Hirtshals

With about 6000 inhabitants Hirtshals is the greatest port for fishing in Denmark. The fishing-boats are in action all around the clock. A visit in the port is an experience any time of the day. Several times a day the great ferries run from the impressive terminal of Color-Line to Norway.

Not only fishing boats and ferries are bound for the port of Hirtshals though, great cargo-ships run periodically in between Hirtshals and the Isles of Faroe. The sea is always in sight in Hirtshals.

Enjoy the special atmosphere of the square public place “den Groene Plads” right in the centre. From here you have a magnificent view of the sea and the port. In the pedestrian zone many restaurants and shops invite to stay.

In the museum of Hirtshals impressions of the city´s history and fishing from past times are offered. In the North-Sea-Centre there are found a seal station and Europe´s greatest aquarium with 4,5 Mio. litres sea-water.

The landmark of Hirtshals unsurveyably is the lighthouse. The lighthouse was built 1860-63 on the cape in between the baights of Jammer and Tannis. The tower is opened for tourists. There are 144 steps up to the platform, which is 57 metres above the sea-level. From here you have a beautiful view of the sea and of Hirtshals. By the lighthouse there is the shelter-museum.

In 1941 it had become evident to the German supreme command, that an invasion of the Allies from the western seaside could be possible. As a result in 1942 Adolf Hitler ordered the construction of the Atlantic Wall, a defensive system of heavy concrete, from Spain in the south up to Norway in the north. Today the “10th Battery” is a monument of World War II and will further on give reason for reflection to many generations.