Information about Jutland

This article is about the region of Denmark. For the World War I naval battle, see Battle of Jutland.

Jutland (Danish: Jylland; German: Jütland; Frisian Jutlân; Low German Jötlann) is the western, continental part of Denmark as well as one of the three historical Lands of Denmark, dividing the North Sea from the Kattegat and the Baltic Sea. The Jutland Peninsula also comprises the northernmost part of Germany.

Geography

Its terrain is relatively flat, with heaths, plains and peat bogs in the west and a more elevated and slightly hilly terrain in the east. The Danish portion has an area of 29,775 km² (11,496 square miles) and a population of 2,513,601 (2007). Population density is 84 per km² (218 per sq.mi.).

The northernmost part of Jutland is separated by the Limfjord from the mainland, but is still commonly reckoned as part of the peninsula. It only became an island following a flood in 1825. The area is called the North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy (after its districts) or simply Jutland north of the Limfjord; it is only partly coterminous with the region called North Jutland.

The islands Læsø, Anholt and Samsø in Kattegat and Als at the rim of the Baltic Sea South are administratively and historically tied to Jutland, although especially the latter two are also regarded traditional districts of their own. Inhabitants of Als would agree to be South Jutlanders, but not necessarily Jutlanders.

The Danish Wadden Sea Islands and the German North Frisian Islands stretch along the southwest coast of Jutland in the German Bight.

Southern border

The southern third of the peninsula is made up of the German Bundesland of Schleswig-Holstein, comprising the former duchies of Schleswig (also: South Jutland) and Holstein, both of which have passed back and forth between the Danes and various German rulers. The last adjustment of the border followed the Schleswig Plebiscites in 1920 and resulted in Denmark's regaining Northern Schleswig (Danish: Nordslesvig or more commonly today: Sønderjylland).

The historical southern border of Jutland is the river Eider, which is also the border between the former duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, as well as the historical border between the Danish and German realms from c. 800 to 1864. Although the German part of Schleswig is historically Jutland, most residents would disagree or regard the question as irrelevant. The medieval Jutlandic Code applied for Schleswig until 1900 when it was replaced by the Prussian Civil Code. Some rarely used clauses of the Jutlandic Code still apply north of the Eider today, but not south of the Eider.

Jutland Peninsula

Holstein has never been part of Jutland proper, but is geographically situated on the Jutland Peninsula. The peninsula is also called the Cimbrian Peninsula, Jutland-Holstein or Jutland-Schleswig-Holstein. The southern border of the peninsula is a matter of definition, at its furthest including all of Schleswig-Holstein down to the river Elbe, or just to a line between the mouth of the Elbe and Lübeck where the narrowing into a peninsula starts. Hamburg lies mainly north of the Elbe, but is not a part of Holstein and would rarely be regarded as lying on the Jutland Peninsula. Same accounts for Lübeck which only became incorporated into Holstein in 1937.

Dialect

See also: Danish language: Dialects

Typical of Jutland are the distinctive Jutish (or Jutlandic) dialects which differ substantially from Standard Danish, especially West Jutlandic and South Jutlandic. Dialect usage, although in decline, is better preserved in Jutland than in eastern Denmark and the dialect-speaking Jutlander remains a stereotype among many Copenhageners and eastern Danes.

Cities

The largest cities in the Danish section of Jutland are:

1. Aarhus
2. Aalborg
3. Esbjerg
4. Randers
5. Kolding
6. Vejle
7. Horsens
8. Sonderborg

The largest cities in the German part of Jutland or the Jutland Peninsula are:

1. Kiel
2. Flensburg
3. Neumünster

Administratively, Jutland consists of Region Nordjylland, Region Midtjylland, and the western half of Region Syddanmark which also covers Funen.

History

Main articles: History of Denmark and History of Schleswig-Holstein.

Jutland has historically been one of the three lands of Denmark, the other two being Scania and Zealand. Before that, according to Ptolomy, Jutland or the Cimbric Chersonese was the home of Teutons, Cimbri and Charudes.

Some Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Vandals moved from continental Europe to Great Britain starting in c. 450 AD. The Angles themselves gave their name to the new emerging kingdoms called England (Angle-land). This is thought by some to be related to the drive of the Huns from Asia across Europe, although the arrival of the Danes would more likely have been a major contributory factor, since conflicts between the Danes and the Jutes were both many and bloody.

The Danes took considerable steps to protect themselves from the depredations of the Christian Frankish emperors, principally with the building of the Danevirke, a wall stretching across South Jutland at the shortest distance from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea.

Charlemagne removed pagan Saxons from the southernmost part of the peninsula at the Baltic Sea — the later Holstein area — and moved Abodrites (or Obotrites), a group of Wendish Slavs who pledged allegiance to Charlemagne and who had for the most part converted to Christianity, into the area instead.

To speed transit between the Baltic and the North Sea, canals have been built across the peninsula, notably the Eiderkanal in the late 18th century and the Kiel Canal, completed in 1895 and still in use.

During World War I, the Battle of Jutland was one of the largest naval battles in history. In this pitched battle, the British Royal Navy engaged the German Navy leading to heavy casualties and ship losses on both sides.

See also

• Frisia
• Jutlandic
• Jutes