The Denmark–Germany border (; ) is a land and maritime border between the modern countries of Denmark and Germany. It includes one of Denmark's two land borders (the other being the border with Canada on Hans Island). The land border with Germany is long.
History In the treaty of Heiligen in 811, the Eider river was recognized as a border between Denmark and the Frankish Empire. As a swampy river, it formed a natural border. In the highest area near the watershed, it was drier. The ancient travel route of Hærvejen went there, and a defense wall, Danevirke, was built there. Later the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein arose. Before 1864 Schleswig was a fiefdom of Denmark, while Holstein was a fief of the Holy Roman Empire (until 1806) and a member of the German Confederation (after 1815). Both territories were ruled by the Danish king in his additional role as Duke of Schleswig and Duke of Holstein (occasionally together with other Dukes, like the Gottorp Dukes). The border between the Danish fief of Schleswig and the German fief of Holstein still ran along the Eider river, the boundary between the duchies and the Kingdom of Denmark ran along the Kongeå watercourse, and the southern boundary of the Danish monarchy (≈Helstaten) ran along the Elbe.
In 1864, Schleswig-Holstein was conquered by Prussia, and so an international border was created between Denmark and Germany/Schleswig-Holstein. It went from a place at the coast south of Ribe, rounded Ribe on distance, then went eastbound just south of Vamdrup, and just north of Christiansfeld to the Baltic Sea.
In 1920, the border was moved about southward to the present position, as determined by the Schleswig referendum in 1920. This approximately followed the not clearly defined language border.
Border controls In 2001, all border controls were removed based on the Schengen Agreement.
In response to the Swedish border control due to the European migrant crisis, border checks were temporarily introduced starting January 4, 2016. Prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen cited fear of accumulation of illegal migrants in Copenhagen as one of the reasons for this decision. It was reported that the border controls at the German border cost the Danish tax payers 1.25 billion DKK (€167 million) from 2016 until mid-2019.Grænsekontrollen har nu kostet mindst 1,25 milliarder kroner They were never fully ended before the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, which caused renewed border closures throughout Europe.
To pass the border, an approved travel document is needed. This is mainly a passport. But also a national identity card from the European Economic Area is acceptable, although Denmark does not issue such cards, so a passport is needed for Danes for crossing back into Denmark.Rejselegitimation
Wild boar fence In January 2019, the Danish government began constructing a fence along the border to keep wild boar, which can carry African swine fever virus, from crossing into Denmark. The high, nearly long fence—spanning the entire land border—was completed in December 2019 at an estimated cost of 30.4 million Danish kroner. (In Danish) The fence has created some protests. In May 2019 a volleyball tournament was held over the fence as a publicity event which was given some media attention. After completion there was a decision to raise it by adding wires over it, because animals like deer have been killed after being injured because of jumping over the fence.
Border crossings Road Image Danish Road/Track NameSee Google Maps for coordinates. German Road/Track Name Type ofcrossing Border indicated bySee Google Street View for respectively coordinate. Bordercheckpoint? Coordinates Slusevej - Road - - Siltoftvej - Road Old border checkpoint building - Rudbølvej Rosenkranzer-Straße Road National speed limits sign Yes Møllehusvej (L6) Landesstraße 6 Road National speed limits sign - - Marschbahn Track - - Sønder Løgum Landevej Bundesstraße 5 Road National speed limits sign Yes Vindtvedvej - Road Small sign showing municipality - Beierskrovej Beyersweg Road Small sign showing municipality - Pebersmarkvej (L313) Pepersmarker Weg Road National speed limits sign Yes Grænsevejen Bögelhuus Road National speed limits sign - Sofiedalvej Zur Fehle Road National speed limits sign - Kristiansmindevej Wilmkjerweg Road Small sign showing municipality - Sønderjyske Motorvej Bundesautobahn 7 (Ellund Autobahn GZG) Road National speed limits sign Yes Industrivej (Padborg) (L17) Landesstraße 17 Road National speed limits sign Yes Fredericia–Flensborg-banen Bahnstrecke Fredericia–Flensburg Track - - Haraldsvej - Walking path - - Rønsdamvej - Walking path Red-white boom barrier - - - Walking path - - Flensborgsvej (Kruså) Bundesstraße 200 Road National speed limits sign Yes Madeskovvej Teichweg Walking path - - Skomagerhusvej Dammweg Walking path - -
Rail There are two railway lines across the land border: The main route is via the Fredericia–Padborg/Flensburg–Padborg lines, which cross the eastern part of the land border between and . This route, which is electrified, is operated by EuroCity (EC), EuroNight (EN) and regional trains of DSB. The line also used to carry CityNightLine trains.Køreplan Timetable/ International Køreplan 20.06.2010-11.12.2010 (archived) originally at dsb.dk, accessed 5 January 2019Køreplan Timetable/ International Køreplan 09.12.2012-14.12.2013 (archived) originally at dsb.dk, accessed 5 January 2019
The western part of the land border is crossed by the Marsh Railway line between and Süderlügum.Wir verbinden! Festland mit Inselnfähren! Deutschland mit Dänemark! (We connect! Ferries between the mainland and islands! Germany with Denmark!) neg-niebuell.de, accessed 5 January 2019 This line is not electrified, and is therefore operated by DMUs and diesel locomotive hauled trains.
A third route, the Vogelfluglinie ( in German), which included a train ferry over the countries' maritime border (between Rødby and Puttgarden), closed in December 2019. Until then, this route carried EuroCity and ICE services.
The Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link is a planned rail and road tunnel across the Fehmarnbelt.
See also Denmark–Germany relations
References