marstal each year during the 1700s. The town of Aeroskobing is a favourite of history lovers, its oldest house a traditional half-timbered design from 1645. A fleet of free buses traverse the island connecting the three ports and most of the tiny villages for locals and visitors.
Our Airbnb was a few kilometers outside of Aeroskobing in Stokkeby, a collection of not more than 30 tiny farms and summer homes tied together along a twisty rural road. We hopped off the free bus then pulled our suitcases down the road looking for 27 Stokkeby Vje (road) and a white farm house with a cottage in front. After a kilometre of walking and knocking on doors with no success, we spotted a person working in his barn and decided to ask for help.
My wife’s eyes widened as he approached—typically Danish, six foot two tall, and really good looking with a blond ponytail. He recognized her photo of the cottage, then smiled and explained that there was Stokkeby Vje and Lille Stokkeby Vje, and we were looking for the Lille version. Our cottage was another kilometre ahead, and by-the-way, the white house had just been painted pale yellow. He offered to drive us, but we declined.
As we chatted I asked how his small organic flower farm and floral decorating business on such a remote island could be viable. He replied, “It isn’t, but we (his wife and daughter included) enjoy it. I’m a high-tech manager, that pays the bills, but I’m happiest driving my tractor.”
This was the conundrum of rural Denmark. Rolling hills laced with traffic-free but not tractor -free single lane roads, florescent orange poppies allowed to vie for sunlight amidst fields of pale green wheat, state-of-the-art GPS controlled crop sprayers sharing traditional 200-year-old brick and stone U-shaped barns with noisy goats and cattle, and citizens completely comfortable in such an environment.
One needn’t have a textbook to sample the melding of Denmark’s unique history and green technology revolution.
The air, replaced every minute by ocean breezes, was so clean it was a joy to breathe as we cycled never-ending coastal paths. We rode past Sobygaard, a still-occupied renaissance manor built in 1580 and fortified centuries ago to withstand the constant violent attacks by seafaring pirates, on our way to Soby, Aero’s third port. Here we would see Ellen, one of Europe’s first e-ferries. Her bare steel hull had been assembled in Poland in 2016, then towed to Soby for outfitting by Soby Vaerft DK. This included manufacturing an aluminum bridge to reduce weight, installing two massive lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide batteries and their drivetrain, and sourcing deck chairs made from recycled cardboard rather than wood or plastic, etc.
In June 2020 Ellen first sailed the 22 nautical miles from Soby to the mainland. She carries 30 vehicles and 200 passengers, and recharges her batteries completely in the 20 minutes she’s docked between trips with 100 percent renewable electricity produced on Aero Island. This reduces Ellen’s CO2 emissions by 85 percent or 2520 tonnes per year compared to a normal diesel-powered boat of the same capacity. If Dennis King (PEI), Andrew Furey (Newfoundland and Labrador), or Doug or Justin are reading, Ellen’s extra cost of construction will be repaid within four years by energy savings in operating costs.
Regardless of every quaint village street, tiny painted beach hut, buzzing bar or Viking museum touted by tourist guides, Denmark is also known as a world leader in sustainability, futuristic design, and lifestyle while ranking third in the world’s Human Freedom Index. Choosing what to see and experience during a short visit can be overwhelming, yet makes this country a fascinating must-experience rather than must-see destination.
Denmark is the most densely populated Nordic country in Europe. For every preserved church or castle to discover, there is a new apartment or condo development rising from centuries-old docklands and harbours or renovated industrial buildings. Yet, in hundreds of kilometers of train travel, including entering and leaving many cities through their suburbs, we did not see a new single-family development in progress. Newly-constructed colleges and universities were surrounded by hi-tech design and software companies connected by a maze of pedestrian and cycle paths to nearby apartments and condos.
If the essence of travel is truly the readjusting of one’s perspective, perhaps relinquishing elements of the past to sample a fresh future, pack your bicycle, party dress and/or hiking boots and visit Denmark. Ancient wood-framed homes and spectacular trailside coastal views will fill your photo album, but it’s those impressions of this country and its people that can’t be rendered in photos that will remain in your thoughts forever.
