Stay at Marskgården Højergård

In the middle of Tøndermarsken, close to the Wadden Sea and near the Danish-German border, the people of Southern Jutland have for generations created a unique building culture shaped by nature, cultural heritage and Danish history. The harsh marshland and the changing borders have greatly contributed to creating a special building culture here in this southern part of Denmark.

Many of the area's buildings in characteristic local building styles are still preserved. Few other places in Denmark have so many buildings that together and individually reflect a locally rooted building and craft tradition.

With its central location in the centre of Højer, right opposite the town square and next to the old town hall and Højer Church, the listed marsh farm, Højergård, is one of these well-preserved and coherent building complexes. Here, fine architectural and cultural-historical values are united in one and the same story.

Realdania By & Byg

At the end of 2016, we bought Realdania By & Byg the entire Højergård, which consists of three unique buildings that together represent three centuries: the farmhouse from one of the area's large marsh farms, built in 1823 in traditional West Schleswig style; a villa in magnificent German homestead style, built in 1906, when Højer was in German hands, and a barn from the 1700s.

The aim was to secure and preserve the buildings' unique regional architectural style, and in autumn 2019, an extensive restoration was completed.
In Højergård, a coherent whole has now been created with respect and understanding for the three buildings' distinctive history and unique preservation values, and most importantly: The soul of the buildings has been preserved. The ambition has been to restore and reuse as much as possible, to the extent possible and to the extent that it makes sense in relation to the buildings' new functions.

Building styles - shaped by nature, culture and history

With the sea as both livelihood and threat, people have settled in Tøndermarsken for centuries and created a building tradition here that is adapted to the landscape and nature. Few places in Denmark have preserved so many buildings, each reflecting a locally rooted building and material tradition. Højergård is one of these well-preserved farms, where architectural and cultural-historical values are united in a single narrative, and it is also the story of the rich and unique building culture of the borderland.

Tøndermarsken - a unique cultural landscape

By Simon Ostenfeld Pedersen, Associate Professor

A unique cultural landscape with many fine cultural environments and even Denmark's largest marshland area. This is Tøndermarsken: a low and fertile landscape, midway between the North Sea coastline and hill islands of sandy soil that formed as moraine formations during the Ice Age. Locally, the small hills are called ‘gesten* - an old Frisian word for a high, dry and sandy area as opposed to the marsh, which is the low-lying, flat and fertile coastal area formed by tidal deposits.

Ever since the first Frisians migrated to Tøndermarsken in the 12th century, these highlands have been an attractive place to settle. Farms and buildings could be protected from flooding from the sea, and at the same time, the marsh's fertile meadows were only a short distance away, where steers were bred, which were a major source of income and therefore attracted trade and new residents to the area.

Today, the boundary between low-lying marshland and high ground can still be seen in some places in Tøndermarsken in the form of a marked shift in terrain and soil. This can be seen west of Højer, where the transition between the marsh and the town forms a clear peripheral settlement, and along Tøndermarsken today lies a string of settlements, villages and towns that were once founded on the area's hill islands and which today are among the best preserved in Denmark.

Today, Tøndermarsken is no longer subject to the forces of the sea in the same violent way. Over the centuries, the sea has been pushed back dike by dike and lock by lock, so that today Tøndermarsken is a network of old sea dykes and marsh meadows that have been reclaimed and drained so that cows and sheep can graze in smaller meadow areas, the so-called fens.

All these dykes, hills and fens are in themselves an impressive testimony to the measures that people have taken over the years to live and survive in this lush but difficult landscape. The region's many locks and shipyards, not to mention its unique building traditions, are also rooted in this location close to the Wadden Sea.

While the long horizontal lines of the dykes divide the landscape and form strong markers in the marshes, locks, pumping stations and lockmaster's houses can be seen today as distinctive elements that testify to the important functions of the cultural environments in this vast landscape, which is part of the world's largest tidal area.

The battle for the sea

With the Wadden Sea as their closest neighbour, the first inhabitants of Tøndermarsken began building a number of small dikes as early as the 1100s to protect against flooding. However, the actual major reclamation of Tøndermarsken did not begin until the middle of the 16th century, when one of the area's largest dykes was built from Højer to Rudbøl.

In addition to protection, the dykes also created safe road connections between the towns, and the road between Højer and Rudbøl still lies on top of the old dyke. The construction of the dykes continued until 1981, when Tøndermarsken took on its current shape, and with the construction of the last large dyke - and with it a much safer defence against flooding - several new settlements were added to the low-lying areas of the marsh.

Before the dykes were built, Tøndermarsken was a large inland sea that stretched from the Wadden Sea far inland past Tønder, and for centuries, storm surges and dyke breaches that washed away people, animals and entire villages were a harsh part of life for the inhabitants of the marsh.

A storm surge could come suddenly, and there were times when a storm was so powerful that an entire city disappeared in the water.

During a violent autumn storm in 1436, the entire Anflod parish south of Højer disappeared. So the church was left alone in the water. Building materials from the damaged church were later used for Højer Church, and the citizens of Rudbøl have since had to travel to Højer for church services.