In the afternoon we went on a bus trip of the island. We had a very informative guide, again. We stopped at the ruins of a large castle, Hammerhus, on a promontory. Very scenic. Built by a catholic archbishop in early medieval times . Changed hands a few times. Prize position during Hanseatic days. In 1684 King Christian the somethingth ordered its removal, stone by stone, to an island called Christianso nearby. The people of Bornholm are very proud of their forest, the 5th largest in Denmark. Funny, to our ours , bright green colours.
The island has what our guide described as a bright green label. Household garbage is sorted into 7 types and taken to a depot to be burnt and converted to biogas. This is used for 2/3 of the heating. Wind and solar provide 2/3 of electricity. 10km off the coast they are building an "island" containing many wind turbines. This will provide , by 2030, enough elecricity for 3 million houses. There are 2 million houses in Denmark. Pipes will be laid for export to Sweden and onwards. There is one other " energy island" being developed off Jutland.
We also saw a round white church. These used to be common all over Norway, but not any more. They were 3 stories high, first floor a church, 2nd floor the repository of the tithes and third floor a store house.
Another story about the end of WW2 from Noel's notes : island occupied by German forces fleeing advancing Russians. At liberation of Denmark by Montgomery, Eisenhower ordered him not to liberate Bornholm in order to not antagonise the russians. The gernans had been ordered to surrender to the British only. So there was no surrender. An approach by Russian planes led to German fire and then Russian bombing. The Russians were there , in charge, for about a year. Finally there was an agreement between the Danish government and the Russian government . The Russians left but only providing no other government occupied Denmark. There is a question mark over whether this agreement is still current.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment