Sprogø () is a small Danish

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

, located in the

Great Belt The Great Belt (, ) is a strait between the major islands of Zealand (''Sjælland'') and Funen (''Fyn'') in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits. Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Belt ferries fr ...

, the

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

that separates the main islands of

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

and

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

. It is about halfway across the strait, from the Zealand shore and from the Funen shore. Although ''sprog'' is modern Danish for ''language'', the island's name was recorded originally during the 12th century as ''Sproøe'' meaning ''scout's island'', from the old Danish verb ''spro'' (to scout). Today, the island is crossed by part of the

Great Belt Fixed Link The Great Belt Bridge () or Great Belt fixed link () is a multi-element fixed link crossing the Great Belt strait between the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen. It consists of a road suspension bridge and a railway tunnel between Zealand and ...

, a series of roads, bridges, and tunnels; it is connected to Funen by a road and rail bridge, and to Zealand by both a road

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

and twin rail

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

s. During the construction, the island was reconfigured drastically, with

land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...

increasing its area from . There are remains of buildings on the original part of Sprogø from the beginning of the 12th century, a fortress built by order of King Valdemar the Great. During construction work, extensive

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

investigations were undertaken, and among other findings it was revealed that the first inhabitants arrived more than 8,000 years ago. The island does not have any permanent population today, but is used by ''Sund og Bælt'', the company that owns and operates the bridges nearby. It is also a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

, and tours of the island are organised. Sprogø was a station for the

semaphore line An optical telegraph is a line of stations, typically towers, for the purpose of conveying textual information by means of visual signals (a form of optical communication). There are two main types of such systems; the semaphore telegraph whic ...

across the Belt, ''

Storebæltstelegrafen An optical telegraph is a line of stations, typically towers, for the purpose of conveying textual information by means of visual signals (a form of optical communication). There are two main types of such systems; the semaphore telegraph whic ...

'', between

Nyborg Nyborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Nyborg Municipality on the island of Funen and with a population of 17,990 (2025). It is the easternmost settlement on Funen. By road, it is located 34 km east of Odense, 35 km north of ...

and

Korsør Korsør is a town in Zealand (Denmark), Zealand, Denmark. It is located in Slagelse Municipality. Until 2007 Korsør was the seat of Korsør Municipality. The town is located west of Slagelse, north-west of Skælskør and connects to Nyborg thr ...

, in operation between 1801 and 1865. Between 1923 and 1961 the island was used for containment of women deemed pathologically promiscuous, the main concern being unwanted pregnancies. At the time the practice was considered humane, given that they had been confined previously. The legacy of confinements on Sprogø inspired the fictional plot of the 2018 Danish movie thriller ''Journal 64''. The lighthouse, which can be seen in the picture, was built by the mail service during 1868, replacing an older structure from 1809. It was built on the foundations of the 12th-century fortress.

References

External links

Sund & Bælt Photo Archive: Sprogø island
– construction photographs including aerial photos of Sprogø in its original form (log in using the default username and password)
Sprogø, -øen i midten
– History of Sprogø; many images of the island

– about Sprogø lighthouse; many photographs.
Sprogø - Stories from The Heritage Agency of Denmark

Sådan tager Sprogø form på 16. år
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprogo Islands of Denmark Geography of Slagelse Municipality