Hjelm is a small
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 ...
unpopulated island located in the
Kattegat
The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...
south-east from
Ebeltoft
Ebeltoft is an old port town on the central east coast of Denmark with a population of 7,204 (1 January 2022).[Mols Bjerge National Park
Mols Bjerge National Park or Nationalpark Mols Bjerge is a Danish national park in the area known as ''Mols Bjerge'' (Mols Hills, lit.: Mols Mountains) in Syddjurs Municipality, Central Jutland, inaugurated on 29 August 2009. The protected area, me ...](_blank)
. The island is privately owned.
The name Hjelm literally translates to ''Helmet'' in English. The island has also been referred to as Helm in English.
History
![Hjelm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Hjelm.jpg)
There have been found evidence of human activity on Hjelm, as early as the
Stone Ages, but it first entered Denmark's history in 1287, when the outlawed
Marsk Stig fled to this barren island, after the murder of
Erik Klipping the year before. The outlawed sought help and assistance from the Norwegian king
Eric "Priest Hater" and he supplied them with a total of three fortresses, various fortifications, ships and troops. Recent archaeological excavations have revealed, that in the year of 1289 Marsk Stig and his men attacked and demolished the royal
castle of Brattingsborg on the island of
Samsø
Samsø (Anglicized: "Samso" or "Samsoe") is a Denmark, Danish island in the Kattegat off the Jutland Peninsula. Samsø is located in Samsø municipality. The community has 3,724 inhabitants (2017) (January 2010:4,010) called ''Samsings'' and is ...
, just south of Hjelm.
Gammel Brattingsborg
The National Museum of Denmark. English pdf-translation available. With that neighbouring threat out of the way, the outlaws conducted piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
and counterfeiting
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
from Hjelm until 1295. Marsk Stig died on the island in December 1293 of unknown causes, but it was not until 1306, that Erik Menved felt strong enough to take back the small island.
Today there is only an automated solar-power
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic ...
ed lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mar ...
on Hjelm.
See also
* List of lighthouses and lightvessels in Denmark
This is a list of lighthouses and lightvessels in Denmark. Except for the island of Bornholm, Denmark is located at the transition between North Sea and Baltic Sea which includes the Skagerrak and Kattegat waters.
Lighthouses
}) this ship serv ...
Literature
* Pauline Asingh og Niels Engberg: "Marsk Stig og de fredløse på Hjelm" Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab (2002). . On the recent archaeological excavations.
References
External links
Hjelm
Multimedia-site hosted by the Danish Agency for Culture.
Hjelm
The islands own homepage
Danish islands in Kattegat
Uninhabited islands of Denmark
Lighthouses in Denmark
Syddjurs Municipality
Private islands of Denmark
{{Denmark-island-stub