Døndalen is a valley in the northern part of the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

island of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

. Located next to the road from Gudhjem to

Tejn Tejn is a harbour town on the north-eastern coast of the Danish island of Bornholm, south of Allinge-Sandvig. As of 1 January 2022, it has a population of 858. Initially a fishing village, it grew considerably during the 20th century as the harb ...

, it is known for its waterfall, which is Denmark's tallest.

Description

Døndalen, which covers an area of 37 hectares (91 acres), is one of Bornholm's crack valleys cutting through the granite rock. The wooded area reaches inland from the coast. In springtime the valley is covered with anemones and

ramsons ''Allium ursinum'', known as wild garlic, ramsons, cowleekes, cows's leek, cowleek, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, Eurasian wild garlic or bear's garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amary ...

, and the song of nightingales can sometimes be heard.

Background

Døndalen has been wooded since the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

, 10,000 years ago. Over the past 7,000 years, the trees have been

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

. There have been various archeological finds in the valley including burial sites and evidence of cremations. It is not known how a sword in a wooden sheath and gilded pearls of glass arrived there. As part of the island's defences in the 16th century, earthworks were constructed at the bottom of the valley next to the shore. The embankments, which can still be seen today, provided protection for those using canons and rifles to deter the enemy.

Landscape

Half way up the valley, the brook known as Døndaleåen falls some , forming Denmark's largest waterfall. The rocky banks on the northwestern side rise to the Amtmandsstenen viewpoint which looks out over the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

Christiansø Ertholmene (formerly spelled ''Ærtholmene)'' is a small archipelago in Denmark. The largest island is Christiansø, and its name often refers to the entire archipelago. Ertholmene is situated northeast of Gudhjem, Bornholm, and contains De ...

. The brook runs from Dammemose near

Klemensker Klemensker is a village in the north-western part of the Danish island of Bornholm. With a population of 633 (1 January 2022), it is located on a crossroads 13 km north-east of Rønne, 7 km east of the coastal town Hasle and 12 k ...

via Spellinge Mose. The stretch from Røvejen (the road from

Rø Rø is a small village on the Danish island of Bornholm, 2 km from the north coast and 7 km west of Gudhjem. The Rønne–Allinge railway (1913–1953) brought prosperity to the village leaving the old station in the village. The Bornhol ...

Olsker Olsker is a small community in the north of Bornholm island, Denmark. It is situated in Olsker parish, some 3.5 km south of Allinge and 2.5 km from Tejn. As of 2009, it has 67 inhabitants.blackcaps, garden warblers,

treecreepers The treecreepers are a family (biology), family, Certhiidae, of small passerine Aves, birds, widespread in wooded regions of the Northern Hemisphere and sub-Saharan Africa. The family contains eleven species in two genus, genera, ''Certhia'' and ...

and

chaffinches The common chaffinch or simply the chaffinch (''Fringilla coelebs'') is a common and widespread small passerine bird in the finch family. The male is brightly coloured with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The female is more subdued in ...

. Buzzards. In the winter months, dippers feed in the stream. Deer are also present in the woods. Salmon and other fish occupy the stream. In addition to the ramsons and white, yellow and blue anemones, there are arum and

toothwort Toothwort is a common name for several plants and may refer to: *''Cardamine'', a genus of plants in the mustard family, Brassicaceae *''Lathraea'', a genus of parasitic plants in the family Orobanchaceae Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a fam ...

s. On occasion, some

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

s can be seen, including the

marsh orchid ''Dactylorhiza'' is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae. Its species are commonly called marsh orchids or spotted orchids. ''Dactylorhiza'' were previously classified under ''Orchis'', which has two round tubers. Descrip ...

and

twayblade ''Neottia'' is a genus of Orchidaceae, orchids. The genus now includes the former genus ''Listera'', commonly known as twayblades referring to the single pair of opposite leaves at the base of the flowering stem. The genus is native to Temperat ...

. Trees include hornbeam,

silver birch ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found a ...

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

and

hazel The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...

as well as several varieties of

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus ''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' (''s.l.'') are commonly known as whitebeam, r ...

."Plantelivet i Døndalen"
''Danmarks Naturfond''. Retrieved 31 October 2012. In 1916, Aksel Jensen, a farmer, cultivated the northeastern side of Døndalen. His interest in trees led him to plant approximately 150 varieties from around the world. They include Chinese cork oak, Californian mammoth trees, Himalayan spruce and also a rare European variety, the

chequer tree ''Sorbus torminalis'', with common names wild service tree, chequers, and checker tree, is a species of tree in the mountain ash or rowan genus (''Sorbus'') of the rose family ( Rosaceae), that is native to Europe, parts of northern Africa and ...

."Døndalen"
''Danmarks Naturfond''. Retrieved 31 October 2012.

Signposted walks

From the car park on the main road from Gudhjem to Tejn, there are signposted footpaths through the valley taking visitors through Aksel Jensen's plantation with trees, along the valley and past the waterfall. The viewpoint at Amtmandssten can be reached up a flight of steps. On the other side of the road, the path along the coast leads to the high granite cliffs known as

Helligdomsklipperne Helligdomsklipperne (Sanctuary Rocks) are a group of rocks on the island of Bornholm, Denmark, from Gudhjem and from Tejn. They are characterised by moderately high coastal cliffs of sharp granite and are about high. The name of the rocks origin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dondalen Waterfalls of Denmark Bornholm