Peter-Vincent Schuld

As of today, Facts Found has a new section “The Connection” in which we tell you stories and facts about moving, infrastructure, in short, everything that has to do with transport or maintains a connection.

The European continent is anything but mainland. Until 1988, Scandinavia was largely and almost exclusively accessible from Western Europe by ferry services. Among other things, the famous ferry from Krudshoved to Halskoved is a common ferry. Old times that don’t return under normal circumstances.

But in 1988, with the commissioning of the Great Belt Bridge, Denmark’s accessibility was improved in terms of efficiency. An imposing structure. Actually, there are two structures, two bridges, one of 6.6 kilometers and one of 6.8 kilometers that connect to each other on the island of Sprogø. But if you include the entrance and exit of the bridge and the stretch over the island of Sprogø, the total connection is about 18 kilometers long.
In order not to hinder international shipping traffic, the bridge of the road surface of the bridge has been made so high that the large sea steamers
can pass quietly underneath.

The entire structure created a connection between the islands of Funen (Nyborg) and Zealand, which is now a matter of course for us.
In 1997, the bridge was supplemented by a train connection that turns from the island of Sprogø to Zealand into an 8-kilometre-long railway tunnel.

The connection became part of the E20. The so-called E-roads form the large network of motorways across the entire European continent, including countries outside the European Union.

The Great Beltburg is a suspension bridge to be exact. In 1988 a wonder of the world. Since then, more and sometimes even more impressive bridges have been built all over the world, with the latest achievement being the bridge that connects Russia with Crimea.

Somewhere in the middle of the bridge you will find the toll booths where you can pay about 33 euros converted from Danish kroner. The bridge has to be recouped and the costs of maintenance are considerable. Weather influences and the salty sea require a lot of effort to keep the ride from A to B safe.

Scandinavia was further improved by the commissioning of the Sound Bridge over the Øresund from Copenhagen (Kastrup) to Malmö.
A direct and fixed cross-river link between Denmark and Sweden. This connection brought absolute convenience. If your reporter had to be in Copenhagen and the hotels were almost all occupied, as with European summits, he would take the train to Malmö to spend the night there.

Well, the ferries seem to have had their day on a number of routes. Too bad in a way. Travelling by ferry always has something romantic about it.

Fortunately, there are still plenty of ferry services that you can take to get anywhere. That’s a good thing. Taking a ferry is always something special. The waiting, the boarding, standing on the deck for a while and then entering the harbor and disembarking again. It gives a feeling of traveling, even though the distance to be covered is relatively small. The time you spend on board. Take the opportunity to look around you, get some impressions, take in the smell of the water or the salty sea. Sometimes a resting point in an often stressful existence to move from one location to another. An obligatory “moment for yourself”.

Actually, there is no better way to get to know Europe by getting around everywhere by car and by ferry. There is so much to see that is worth seeing. Things that you don’t notice by plane.

Take the old familiar ferry connection, between the German Puttgarden and the Danish Rødby. A few more years and then this crossing will also be a thing of the past. The crossing between Germany and Denmark is still in great demand and is seen by travellers and transporters as a reasonable alternative to the Great Beltburg, which extends the distance to Germany by about 130 kilometres.

Construction is underway to build a combined rail and road tunnel between the 2 places. The Fehmarn Belt Tunnel. It will make the Scandlines ferry service there superfluous. The project, which started in 2015, will cost 5 billion euros and will be supported by the Danes with a contribution of about 10% from the European Union. On the German side, investment must be made in improving rail and road links. It is intended that a high-speed train will run through the tunnel. Of course, it’s progress. But we won’t miss the romance of the ferry. Standing on deck and looking at boats in amazement, sniffing the sea air with a fresh breeze?

We may go from place to place faster, but we don’t miss something, the feeling of traveling through Europe and actually experiencing it like with a ferry. Simply literally going ashore in another country. The fixed river connection may be efficient and there is nothing wrong with that, but the awareness of moving from one country to another, from one environment to another, that geographical transition is therefore somewhat lost.

So be quick, for a few more years you can line up at Puttgarden. Just standing in that damn queue. On the sign, start your car’s engine and drive on board. Just go on deck, enjoy the crossing for 45 minutes. A departure every 30 minutes…. until in 2021 the silence will fall and there will be no more beautiful large ferries sailing from the ports of Puttgarden and Rødby. Pont ferries, they are like shaking hands, hands are stretched out to meet each other, on whatever shore at any point of the crossing.

I’m going to take you a little further. I take your hand and take your lake to Helsingor, located at the narrowest part of the Sound. Helsingor with its 15th century castle Kronborg.

Did you know that the castle is where Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet actually took place? It will come as no surprise that the play is often performed there and a statue of Hamlet should not be missed.

While the seagulls make themselves heard loudly, cars and trucks drive to and from the terminal and pedestrians move over the walkways to get to and from the ship. There on the other side of the water, in plain sight, lies the Swedish Helsingborg.
The ferries of Scandlines and HH Ferries depart one after the other from one side of the water to the other. Crossing normal shipping traffic.

When you stand on the quay you have a view of the Swedish city of Helsingborg. It is a ferry connection with a certain and special character.
Sweden, the country where alcohol is still quite expensive, its inhabitants like to make the crossing from Helsingborg to Helsingor to stock up on relatively cheap alcoholic beverages on Danish territory. Not only to take away, but the alcohol is consumed in abundance and in the port of Helsingor

Conversely, other things are more attractive in Sweden. In this way, there remains a lively business and leisure traffic between the two countries by ferry. Not only the two name-like cities are thus connected, but also the hinterland. In the meantime, another ferry arrives with a new amount of passengers on board. Destination? The liquor store, or elsewhere.

Ports, they always continue to attract attention, People are and remain fascinated by the water and shipping, Your reporter is no exception, on the contrary. Take a moment on the quay, relax for a while, watch the traffic on the water. Before you know it, there is a tunnel that leaves nothing of the sailor’s romance.