Jutland

This article is about the peninsula covering parts of Denmark and Germany. For the World War I naval battle, see Battle of Jutland. For the horse-breed, see Jutland (horse).
Dark and Light Red: The Danish part of Jutland.
Pink: The islands Læsø, Anholt, Samsø and Als, by administration and history parts of Jutland.
Brown: Southern Schleswig (Germany).
Yellow: Holstein (Germany).

Jutland (Danish: Jylland; German: Jütland; Low German: Jüütland; pronounced /ˈdʒʌtlənd/ in English) 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 or Cimbrian Peninsula also comprises the northernmost part of Germany.

Contents

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 Ptolemy, Jutland or the Cimbric Chersonese was the home of Teutons, Cimbri and Charudes.

Some Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians 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. The battle was initially portrayed by the German Kaiser as a German victory, and in fact, based on the number of capital ships sunk and the number of sailors killed, it was. However, the British navy was much larger and could more easily sustain the losses; also, a number of German ships were damaged and put out of commission for many months. Ultimately, Jutland was considered a British strategic victory; the German Navy never again presented a threat.

Danish part

Dialect

Main article: Jutlandic — 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. Horsens
  7. Vejle
  8. Herning
  9. Silkeborg
  10. Fredericia
  11. Viborg
  12. Holstebro
  13. Sønderborg
  14. Hjørring
  15. Frederikshavn
  16. Haderslev
  17. Skive

Aarhus, Randers, Kolding, Horsens, Vejle, Fredericia, Haderslev along with a number of smaller towns make up the East Jutland metropolitan area. Administratively, Danish Jutland consists of Region Nordjylland, Region Midtjylland, and the western half of Region Syddanmark which also covers Funen.

German part

The southern third of the Jutland peninsula is made up of the German Bundesland of Schleswig-Holstein. Schleswig-Holstein comprises two parts, the former duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, both of which have passed back and forth between the Danes and Germans rulers several times. The last adjustment of the Danish-German 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 most of Schleswig-Holstein is geographically part of the Jutland peninsula, most German residents there would not identify themselves with Jutland or even as "Jutlanders", but rather with North Germany (German: Norddeutschland) consider themselves Northern Germans (German: Norddeutsche).

The medieval Code of Jutland 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.

Cities

The largest cities in the German part of Jutland or the Jutland Peninsula are Kiel, Lübeck, Flensburg, and Neumünster.

External links

See also