Jegindø Harbour

Facts

Go east, fisherman

By Christian Ringskou, cand. mag. i historie og filosofi (1 story)

The harbour of Jegindø, an island in the Liim Fjord, was built in 1939. Inhabitants had long lobbied for one to be built, and when it finally happened there were 100 fishermen living on the island. Liim Fjord fishing was a bonanza, and for decades Jegindø's fish auction was Demark's largest for eel. The eel disappeared in the 1990s, and today mussels are the most valuable catch. In the harbour, mussel boats and yachts are moored side by side. And anchored along the quay, near the fishing museum, are the reconstructions of sjægts", a type of skiff used in the Liim Fjord around 1900, when fishing on Jedingø was in its heyday. A causeway completed in 1916 connected Jegind Island to the mainland. "

Public place

Selected entry

A mecca for eel fishing

Story written by Christian Ringskou

Time / Periode 1900 2009

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The story of Jegindø's fishing villages begins on the far western coast. In the 19th century, the North Sea was gradually wearing down the settlements on the narrow, windswept isthmus of Harboøre, which separated sea from fjord. Storm after storm blasted the land, wiping out fields, pastures and even entire towns – all reclaimed by the sea. The old timers could point out to sea and proclaim: I was born there!" Soon, even the hardiest of fishermen had had enough. In his novel "The Fishermen", Hans Kirk describes how they fled inland to the calmer waters of the Liim Fjord. Many settled on the fertile Jegindø, near the fjord's fishing banks. By 1900, family names that that once populated Harboøre – like Noer, Vrist and Kyndi– soon became commonplace on Jegindø. "