Bruger:Amjaabc/Army Road
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The Army Road (Danish: Hærvejen) is the contemporary name of one out of three or four old routes in the north-south direction of Jutland, Denmark. The name has been used since about 1930, when it was mentioned by the Danish historian Hugo Matthiesen. He probably found it on a map from the 1600s, where the Schleswig part of the road was called Army Road (Heerweeg). In Jutland, the road was called among others Oxen Road, Saxon Road, Old Viborg Road, Bullock Road, Pilgrim Road.
The Army Road is suitable, since the road could carry an army when necessary. In the 11th century, a Wendish army is told to have penetrated the Jutlandic peninsula far towards north. Ramparts were built to protect the local people, and some of these ramparts can still be found. Some of the other names used for the road tell the story of early export of meat from Denmark to the southern neighbours. Since transporting the meat from slaughtered bullocks was very difficult, the easiest way was to let the animals transport themselves and let the buyers do the slaughtering. In general, the road was used for trade, and some of the settlements along the road (like Viborg and Jelling) probably arose for this purpose.
The age of the road is for some stretches estimated to be almost 4000 years old (built mounds and remains of settlements etc.), but not until the beginning of the Middle age is it mentioned in written sources. The high age of the route is probably due to the fact, that it follows the water divide along the Jutland Ridge. The advantage of this was that there were relatively few streams and stretches of boggy land to pass and at the same time, the ridge is rarely higher than 100 metres.
There is not a single, well-defined road, but a couple of north-south headed routes, which can have been used partly at the same ages. However, the road has moved during time. For normal roads, the bridges were bottlenecks, hence the advantage of the Army Road was that it made it possible to utilize several trails simultaneously. This was particularly necessary when driving bullocks or moving an army.
The road takes three courses when starting in the north by the Limfjord:
- From Aggersund / Aggersborg by Løgstør
- From Farstrup
- From Lindholm by Aalborg passing Viborg, following the Jutland Ridge, passing Randbøl (where the old road to Ribe meets the Army Road), through Vejen, Vojens, Rødekro to Flensburg.
Near Rødekro on the Army Road a rune stone from about 900 can be found. It bears the inscription Hærulfr, which is a man's name. A little south of this, a memorial park for the old Southern Jutlandic thingstead called Urnehoved can be found. Urnehoved was used as thingstead from about 1074 to 1523, but the exact place is not known, even though it is known to have been situated next to the Army Road. Saxo Grammaticus states that king Erik Emune was killed at the thing in 1137.
With the arrival of the railways in the 19th century the basis for driving bullocks on the Army Road diminished, and the road was forgotten for almost a century. Since the re-discovery of the road, many parts of it has been restored, including several of the old bridges. The road is now primarily used for tourism, especially for cyclists and walkers. One of the Danish national cycling routes follows the Army Road.
[redigér] Army Road walks
Since 1973 a yearly walk has been held, organized by the Fodslaw society (holde fodslaw is Jutlandic for keep step). The objective of the society is: "to promote the interest in the Danish country and its nature through arrangement of walks, and the arrangement of journeys to walks in the country and above." The primary arrangement is the yearly walk following the Army Road from Slesvig in Germany to Viborg in the middle of Jutland. The walk is done in seven days, and from the first walk in 1973 with 162 participants, the walk has only grown to a number of participants of 300-500 every year.
The Army Road Walk is an independent institution aiming at promoting physical health by arranging a two-day walk around Viborg, including parts of the Army Road. This institution is a member of the International Marching League, which includes many walks throughout the world.
