Ejer Bavnehøj
Ejer Bavnehøj
 The tower of Ejer Bavnehøj | |
|---|---|
 Ejer Bavnehøj seen from the nearby freeway | |
| Elevation | 170.35 m (559 ft) |
| Location | |
| Location | Skanderborg municipality, Denmark |
| Coordinates | 55° 58' 37" N, 9° 49' 50" E |
Ejer Bavnehøj (Danish pronunciation: [ɑɪ̯ɐ ˈbɑʊ̯nəhɔɪ̯ˀ], also spelled Ejer Baunehøj) is the third-highest natural point in Denmark (170.35 m). It lies in the southern part of Skanderborg municipality, between the villages of Riis and Ejer. At its summit is a 13 m tall tower, built in 1924, commemorating the reunion of the south of Jutland with the rest of Denmark after the First World War.
Close to Ejer Bavnehøj lies Yding Skovhøj, another high point, with a height of 172.66 m above sea level but this includes a human built Bronze Age burial mound. Without the Bronze Age mound Yding Skovhøj is a little lower than Denmark's highest non-man-made point, Møllehøj, which is 170.86 m high, 51 cm higher than Ejer Bavnehøj.
Historically Ejer Bavnehøj was mostly known as a site for a beacon where signal-fires were lit in order to warn the military and local population if the enemy were on the way. Ejer means owner. The second part of the name, "Bavnehøj", can literally be translated into Bavne meaning Beacon and Høj from the Old Norse word haugr meaning hill.
Coordinates: 55°58′37″N 9°49′50″E / 55.97694°N 9.83056°E