In 1864 Denmark was massively defeated by the Austrian/Prussian armies on a hill just outside today’s Sønderborg around Dybbøl, a village on top of a hill. The politicians in Copenhagen had little knowledge of what the conditions were on the ground and called on the army to defend the fortification by any means. The Danes were outmanned one to nine and once the Prussians attacked they completely overran the Danish defense.

In two years time the biggest TV production ever made in Denmark will tell the story of the people of the battle of Dybbøl. We will write more about that when we hear it.

For now you can see a music video recently released by the Danish country singer Lars Lilholt where he sings about the battle and calls it Denmark’s Killing Fields. Parts of the video is shot in hills in Dybbøl with old cannons etc.

If you want to learn more about the battle, the Dybbøl History Centre will open for the 2012 season on April 1st.