Dybbøl is a small town with a population of 2,339 (1 January 2022)
[BY3: Population 1. January by rural and urban areas, area and population density](_blank)
The Mobile Statbank from Statistics Denmark in the southeastern corner of
South Jutland, Denmark. It is located around west of
Sønderborg
(; german: Sonderburg ) is a Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Sønderborg Municipality (Kommune). The town has a population of 27,766 (1 January 2022),[last stand
A last stand is a military situation in which a body of troops holds a defensive position in the face of overwhelming and virtually insurmountable odds. Troops may make a last stand due to a sense of duty; because they are defending a tactic ...]
battle in 1864.
During the
Second Schleswig War
The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...
in 1864, the Danish Army withdrew from the traditional fortified defence line, the
Dannevirke (after waters and marshes which supported its flanks froze solid in a hard winter), and marched for Dybbøl to find a more defensible position. Although much
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
was abandoned and the evacuation was executed through a snow-laden north gale in winter, the army arrived almost intact. It entrenched itself at the Dybbøl Trenches, which became the scene of the siege and subsequent
Battle of Dybbøl (7 April – 18 April 1864). This battle resulted in a
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n-
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n victory over Denmark.
In the following peace settlement, Denmark surrendered
Schleswig
The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...
. Following World War I, Denmark recovered the northern part of Schleswig as a result of the
Schleswig Plebiscites
The Schleswig plebiscites were two plebiscites, organized according to section XII, articles 100 to 115 of the Treaty of Versailles of 28 June 1919, in order to determine the future border between Denmark and Germany through the former Duchy of S ...
as described in the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
.
The Dybbøl Mill is considered a Danish national symbol.
History
Etymology
Dybbøl has gone under a myriad of names throughout history, but it is theorized to have started as Dyttis Bol; after the founder Dytti, with Bol being an old Danish word for a single farm.
The name would later evolve into its first written form, Duttebul, as recorded in a Schleswig tax registry from 1352.
This name would be used for many years, until the T's started to get dropped, leading to the words eventual change to Dyppell in, for example,
Johannes Mejer's atlas.
The name would continue to evolve in this trend, eventually changing out Bol/Bel in favour of the newer word Bøl, to finally produce Dybbøl.
The town was also renamed to Düppel while under the rule of
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
and later
German Confederation
The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...
and
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
, from 1864 to 1920.
Prewar
The town of Dybbøl started as part of a larger wave of
expansionism
Expansionism refers to states obtaining greater territory through military empire-building or colonialism.
In the classical age of conquest moral justification for territorial expansion at the direct expense of another established polity (who of ...
during the
Viking Age
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...
in Denmark in which hundreds of new land areas were settled in geographic Denmark as well as in its many settlements abroad such as in England.
The first traces of human settlement in Dybbøl go back to around 4.
500 BC, and the town itself is estimated to have been founded around 800 AD.
The prewar town was quite typical of the area. Its oldest building, from around 1100 AD, is a part of the local church structure, and the local peasants were
serfs tied to
Sandbjerg Castle.
The ownership of the castle changed hands to the Reventlow family, which meant that the serfs in the area got to benefit from being some of the first serfs to buy their land and to become independent when Conrad Georg Reventlow started to sell his property after the lifting of the
Stavnsbånd
The Stavnsbånd was a serfdom-like institution introduced in Denmark in 1733 in accordance with the wishes of estate owners and the military. It bonded men between the ages of 14 and 36 to live on the estate where they were born. It was possible, ...
. Conrad Georg was one of the first lords to do so, which made Dybbøl home of some of the very first self-bought free peasants in Denmark.
First Schleswig War
During the First Schleswig War, Dybbøl was used as a flanking position for the Danes in case of an attack from the south. The first battle of Dybbøl was fought on 5 July 1848, when Prussian troops were driven back from Dybbøl by the Danish troops who were garrisoned there. In April, there were regular skirmishes in and around the Dybbøl area. That lex to the famous Dybbøl Mill being burnt down and so it was out of commission for 4 years.
Interwar
During later years between the two Schleswig Wars, namely in 1861, Danish engineers began construction of Dybbøl's
trench
A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).
In geology, trenches result from ero ...
system, which was finished in 1862. The system consisted of 10
redoubt
A redoubt (historically redout) is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, although some are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldi ...
s in a 3 km long half-circle that stretched from
Vemmingbund to the
Als Sound.
The redoubts were small earthen constructions with large powder stashes of concrete, as well as wooden
blockhouse
A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...
s for soldiers.
Second Schleswig War
As part of the Second Schleswig War, Danish forces retreating from the
Danevirke
The Danevirke or Danework (modern Danish spelling: ''Dannevirke''; in Old Norse; ''Danavirki'', in German; ''Danewerk'', literally meaning '' earthwork of the Danes'') is a system of Danish fortifications in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. This his ...
arrived in Dybbøl on the 5. February.
