Højen or Gammel Skagen on the west side of

Skagen Odde Skagen Odde, also Skagens Odde, sometimes known in English as the Scaw Spit or The Skaw, is a sandy peninsula which stretches some northeast and comprises the northernmost area of Vendsyssel in Jutland, Denmark.Skagen in the far north of

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 ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

History

The first building in the Skagen area was built in Højen in the 12th century. It belonged to the shepherd Tronder who became the first of Skagen's fishermen. Højen was the largest community on the peninsula until about 1340 when it was overtaken by what is now Skagen's Vesterby. The first documented reference to Højen occurred in the 15th century when it was a fishing hamlet. In 1884, a beacon was installed to guide mariners to the lighthouses on the tip of Skagen Odde. In 1892, a lighthouse was established in Højen itself, functioning until 1956 when it was replaced by Skagen West Lighthouse. It was demolished in 1956. A life-boat station was opened in Gammel Skagen in 1865."Tidstavle"
Skagen Lokalhistoriske Forening. Retrieved 10 October 2013. From the end of the 19th century, Højen became popular with tourists. In 1888, Rudolph Jeckel opened Jeckels Hotel and in 1904 today's

Ruths Hotel Ruth's Hotel ( da, Ruths Hotel) is a historic hotel in the Højen district of Skagen in the far North of Jutland, Denmark. Named after its founders, Emma and Hans Christian Ruth, who opened it as ''Badepensionat Vesterhus'' in 1904, the establish ...

was established by Hans Ruth as Vesterhus. Other small hotels opened later. Old Skagen - Denmark

Until 2005, Højen was a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the Skagensbanen, the railway from

Frederikshavn Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbor". It was originally named Fladstrand. The town h ...

to Skagen which opened in 1890. Over the years, the oldest parts of Højen have been destroyed by

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...

while the remaining area has suffered from the effects of drifting sand. There was once a thriving population of around 800 but this was reduced to only 30 a result of these difficulties."Gl. Skagen"
, Coast Alive. Retrieved 13 October 2013.

Højen today

Today it maintains the unspoiled appearance of a 19th-century fishing village with many of the old fishermen's cottages. Tourists are attracted by the beaches of Nordstrand on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. The beach is good for bathing although it can be stony in places. The southern section is popular with

naturists Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms a ...

Højen in art

P.S. Krøyer PostScript (PS) is a page description language in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm. It is a dynamically typed, concatenative programming language. It was created at Adobe Systems by John Warnock, Charles Geschke, Doug Bro ...

, one of the

Skagen Painters The Skagen Painters ( da, Skagensmalerne) were a group of Scandinavian artists who gathered in the village of Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark, from the late 1870s until the turn of the century. Skagen was a summer destination whose scen ...

, produced a fine painting of fishermen on the beach at Højen. His "Fishermen hauling nets" (''Krøyer fiskere trækker vod'') was painted in 1883. In 1909,

Laurits Tuxen Laurits Regner Tuxen (9 December 1853 – 21 November 1927) was a Danish painter and sculptor specialising in figure painting. He was also associated with the Skagen Painters. He was the first head of Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler, an art school ...

painted a stormy sea at Højen."Tuxen, Lauritz Regner"
''Dansk biografisk Lexikon''. Retrieved 13 October 2013.

References

Literature

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hojen Skagen Frederikshavn Municipality Lighthouses in Denmark