The massive influx of soldiers and officers meant that the Dybbøl Mill became temporary military headquarters, a role that the owners of the mill (a married couple) were famously happy to fulfil, to the point of that they were honoured by veterans of the later battle at their wedding anniversary a century later.
On 15 March, the Prussian forces arrived at Dybbøl as part of their larger advance in
Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
.
They began a month-long bombardment of the position, whicj could do with impunity as they had
rifled cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
s, unlike the Danes. During the bombardment, the Prussians worked to dig their own trenches towards the Danish ones as part of their assault preparations.
On 18 April at 10:00, the Prussians assaulted the Danish trench system after six hours of continual bombardment, with more than 8,000 shells falling on the Danish trenches.
The assault was successful, and the Danish forces had to fall back to
Als.
After the war
After the Danish defeat in the Second Schleswig War, the resulting
Treaty of Vienna meant that Dybbøl was now German territory as part of Prussia's conquest of the Duchy of Schleswig.
After the
Unification of Germany
The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with ad ...
, the German Empire erected a large monument, the Düppel Denkmal. It became a tourist attraction for Germans all the way until the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
The monument would be destroyed in 1945 by
Danish rebels during the
German occupation of Denmark
At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was a protectorate and then an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 December ...
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The mill in Dybbøl became a monument for the Danish-speaking part of Dybbøl, however, which was the majority at the time. Dybbøl went so far as to become the subject of several poems by the Danish poet
Holger Drachmann
Holger Henrik Herholdt Drachmann (9 October 1846 – 14 January 1908) was a Danish poet, dramatist and painter. He was a member of the Skagen artistic colony and became a figure of the Scandinavian Modern Breakthrough Movement.
Early yea ...
.
The German Empire also rebuilt the trench system in Dybbøl by making it much bigger and more expansive. The additional reinforcements would never be used, however, as Denmark did not participate in World War I. The newer fortifications are still visible at the Dybbøl Museum.
In 1914, right before the advent of the First World War, the German Empire celebrated the anniversary of its victory at Als. The celebrations were held at the newly-constructed trench system at Dybbøl, where about 2,000 war veterans from both Germany and
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
attended, along with the Emperor's brother,
Prince Heinrich.
That would be the last German celebration in Dybbøl, as the war broke out shortly afterward.
Reunification
After the end of World War I, populations in the former Duchy of Schleswig were given the opportunity through the
Versailles Treaty
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
to
vote
Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...
for which country they would rather be part of; Germany (now the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
) or Denmark. The votes resulted in the borders as they are to this day.
The reunification resulted in celebration in Dybbøl, culminating in a visit by
King Christian X
Christian X ( da, Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 to his death in 1947, and the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, in the form of a personal union rath ...
on the 11. July 1920. A massive party was held while the king visited in the 10th redoubt in the newer German trenches. This redoubt would later become known as Kongeskansen (The Royal Redoubt).
Around 50.000 people were present for the celebrations, along with the King and the entire royal Danish family. The climax of the celebrations were the handing over of an old
Dannebrog
Dannebrog (until the mid-20th century often spelled Danebrog) may refer to:
Flags and orders
* The national Flag of Denmark
* Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen, links=no), a Royal Danish decoration
Places
* Dannebrog Island, an i ...
to the king by a veteran of the Battle of Dybbøl.
Today
Dybbøl continues to be a symbol of pride in Denmark, with it often being associated with a heroic last stand, similar to the
Alamo in American conscience. Therefore, the entire town and most of the surrounding area have gradually become protected area, and it is illegal to disturb the trenches, mill and surrounding area.
The most notable institution in the town is the museum, which is a popular school trip destination.
National Park status
The site is a national memorial and museum of the Battle of Dybbøl and was therefore included in the 'National Park Dybbøl Skanser,' inaugurated in 1924. This park is not included in the Danish National Park laws of 2007, but it can still use the name National Park. The area is today administered as a 'Historiecenter Dybbøl Banke' (Dybbøl Banke Museum and History Centre).
Dybbøl Banke Museum and History Centre
Notable people
* Jens Jensen Jens Jensen may refer to:
* Jens Jensen (footballer) (1890–1957), Danish football (soccer) player who played one game for the Denmark national football team
* Jens Jensen (landscape architect) (1860–1951), Danish-born landscape architect in Chi ...
(1860 near Dybbøl – 1951) a Danish-American landscape architect
* Christian Petersen (1885 in Dybbøl – 1961) a Danish-born American sculptor and university teacher
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dybbol
Cities and towns in the Region of Southern Denmark
1864 in Denmark
National parks of Denmark
Tourist attractions in Denmark
Sønderborg Municipality